That's correct. Ground strap is the right word. I think I said ground wire. It does need to be tightly attached at the firewall. Probably 10mm nut. It should also be tight in the back of the head.

If it is there and tight, well, it was worth a shot.

 

Thanks as always Charlie, I want to note that after messing with it, the radio improved a lot. So im guessing I need to tighten one of the bolts.

 

Nice!

The one on the head will probably be a 13 or 14 or 15mm. You'd have to find that by hand and use a wrench. Miserable job because of the awkward location, but doable.

 

So good news! I really wriggled the strap around this morning, fired her up, and took her for a drive. The radio was 90% fine, NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, and I mean I floored it multiple times. In the low rev of acceleration the radio still cuts out with the same issue (probably due to electric discharge).

All in all the engine ran, so. much. smoother. It still has the issue, just much less often now. I think I will get a new ground strap - don't know yet.

 

I got a new one at advance auto. I think it was about 10 dollars.

 

I think I can consider this issue resolved! It still shoots a spark at the radio occasionally, but it's very infrequent now. I bought another ground strap, but realized it was going to be a serious pain in the neck to tighten it onto the head... I decided to bush it out with wire-brush and re-tighten the firewall nut. I also bought a yellow top battery, all in all it seems to be running very smooth with only the occasional shudder.

I am getting a new code, P1142, but it's very ambiguous I will have to look into it more. My other misfire codes are gone and I drove her around for a few hours.

Thanks for the help!

 

Glad you got it resolved.

 

I also fixed my p1142, p1145, p1172 codes I think. Found a vacuum line that was completely unhinged (on top of the intake manifold). The air WUSHING sound went away.

So things are coming together for this Rover, I notice there is a faint growling/grinding sound about every 10 seconds from the undercarriage, louder on the passenger side - when idle stationary. I will post that in the Disco II thread.