Do you think my electrics are roasted

stoneman

OK, short version. I go to start my 96 Galaxy and the started motor starts whirring like the Bendix spring is gone., but when I turn off the ignition it keeps going. I take the battery lead off to stop it, all other electrics are fine. Recovery comes out and say he will disable the starter motor by taking the lead off and we bump start it so I can drive the 2 hours home. Not an option to take it to local garage as it is 4pm and the recovery cover I have will only recover to local garage and not for taking me home. Almost home and notice that the plastic shield in front of the speedo, rev counter etc gets very very hot. then the radio cuts out, warning lights flash on and off and the engine dies. I take the radio out and you can not touch it because it is so hot. Another recovery and this guy tells me that the first guy should never have disabled the starter and bumped me, he thinks that the loom could be fried. Taking it in on Monday but wanted to run it here first for thoughts. Do you think the car is scrap (paid £1,400 for it 12 months ago) and might i have a claim against the first recovery company.
P.S. All of the other electrics still seem to be working, lights, central locking, windows etc.

hewhoisnotintheknow

taking a cable off the starter motor shouldnt affect anything else

Conor_3

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

taking a cable off the starter motor shouldnt affect anything else

Depends which cable he took off. One of them is a bloody great thick one that hooks up straight to the battery with no fuses and if it shorts against the bodywork, you've got 300 amps running through it. The other is basically a signal wire that only goes live to engage the starter solenoid and that wouldn't cause the problem even if it touched the body.

I hope to god it wasn't the thick one because if it was and it touched the bodywork or any metal part in the engine bay, it'll have got real warm real quick and would have cooked any wiring insulation in the loom around it.

big_gay_kirk

what conor says.. plus.. on some starter motors (chain engine ladas for one..) there is a small thin lead that seems to have no purpose... until you take it off.. then it drains your battery in about two hours...

hewhoisnotintheknow

Conor wrote: »

Depends which cable he took off. One of them is a bloody great thick one that hooks up straight to the battery with no fuses and if it shorts against the bodywork, you've got 300 amps running through it. The other is basically a signal wire that only goes live to engage the starter solenoid and that wouldn't cause the problem even if it touched the body.

I hope to god it wasn't the thick one because if it was and it touched the bodywork or any metal part in the engine bay, it'll have got real warm real quick and would have cooked any wiring insulation in the loom around it.

I was making the assumption that the recovery guy knew what he was doing

big_gay_kirk

never assume.. it makes an !!! of U and ME

anewman

No idea what the wiring is like on the Galaxy or how it passes through the bulkhead - but if the wiring is all fried, I wonder if you can simply get the appropriate loom from a scrappie and swap them out.

stoneman

It was the thick one, I saw him feed it up through the engine compartment so that it didn't hang down, then he wrapped some electrical tape around it. will have a look at it in the morning light to see if the tape came off or it melted by coming in contact with the hot engine. If that were the case and he just wrapped some tape around it and it either melted or came off and the cable shorted on the body, would I have a case against them.

Conor_3

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

I was making the assumption that the recovery guy knew what he was doing

As someone who worked as a mechanic in a garage the AA towed to, I wouldn't, especially when it comes to electrics. Mechanics seem to think on the whole that electrics are some kind of black art.

Conor_3

stoneman wrote: »

It was the thick one, I saw him feed it up through the engine compartment so that it didn't hang down, then he wrapped some electrical tape around it. will have a look at it in the morning light to see if the tape came off or it melted by coming in contact with the hot engine. If that were the case and he just wrapped some tape around it and it either melted or came off and the cable shorted on the body, would I have a case against them.

Absolutely. He shouldn't have allowed you to drive it with it like that. If you've not taken it to a garage yet, get the camera out and start taking photos.

a11waysindebt

I cant see why he took it off the starter at all,much easier to remove from the battery.If the main lead had touched earth you would have known about it rather rapidly and the fire brigade would have arranged recovery.