What's this wire under the bonnet?

[JIS90]

Hello all,

I'm new here, and have a question I'm hoping you'll be able to answer. This is probably an easy stupid question, but...

A few nights ago (in the dark) I removed the battery from my 1996 Seat Ibiza MK2 1.4 CLS. I charged it over night, and went to put it back in but there's a wire that I'm not sure what to do with. To me it looks like some sort of ground wire, but I have no idea where to put it, or if it was on the battery before I removed it.

Here's what it looks like:





What do I do with it?

Also, on an unrelated side line, I read online somewhere that the 90s Seat Ibiza had an official in-car TV that you could buy. Is it true? If so, do any of you have a picture of one?

Thank you!

 

[Belle427]

Eyelets like that are usually connected to the car body or engine somewhere near the battery.

 

[Peter.N.]

I would concur, it appears to be connected to the battery negative lead so should go to earth - but check that it is first!

Peter

 

[gman76]

This is a bit tricky & it's important that you connect this correctly.

To me, it looks like the picture is taken from the nearside wing, therefore I think the battery clamp in the foreground goes off to the bodywork (negative) & the other two head off towards the alternator (positive).

Peter - I can't see where the smaller of the two connects to anything?

It's fairly common for the negative battery terminal to only have one wire connected to it, for ease of disconnection.

 

[Peter.N.]

Perhaps its just tied to the battery lead, I thought it was connected.

Peter

 

[DaveHerns]

I think you need to do some investigation to find out. If you put the wire on the wrong terminal ,there is the possibility of doing enough damage to write off the car. Have you got a multimeter?

 

[Burnerman]

That looks like a floating ring terminal, and I guess it goes to the positive battery terminal but its worth a quick check.
Its a hell of a mess under there!
John

 

[Peter.N.]

I think you need to do some investigation to find out. If you put the wire on the wrong terminal ,there is the possibility of doing enough damage to write off the car. Have you got a multimeter?

I think you need to do some investigation to find out. If you put the wire on the wrong terminal ,there is the possibility of doing enough damage to write off the car. Have you got a multimeter?

That's why I said check first.

Peter

 

[JIS90]

Thank you everyone for replying. I'll try to work out where the wire comes from in a day or two, and hopefully that'll give us a better idea. It really is a mess under there. It's had a few owners before me, and the last one was my sister who gave it to me as my first car, but there's a lot wrong with it. My hope is to slowly do it up as much as I can myself.

I don't think it's directly connected to either of the battery leads. So far I haven't really been able to see where it comes from, but I'll have another go.

Yes, I do have a multimeter, but I've never used it before. What would I do?

 

[Burnerman]

You need to ascertain where that lead is heading for, curiously enough! Here's a start......
Set the meter to measure low resistance, and connect one lead to that ring terminal and the other lead to the bodywork. If there's no reading of direct continuity, then we can assume its meant to be a live lead, feeding some component somewhere. (Keep the battery off the car for this test.)
My own opinion is that it is a terminal that is connected to the battery live clamp, as it is floating around. After all, there would be no need to remove it from an earthing point, just to remove the battery - if I am making sense. It also looks like the correct diameter to fit over the battery clamp screws.
On your second (lower) photo, that single heavy cable should go straight to a bodywork or engine connection, to give a good earth. Follow it so you can see where it goes - that's the battery negative connection.
Post back with any doubts - you'll get there in the end!
John

 

[JohnD]

If it was me, I would start by refitting the battery and connecting that cable to its post, then looking to see where the connector reached, and where the existing shape of the cable led it to naturally fall (don't bend or straighten the cable, which is quite stiff and thick so will probably lead it to its previous connection point). You can rule out anything that it won't reach or is the wrong size.

The ring connector is cleaner than anything else under your bonnet so it probably had a nut on it until recently. I'd be looking at the engine or the body, for such a thick wire. Or the starter or alternator if close enough. It might fit on the stud of the battery pillar clamp, I can't think why else you would have undone it. I notice you have actually taken the nut off, rather than just loosening it. You should find a dirt mark that fits it perfectly.

Leave the other cable off its post for now to remove the risk of an accidental short circuit.

As for an in-car TV, it would have been pre-digital, so even if you got one from a scrapyard, it would not pick up any transmissions now.

 

[magicmushroom666]

Looking at the second photo, I'd say that cable came from here:


You can see the shadow in the corrosion which to me looks the same shape as that ring terminal, going around the nut then off to the top. It would explain how that terminal is so clean on the underside as it had full contact on the battery terminal. Also it would have popped off when you undid that nut, without being noticed.

It wouldn't be all shiny if it was unconnected in there, compared to the rest of the engine bay. Its almot certainly been recently disconnected.

It could be that the large cable already in the battery terminal just feeds the starter motor, and this feeds the fusebox and then rest of the car.

 

[Burnerman]

My own sentiments, MM!
John