uh oh.... does this spell trouble?

[Tigertiger]

Strange things have been happening to my Chim over the past few days.

Firstly, a few days ago, after a particularly damp night she stalled almost immediately after starting. I barely gave it a thought as she was cold. On the way to work the engine cut out four times, the first time as I was going around a sharp bend and wondered what the hell was going on as the steering became very heavy. In all cases it was as I was off the accelerator and braking.

Today the cd player cut out (well the sound anyway) the head unit was still powered up. The sound started breaking up and then after a few seconds - silence. Interestingly the radio still worked. After 10 mins or so everything returned to normal.

After parking up I reluctanly switched off the ignition fearing she would not restart. I was right, nothing! Then the alarm went off (could be been me pressing to defeat the immobilser for too long) After 3 or 4 attempts (no fuel pump, not turning over, no dash lights) everyting came back to normal - much relieved.

Finally, the seems to be a delay on starting, I have to turn the key for longer than before and there in sometimes a strange new squealing/rasping noise from under the bonnet after starting which quickly subsides...

Apologies for the essay but wanted to be as complete as possible. Off to garage her for the night, hope she starts in the morning.....

[Tyre Smoke]

Sounds like damp in the electrics.

Have a look at the fuse box in the passenger footwell and make sure all is dry and tight. Could also be a problem with the 'big' fuse - which I believe is located somewhere under the car at the front.I'm sure a Chim officionado will correct me on this though.

[Big Al.]

100 amp fuse is situated along the side of the oil sump on the drivers side. It's housed in a plastic box. Take it out clean it and the contacts in the box and replace. Squirt of WD 40 won't go amiss either.

[mongoose]

check the battery terminal connections,and have a good check that all the relays fuses etc are all well connected also.i see you have a '99 car so you probably dont have the nasty earlier type fuseboard that can burn out, i.e. two independant fan fuses not one 40amp one.

[Tigertiger]

Thanks for the helpfull posts.

Buried my head in the foot well and checked all the connections I could get to as suggested. One of the connections (battery end) of the fuseable link was barely finger tight. Interestingly the case was bound in insulation tape as the clip had broken, indicating that it had failed before. Took it apart wiped with WD40, no sign of corrosion and put it all back together again so hopefully no more problems.

There were a few trickles of acid on the top of the battery - testimony to my cornering? lol

I may wish to replace with a sealed, maintenance free unit. Any recommendations?

[mongoose]

Tigertiger said:

I may wish to replace with a sealed, maintenance free unit. Any recommendations?

a delphi freedom is what ive just fitted-700cca and with the vent pipe attachment,it one of the truly maintainance free types.see the thread on here recently titled"battery replacement"