Shorted the battery positive terminal to the body - while engine running which caused it to cut out and not restart!

icatterm

New member
Mar 10, 2022
1
0
Brighton, MI
Hi Land Rover 3.9L Vee 8 Owners,
I think I've done something very stupid to my '94 Defender 3.9L, and am asking for advise from these who understand electrics better than I or who have had prior experience. I had a jumper cable connected to the positive battery terminal and the other end inadvertently touch the body while the engine was running (at least this is what I think happened) because the engine just stopped running and will not restart. All I've done so far is confirm that it cranks well, I hear the fuel pump priming and I've confirmed that the 4 fuses next to the brake booster are good (2x 60amp and 2x 30amp), my biggest fear is that I might have damaged the ECM, but before I get to that I'm wondering if it might be the ignition amplifier? Or some thing else relatively simple in the ignition system? Any help, suggestion's, direction would be greatly appreciated. Thxs Ian (If you do think the amplifier is a worthy part to check - can it be removed with the Distributor in place? Maybe remove the cap for better access to these tiny little hex heads!?) Thxs again.
 

DiscoHasBeen

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2016
1,171
262
Indy
I had a jumper cable connected to the positive battery terminal and the other end inadvertently touch the body while the engine was running (at least this is what I think happened) because the engine just stopped running and will not restart.
So why have none of you answered this guy. Granted this post makes no sense but why no love?
 

ERover82

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2011
3,899
450
Darien Gap
Shorting to battery positive means huge surges of current through the ground paths. I’d start thinking this through and check each possible path for damage. I could see a body ground and/or components being fried as a result. Hard to predict exactly where though.