Very Hot Console & Handbrake

I had a new clutch kit installed in my 2011 2.4 Puma around a fortnight ago.

During the first couple of long drives since then we have noticed a lot of heat being created around the centre console and under the cubby box - some of the metal work gets too hot to touch and I had a shock when I caught my calf on the very hot handbrake lever.

I don’t recall ever having this problem in the past & I have done drives of up to 3 hours plus before. We have had to stop and let it all cool down a couple of times, but otherwise no strange noises or mechanical problems are obvious.

It seems suspicious that this started after having major work done in that area, but it could be coincidence. My mechanic is a Defender specialist and he seems to think it is fairly normal, although he hasn’t had a chance to feel quite how hot it is getting.

Has anybody else suffered from a similar issue, especially out of the blue?


Thank you.

Check to see if you have an earth cable not conected.

Cheers

Thanks for your reply - where in the vehicle can I find them?

SoftTop47 said:

Thanks for your reply - where in the vehicle can I find them?

Click to expand...

chassis to transmission and body underneath,theyd have unbolted a earth lead when doing the clutch and not refitted it

Thank you. Is there anywhere I can find schematics? I have searched several times but turned up nothing helpful.

Or they’ve put the wrong oil in the gearbox or transfer box.

Fourth vote for disconnected or poorly connected earth , you can't miss it, it will be a very thick braided cable, or at least it was on earlier Defenders.
Your engine will be earthing via the hand-brake cable, which will be getting very hot.

If your specialist thinks it’s normal he mustn’t reconnect any of them

Another vote for a disconnected earth. IMO, check this immediately. IF the hand brake cable is being used as an earth, then it is no longer a handbrake cable - it will have lost its strength - and could fail .....

On our Disco 2 V8 engine, if the webbed ground wire from the firewall to the back of the engine is removed or corroded, the handbrake will make up for the ground.
The handbrake literally gets smoking hot!

Attachment is for the 2012 2.2 puma battery earth point, very likely the same as the 2011 2.4. The rear lighting, rear door fittings etc earth is earthed on the right side of the transfer box, also worth checking - several terminals onto a single bolt.

I’ve had 2 90s and never been burned by the controls.

Not normal.

I really appreciate all of these replies, I'm not much of a mechanic yet so I'm learning as I go with this vehicle.

We did the final long drive yesterday - it was around the 90 minute mark at an average of 60mph on the motorway the metal started to feel very hot. Does this tally with the idea of a disconnected earth being the problem, or would you expect it to heat up more quickly?

I have managed to attach a picture of what I think is the earth cable on the transfer box.

Hi, just wondering if anyone had any thoughts after my last post.

The earth looks pretty securely connected, but is there any chance it isn’t doing it’s job even if it looks right?

That looks like the one where the wires come out of the chassis and are bolted onto the transfer casing with ring terminals on a small bolt. There should be a bigger one somewhere, where a large cable is clamped to the transfer box and goes directly to the battery compartment. On mine it goes on one of the bolts on that circular panel on the back of the transfer box, as you can see in one of those .pdf files above. Is that in evidence?

SoftTop47 said:

I really appreciate all of these replies, I'm not much of a mechanic yet so I'm learning as I go with this vehicle.

We did the final long drive yesterday - it was around the 90 minute mark at an average of 60mph on the motorway the metal started to feel very hot. Does this tally with the idea of a disconnected earth being the problem, or would you expect it to heat up more quickly?

I have managed to attach a picture of what I think is the earth cable on the transfer box.

Click to expand...

thats the earth for electrics under the seat not a main earth

The earth point in your pic is as James says, but is also the earth point for the electrics at the rear of the vehicle. There should also be a large earth cable on the other side of the transfer box, see the attachment for both earth points. You might also have an earth strap between the bottom of the bulkhead, (under the drivers pedals area) connected to the chassis outrigger - just behind the driver side front wheel above the mud flap. It is very exposed to all the road crap so might need cleaning.

If I ever take an Earth off for some reason I always polish it like new, bolt it back on and put a lick of paint over it. Found this to be good practice

Ok, so, I've crawled under the car and managed to get some pictures of what I believe are the earth points (as kindly pointed out to me)

There is the LH Earth from the transfer box, and I think both ends of the earth strap under the pedals to the rear of the front wheel. They all look attached.

Do you think they need cleaning? I'm not sure of the condition - they look pretty soiled but I don't have any experience to go by.

Both need cleaning urgently. It bothers me that the one in the first pic looks like it been off recently, given the clean ish state of the threads - but, from the pictures, neither are anything like clean enough to be classed as a good electrical connection ..... Given your recent new clutch fitment, this might half explain the former, but, clean them both thoroughly.....

Don't forget the handbrake cable!