Ground Straps Broken

[pennyduke]

When I bought my 2000 MT Citrus a week ago, the ground straps were fine. I took a look today and both have pulled out of the eyes and are broken. I had the same problem with Insight #1 2000 MT Silver.

What causes this to happen?

Will this cause a Check Engine Light?

Is it ok to drive with them broken?

[boogetyboogety]

What causes this to happen?

Age and wear-and-tear

Will this cause a Check Engine Light?

Might... If you can even get the engine to run... ???

Is it ok to drive with them broken?

I can't think of many more things (tire valve caps, maybe?) that are cheaper and easier-to-replace than ground straps. Go get some generic ones at Pep Boys and swap 'em out... end of the drama...

[chisight]

"Pulled out and broken" does not sound like the normal corrosion issue that is common with these ground straps. When installed, the straps should have several inches of slack, there should be no way for the engine and transmission to move enough to pull them out. It may be possible that whoever last repaired them used straps that are too short, the factory ones are about 7 inches long with one being slightly longer than the other. When replacing, I used 9" and 11" and put a loop in to allow more length for them to flex over.

If your straps were long enough, it's possible that your engine is moving more than it should due to worn out engine mounts. It seems to be common for the mounts in an 11 year old 5 speed to be be worn out.

Broken ground straps have been linked to all sorts of errors and IMA issues but I drove for several years without them and the only side effect was that the 12V backup starter could not be used. If you're seeing no symptoms then keep driving but get them replaced before winter just in case it gets really cold, you need that backup starter whenever it's below about 5F.

Chisight

[Leeper]

Ground straps are busted... I'll take the car off your hands for $100.

I made mine, all if them, for under $8, cable from Napa Auto and the eyelets from Home Depot

[AbCaRed00]

Originally Posted by pennyduke

When I bought my 2000 MT Citrus a week ago, the ground straps were fine. I took a look today and both have pulled out of the eyes and are broken. I had the same problem with Insight #1 2000 MT Silver.

What causes this to happen?

Will this cause a Check Engine Light?

Is it ok to drive with them broken?

My car was running at the time for a few days after one of mine was broken and showing no codes or irregularities.

The broken one was to the top portion of the engine that broke. The engine side broke on that one, the rest were intact.
I actually think I heard the noise of the top strap coming loose when I stalled the engine idling out with no throttle on a slight grade.

The fix for the cable cost me nothing, I reused, tested and reinstalled, pic of repair effected is here, and the probable cause was broken rear motor mount.seen in next image and later images.
.. the rear mount wearing out is pretty common as these vehicles get up in age i gather from all reports.
New rear mount at dealer cost me around $155 or something like that here in Canada. Cheaper elsewhere, say $80 via the net apparently. A new rear damper make the car nicer to drive and if you have juddering in reverse gear, that's a symptom.