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Title: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 17th, 2006, 10:22pm I have a '97 2.3 auto which was left standing for about 3 months.....last night I put the freshly charged battery back on and now I've got electrical gremlins! As soon as I connected the battery the alarm sounded, I rectified this by locking & unlocking the drivers door & switching on the ignigtion. I took her for a run & everything seemed fine, however about 2 hours after locking up the alarm went off. When I went to the car I noticed the the dash & gear selector lights were flickering on. Have I missed a procedure or something else when I put the battery back on, for 3 months ago she was running like a dream with no problems?? |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by nuttyscorp on Feb 17th, 2006, 11:31pm do you have a battery cover fitted? fuse boxes covered ok? if your car has been standing in heavy or prolonged rain or snow, its possible there is water/moisture in the fuseboxes. Russ |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 17th, 2006, 11:37pm Hi Russ, thanks for your reply. Yes the battery cover is there & both fuse boxes are tight & seem dry - I checked all the relays & fuses after reading the fault finding guide! dj |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Highlander on Feb 17th, 2006, 11:52pm Did you have the ignition on while installing the battery? try disconnectiing it for a couple of minutes then reconnect it up with the ignition off |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 17th, 2006, 11:55pm Hello Highlander No, ignition was off with the keys in my pocket! No equipment switched on at the time, I did try again after 30mins but it reacted the same. dj |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Simmo on Feb 18th, 2006, 8:01am A common cause of the alarm going off as you describe is the bonnet switch which sits just to the left of the bonnet release catch. The other point to consider is that the alarm horn is situated behind the battery fixed to the bulkhead. Is it possible that a wire may have been disturbed in the process of replacing the battery. |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Octavian_P on Feb 18th, 2006, 8:27am The alarm-on-when-battery connected it's "normal", mine does that all the time. My neighbors just love me fo that ;D. When installing the battery, just have all the dors closed and the bonet switch pressed. After connection, as you said, just lock/unlock with the keys. If alarm goes off later than it's an alarm/door/bonet switch. Get a can of contact spray, and some wd40, and clean them. As for the other part of the problem with the lights.....i don't know. As an prevent of fusebox corosion, you could put bags of silica gel over the fuses, it will get the moisture out. |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 18th, 2006, 5:19pm Well Guys, I followed all of your helpful advice........to no avail! I still have the alarm going off and the dash lights coming on without the key in the ignition :( Have checked the drain holes-all are clear, the fuse boxes look dry-have taken the covers off & checked all fuses, no moisture present and cleaned all the door & bonnet contacts. She & I are going to fall out soon! |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Dave on Feb 18th, 2006, 5:55pm Hi DJ, couple of things to check: -did you put ALL the small wires back on the battery terminals? -are the earth straps near the battery clean and tight? They may have got a bit gunged up with standing over winter. HTH :) |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 18th, 2006, 6:04pm Hi Dave Yep, when you say ALL the SMALL wires, hmm there are two positive leads and two negative leads - I checked the earth straps nearest the battery - they seen OK, have stripped the auxillary fusebox - no sign of moisture in it at all! One positive thing though, after checking all the fuses, we now have working heated seats - just what you need after the winter! dj |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Simmo on Feb 19th, 2006, 7:11am DJ, What Dave is referring to is the fact that there is a small wire to the negative terminal which has been known to slip down behind the battery and thus get missed on re-connecting. Worth a check. Did you replace the Fuses? or are you saying that because you have 'played about' with the fuse boxes or wiring around them the seats are now workning?. If it is the latter then that must indicate a poor connection somewhere surely. If you have checked the earth strap is it worth removing it and cleaning the contact points properly. To avoid earache ,from all quarters!!,you could, as a last resort,disconnect the alarm horn. |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 19th, 2006, 10:35am Simmo, apologies, I should have stated I checked all of the fuses and the one for the heated seats actually had blown - I had (somewhat foolishly) assumed them not working was more serious than a fuse as they did not illuminate with the car's lights as like rear window overide does not light up either. When I had the battery out I did brush a bit of leaf debris out of the compartment, however I did not notice a small wire for negaticv connection, as I don't actually remember disconnecting it please forgive my next question - do all scorpios have it i.e. does a 2.3 16v have one? Thanks