Ghost in the electrical system

[John Turney]

Oh, the jealous British car that's left alone to sit while the other cars get to play! :glee:

Does it every time!

 

[John Kuzman]

Chet -

Just saw this thread. Been out of town visiting friends. Where in Naples? I am just north of you in Bonita Springs. I trailered my BJ7 down here this year. I have a 4 post lift here in my garage if you need underneath access.

Also, are you active in the British Car Club of SW Florida https://bccswf.com/bccswf/index.cfm They are an active Club with a tech session shop.

 

[Chet Zerlin]

Hi John,
I'm just south of you

PM sent.

Chet

 

[RDKeysor]

Since this discussion has wandered a bit and reached a satisfactory conclusion, I will throw in one about critters chewing wiring in new vehicles. We have a vacation place in North Georgia, and another owner in the development recently had the wiring harness eaten up on his relatively new Toyota SUV. The vehicle had to be lifted and trucked down to a dealer near Atlanta for repair. The car owner, who has occupied a vacation condo in this development for more than 10 years, said that six circuits were damaged, and his insurance company is going to pay for the repair. This had never happened previously to his knowledge, and he believes the damage was caused by chipmunks. There was material for a discarded carpet found in the engine bay. I'm dubious about the chipmunk theory, but rodents for sure. Another vacation resident up there, a retired fire captain from a major Florida city and after retirement a trainer at the Florida fire academy in Ocala, told me that the use of "soy" (soybean material, I assume) is prompting this wiring destruction and lawsuits are flying. I have suggested that our condo association invest in a Have-A-Heart (sic?) cage trap, bait it with maybe peanut butter, and see what happens.

 

[tahoe healey]

The problem with have-A-heart is that it only traps one critter. There is never only one critter and where do you get rid of them without it being someone else's problem.

 

[John Turney]

The problem with have-A-heart is that it only traps one critter. There is never only one critter and where do you get rid of them without it being someone else's problem.

My friend uses the Have-A-Hart to trap rats in his backyard. He uses that because he also gets squirrels and birds. those he lets loose. The rats get to go for a "swim."

 

[Keoke]

The problem with have-A-heart is that it only traps one critter. There is never only one critter and where do you get rid of them without it being someone else's problem.

Well Yeah"

But for $100.00 or less an electronic pest control may be a better choice?

 

[Michael Oritt]

"...the use of "soy" (soybean material)"

During WWII some states used a plastic material containing soybeans from which to make license plates until it was discovered that pigs were eating the plates.

 

[NutmegCT]

Speaking of soy ... Henry Ford and his prototype soybean plastic car, 1941:

https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-resources/popular-topics/soy-bean-car/

 

[Bob_Spidell]

My old ('08) Mustang had seat foam made from soybeans; don't know about the new one. Nonetheless I'm keeping it away from pigs.

 

[RAC68]

Hi All,

I have a dog that likes to capture tics in our yard to protect the kids. We then sit her down and collect them for a bath in alchaol to purify them before disposal.

They havn't created a Have-a-Hart trap for tics yet, but if they see the demand, maybe soon.

Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[steveg]

Hello all,

Well the problem has been found and solved thanks to the excellent help and guidance received here. When I looked at the fuse box I found that somehow a (very) few of the wires attached to the 50amp fuse block frayed and were touching the 35amp fuse block. Apparently those few wisps of wire were enough to complete the circuit and make the ignition active regardless of the ignition switch. No idea how this happened (especially since the car has been parked for several months and was working fine before that!)
I reattached them so they were not touching and magically everything works fine. No apparent injury to my coil and points but the connection was sufficient to drain my battery to a point where it could not hold a charge so I got a new battery and all is well.

Thanks again for the wonderful help you all gave me!
Chet

Chet - thank you for the update. A much easier-to-solve problem than having a meltdown inside the harness!
Especially nice that nothing's fried in your ignition system.