A few years ago, my daughter had the throttle cable fail on her
Mitsubishi. The cable was replaced. Shortly after that she called me and
said that her headlights were really dim until she raised the rpm a bit.
I thought that she might have a battery problem which was requiring the
alternator output to be elevated. After investigating the problem, I
found that the cable was being used as the ground for the body
accessories. She had recently had a battery replaced at Sears and the
battery they used had a different post arrangement so they disconnected
the cable from its body ground to make it reach. Consequently, the cable
had failed.
When working with electrical problems, I always check loaded circuit
resistance. It is amazing how many technicians fail to correct starting
and charging systems problems because they don't bother.
Tom, Redding CA - #216 D/CC
Neil wrote:
> John;
>
> That's a good point-- electrical ground paths need to be well thought
> out. Unfortunately if bonding straps are not used, electric current will
> flow through whatever is the easiest and this may cause significant
> damage to whatever is carrying the current. If the current is high
> enough, it will spot-weld ball bearings (bearing balls to their races),
> etc as well as cause other types of hidden damage. Welding can also
> cause these problems if the ground clamp is carelessly placed.
>
> It's fortunate you found that cable problem before you really needed it.
>
> Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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