possible earth???

[insa-disco]

i think there might be an earth problem with my discovery 1 200 tdi sometimes when i go to start the engine, it doesnt turn over, instead it just clicks and then smoke comes from the handbrake cable as if something is earthing out on it, but when i look under, there  is no wires at all that are near the cable itself. is there any common earthing problems with the disco that i should check?or any ideas as to what it could be? [-o<

[solihull-mick]

Without a shadow of a doubt your engine to chassis earth strap will be broken or disconnected - have a look down the side of the engine next to the starter motor, common fault as the only thing connecting the body to the chassis is the hand brake cable.

[insa-disco]

now this is where it get interesting, the earth strap is still intact but the old one is still on the engine aswell from where i changed it, would this cause a problem if it was slightly touching? cheers

[windowlicker]

do you have a volt meter if so just set ohms and touch it to the chassis and the engine you should have zero resistance mine normally reads somthing like 0.001

if you aint got a clue what im babling on about just remove the earth strap clean all the faces and refit

[bilge rat]

got any jump leads . just run one along side an existing cable and find the nearest good earth piont . see iff it cures it ?. alan...

[insa-disco]

yeah ive got a volt meter at work so ill be bringing that home tomorow to try out, if in doubt ill do as u suggest and remove the earth strap and clean it up, cheers, any other suggestions are welcome as its so annoying not to be able to start it lol

[insa-disco]

yeah i could to that with the jump leads, will have to dig em out tomorow night and try it , cheers