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Hi there. Just purchased a 92 sportrack on sunday, and this morning it completely died on me. I had driven about a quarter mile down the road and then it just cut out. No electrical power when the key is turned. My multimeter is at work, but i have checked the fuses visually and they all apear to be ok. There is power somewhere as the hazard lights work. Is this a problem anyone else has encountered? Any particular problems i should know about? Any help greatly appreciated. Cheers, Slim.
Lead.
Could be a simple remedy .... have a battery leads come loose? Had similar problem.
Remove and give the connection a good clean ... its might feel tight but not contacting.
And check the fuses situated on the battery positive terminal where you will find a 40A fuse which supplies the starter.
Ignition switch?
Still getting nothing. All fuses ok, battery connections ok and voltage good. Horn, lights and hazards all work, but not a sausage when i turn the ignition key. I'm thinking ignition switch. Am i wrong? Will try and hot wire it tommorrow once i bring some wire back home from work. Anyone who knows which wire is which could save me some trouble! My problem is, I HATE electrics. Any suggestions appreciated.
F/L 1.0 fuse
Ignition key is protected by the F/L 1.0 fuse. Its on the battery positive terminal. Same fuse powers the heater blower and rear lights ... are they working? Check the fuse holders are connecting the fuse ... try a circuit test across the fuse connectors for conductivity.
I assume you also checked all fuses inside 2 fuse boxes above the drivers foot peddles.
Also make sure the 'starter'
Also make sure the 'starter' feed (small wire to the starter) is getting a good conection.
Any veiws expresed in this thread by me are purely from my own experience, and (sometimes) falible memory. Hope my comments help, but please don't take them as gospel.
still not getting anything. C
still not getting anything. Checked all the fuses I can find. The 2 boxes by the pedals, the fuses at +ve terminal, the box next to that, and the seperate fuses (30amps) nearby. Checked the relays too. Got battery voltage at the starter. Couldnt get the thing to start by shorting the terminals for the ignition, but then, didnt know what i was doing anyway! One terminal is showing 10v and the rest either 0 or just 0.? Is that about right? Any more ideas? And cheers for the suggestions.
OK a master mind.
Just a thought before I search my repair manual again.....
Is there any posibility you have immobilised the engine?
Think back to when the car stopped. Were you fiddling with anything ... glovebox, dashboard, knees underneath the dash board? It is a possibility that your Sporty might have an immobiliser operated by a rocker switch. You could easily have knocked the switch and shut off the engine ... the switch might be breaking a circuit to the ignition.
I realise you might think it impossible but I do know of a 2nd hand Sporty that spent 5 days in a garage. Same symptom as yours. The Sporty ground to a halt on Motorway. Mechanic stripped the electrics/engine apart, reassembled it and it remained dead. Then someone told him about the pre-zapper diy method of immobilising an engine. A quick search and the switch found. Sporty immediately started and owner got a very big demand for all the unnecessary work.
Try all the switches and test the ignition on each switch. Those normal switches built into the dash board might be a diy immobiliser.
Other areas to look ... the lower side of the dashboard's edge to the right hand side of the steering wheel- run your hand along the underside of the dash board [most likely caught the switch with your leg]. Also inside the glove box. To the rear of the steering cowl. Have a thorough look around.
NB ... 10v on the battery is too low. Battery must be 12volt to turn the starter. Try charging the battery or jump lead to another car. If it starts suspect the alternator - you could have been running on battery power until the battery drained. Or the engine to earth strap to the engine is corroded at its connection.
PS ... Post back any result before I search my CD repair guide.
Hey. Thanks for the extra tip
Hey. Thanks for the extra tips. I should have been clearer about voltages. It's 12.59 at the battery and the same at the starter. The 10.8 volts i quoted was from one of the terminals that go to the ignition switch. It is dark now, but i shall have a good look for an imobiliser switch in the light. I am almost at the point of calling a profesional, so fingers crossed!
Thanks again guys. Will let you know.
Slim.
Call the experts!
Finally got the problem solved today. Called out an auto electrician and he found the problem within about 15 mins! These guys are alchemists! It was a corroded connection in the main feed, in a plug on the harness. I would never have got it. Thanks for the help and suggestions though guys. Much appreciated.
Is that one of the terminals
Is that one of the terminals on the starter, or the battery that is reading 10v? Either way it is not good. A car battery should be about 12 to 12.5v at rest, rising to as much as 14v when charging from a running altinatour.
If this low voltage is at the starter, but the battery is OK, then you must have a bad conection somewhere (either one of the battery terminals, the poss to the starter, or the earth from the engine to the chassis).
However, as the engine died as you were driving, I'm thinking duff aultinatour. This would mean the battery it self is only holding 10v, as the battery was driving the car without help as long as it could, until the engine died from lack of voltage.
Have you tried charging the battery over night? If you do, and when you take it off charge the battery stays at 12+v, and it starts but the voltage does not increase at the battery, then the altinator is definatly gone.
Having re-read this thread, I have just re-iterated what Mace said. Oops.
Any veiws expresed in this thread by me are purely from my own experience, and (sometimes) falible memory. Hope my comments help, but please don't take them as gospel.
Hey. Had a good root around a
Hey. Had a good root around and can't find anything that could be an immobiliser switch. I have left a message for the previous owner asking him if he knows anything, but have yet to hear back from him. I need to get this fixed soon, the fuel bill on my other car is crippling me!
Totaly diffrent tack. Can yo
Totaly diffrent tack. Can you turn the engine by hand, IE put a crack bar on the nut on the bottom pully, and turn the crank? It could be seased.
I had an F20 sease up on me off road. It didn't go bang, clater, clater. In fact it made no out of the ordenary noise. It was like it had hit some realy sticky, power sapping mud, and had stalled.
Tired to start it. The starter clickes, but nothing els. Was starting to try all the electrical things when someone els said about a posible seasure. Sure enugh the crank would not turn, despit the best efforts of 3 blocks, a crack bar and a length of scafold pole.
Hope I'm wronge, but it's got to be worth checking?
Any veiws expresed in this thread by me are purely from my own experience, and (sometimes) falible memory. Hope my comments help, but please don't take them as gospel.