Wipers, Hifi, Indicators all not working

[jdening]

Very odd electrical failure - just got the car back from a full engine rebuild, and it works beautifully except for the wipers, indicator and the stereo. I've looked through the wiring loom diagrams, but they don't seem to be connected. I thought it might be a problem with the ignition live circuit, but stuff like the heaters still work, which also only work with the ignition on.

Any ideas?

Hmmm - actually, I'm getting no power to the stereo - the clock is not on - so it must be a problem with the earth or with the direct battery feed. But the fact that the indicators don't work - they're not on the main battery live, but on the ignition live - would seem to push towards it being an earth.

SO, where are the J30, J31 and J32 loom connectors?

Thanks,

James

[TT Tim]

I had a similar problem to this, I don't know if it's of any use, but mine was caused by the cigarette lighter!

Tim

[jdening]

Tim,

Thanks for that - can you be any more specific??

[TT Tim]

I'll be honest - no!

My fault was that if anything was put into the cigarette lighter then the stereo would switch off and the wipers would come on!

My solution has been to not use the socket.

I posted as it might be worth checking.

I suspect that it's a crap earth, that's the problem with plastic cars, however there are tails of sockets being wired the wrong way round.

Tim

[Ireland]

There's definitely some connectors on the LHS of the dash but I'm not sure of the numbers of them.

They are up near the heater control box, above the ECU.

You access them by removing the trim panel above the front passengers footwell.

[jdening]

Right - this has been solved.

The hifi was almost a red herring - turned out the fuse had gone. Electrical mechanic bloke (very good he was - John at All Electric in Longstanton) said 'OOh, has someone used a booster pack to start it?' Yes, was the answer.

Turned out the booster pack had also fried the Steering Wheel Functions Control Unit - hence no wipers or indicator, as the PIC that does the flash/wipe interval timing was toast...

James

[SimonKD]

Hi James

At least you've found the problems as well as identifying the cause.

Some Cerbs don't take very kindly to starting using booster packs but some folk have done this with no problems. Bit quirky really.

Get yourself an Accumate (or similar) battery conditioner. You can leave these connected to the battery continually while she's in the garage without the fear of boiling the battery, they keep it charged perfectly for trouble free starting in all weather (as long as your battery is ok)

Been using one for over 2.5 years with no problems whatsoever.

Good luck with getting the damaged bits fixed.

Also from reading these posts thc cigarette lighter is best left alone for charging purposes , etc.

Regards
Simon

Edited by SimonKD on Monday 10th December 15:38

[jdening]

Oh, it wasn't me - it was my engine bloke. I have an optimate for longterm storage...

[SimonKD]

Very sensible indeed.

Regards
Simon.