G'day gurs,
I have just finished replacing the Earth/Ground strap that goes from the battery to the chassis underneath the back seat. I lifted the seat to have a look at the wiring near the Voltage Regulator and just before I lowered the seat I gave the battery cales/straps a bit of a tug to make sure they were tight. When I withdrew my hand from the Earth/Ground strap it had a sooty substance on it. I then got a torch and had a closer look and I saw that the strap was "cooked" and very fragile.

I made a new one from some welding lead and fitted it...however...the question remains..Why was the lead "cooked" in the first place? Surely the 550CCA Battery I have fitted isn't causing that?

Any clues?

Cheers

my guess is a loose connection

Hi
I haven't seen that before...
although the lead is very old...
and the copper gets contaminated over the years..
maybe its from the acid fumes from the battery over the years...

also renew the strap from the transmission nose to the chassis
I always use a longer bolt for the earth strap and attach the gearbox strap to the longer bolt using a nut and washers..
also clean under the straps.. where they contact the chassis..

cheers

LEE

Hi

I added a new ground strap to my beetle gearbox last year...

LEE

Now that I think of it, why doesn't the earth lead from the battery go straight to the engine/transmission and then have a strap to the body?

My thoughts exactly G/F...it would make the Grounding circuit so much more reliable and do away with the body to transmission strap as well. I simple Earth cable run alongside the Active cable through the pan under the rear seat and attached to the bolt where the transmission strap normally sits would be the way to go. Just make sure there is another cable from the - Battery post to the body as per usual to supply grounding for lights etc.

i did that years ago with mine
ran a really heavy wire from the battery earth terminal through to the ground strap on the tranny

all of a sudden my startermotor began cranking alot quicker

and yea yea i know it should be black but use what ya got
in this case old jumper leads kindly diced by a radiator fan

thats the perfect spot for a jack.

and good bit of hose to stop the battery terminals shorting out.

that was actually the reason i took that photo originally,
most people with 71 on bugs dont realise what the clips are there for

from about 71 i think the jack was stored behind the battery, theres little clips to hold it in place, it was to protect it from surface rust,
before that they clipped in beside the spare wheel and rusted badly

although i dont actually recommend using a vw jack aka widow makers
i got a scissor jack now