dj |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by tjp_lawson on Feb 19th, 2006, 10:52am my 24v only has two wires on the negative one being a small one, are you now saying you have three dj? if your problem is not solved by a missing wire your problem could be power drain in alarm unit from long disconnect, lots of capacitors etc in that unit |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 19th, 2006, 10:58am as far as I can see there are two positive and two negative, my question was - is a 2.3 16v meant to have 3 negative, (I had a 2.9 12v before this one and that had a thin negative wire) but as I can't see one one the 2.3 16v is it supposed to have one? |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by tjp_lawson on Feb 19th, 2006, 11:06am dont remember my p plate 2.3 having more than two negs watch out for retro fitted hands free kits the bt one that left an aerial in my rear window left loose wires in battery area they had been cut down in footwell i just gave them a tug cause they didnt have professional crimps and they came away in my hand. luckily i didn`t connect them could have caused a short |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Simmo on Feb 19th, 2006, 11:48am DJ. There would appear to be differences from what is being said. I have been out and checked my 2.0ltr 16v and that has the third wire. |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 19th, 2006, 1:37pm Thanks for checking thaat Simmo - I'm off to check mine again! |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 19th, 2006, 3:00pm Have checked again, cannot find a third negative wire. |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Dave on Feb 19th, 2006, 3:32pm If you have had the battery out of the car check it hasn't become trapped underneath it - easily done! |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 19th, 2006, 4:40pm I've had the battery out again this afternoon to check for the 3rd wire, I can't see it - are you sure the 2.3 16v has one, where can I check? |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by nuttyscorp on Feb 19th, 2006, 6:38pm my 98 2.3 16v does have the 3rd wire. Russ |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 19th, 2006, 6:45pm Russ - thanks for that, can you tell me where it goes - i.e onto a loom, through a bulkhead - I had the battery out again looking for it and I'm dashed if I can find it! Many thanks dj |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Scorpioen84 on Feb 19th, 2006, 11:57pm Thanx for the PM djmutters69. ;) As said in the PM, in my case im pretty chure it was wather... Try taking out fuces, and inserting them one at the time untill all hell breaks loose... :P Then take out that fuce again and continue inserting... Hopefully that fuce is not impotant... ich.. like my wipers fuce... ;D If you can, park the car in a dry hot place or take youre time with the hairdryer.... :) Alsow check that the drainholes for the fucebox is clear, mine was clogged with Mud... (sorry about my por english, hope u understand.) |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 20th, 2006, 12:34am Thank you for your post Scorpioen84. Your English is far superior to my Norwegian, I appreciate your reply, I shall try it! dj |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Scorpioen84 on Feb 21st, 2006, 8:31am Well now it started again.... :o >:( Its been +degrees and raining... - degrees = ice = insulator = good... Emtied 4liters of fluids and has been standing with the wiperfluid motor on all night..... >:( So i have ripped out the fuce again, and have no wipers, when it rains... >:( |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 22nd, 2006, 5:38pm I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who gave me helpful advice last weekend regarding my electrical problem - solved it with replacing all the fuses & the bonnet alarm. That was the 1st time I'd used such a site as this and I wanted to say how impressed I was with how helpful and quick everyone was. Without getting all warm & gooey - cheers everybody, this site is simply the best, sensible, soo informative it hurts, and full of decent members. Thank you dj |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Paul B on Feb 22nd, 2006, 6:48pm Glad you're sorted 8) Out of interest, did you find that 3rd cable? ??? Had a look at mine tonight and all the wires come up through the same hole in the metalwork. If you look down in front of the battery, thats where they appear. |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by djmutters69 on Feb 22nd, 2006, 8:43pm Hi Paul I didn't find the 3rd cable, had the battery out (yet again!) checked every hole, nook & cranny I could see to no avail. I even checked the nearby looms/wiring to see if it might have been pulled off/out but couldn't see any damage/stubby little broken wire etc that looked suspect. The car has been out & about for a few good runs, passed it's MOT today and not (so far) showed any more problems, so fingers crossed! Thanks again dj |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Simmo on Feb 22nd, 2006, 8:48pm Well done dj.Glad to have helped and hope all goes well.Thanks for your kind remarks. |
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Title: Re: Electrical problem Post by Dave on Feb 23rd, 2006, 10:06am Glad to hear its sorted and MOT passed :D |
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