Bit of a disaster today ..

[ChrisW500]

A nice day so decided to get the car out of the garage she started fine and all running well ... Turned the car off and plugged in RoverGauge to check all was well with the old girl.

Connected the laptop via the proper cable and connected to the port in the foot well and .... no connection of the software but two ticking noises came from the footwell and ...now the car won't start. Immobiliser fob opens the doors etc, ignition lights on but no fuel pump initiation noise and now no engine crank.

Had a look in the fuse board and checked the fuses they all seem fine with a test light. So before I lose the will to live is it likely to be the relays? Seems odd that this happened as a result of connection of the laptop and the USB cable though? Is this likely to cause a major failure?

So left it as I lost motivation after 2 hours in the foot well with a right mess of wiring in there :-(

Any pearls of wisdom as to where to start (not a play on words!)

Chris

[blaze_away]

Its a possibility for sure that you have disturbed the wiring in that are and with bad connections to the relays you might have poor contacts. Pull them out and clean the contacts and try again.

[mk1fan]

Sorry to here that Chris. Can't help other than to give moral support. You're clever enough to sort it, just think like TVR. Start off with how not to do it and run with that

[NHyde]

Check you haven't disturbed the inertia switch

[ChrisW500]

Thanks folks will try the inertia switch but the fault occurred without any movement of the wiring as I have the diagnostic point brought out of the foot well for easy access. It was as a direct connection of the usb cable to the lap top. When I turned on RoverGauge there was the normal blinking lights on the cable plug then the 2 noises from the footwell. I then went round to the drivers side to start the car and nothing!

Battery is fully charged everything else electronically seems to work But no fuel pump prime cycle or crank

Will have another look today to see if I can see anything. As mentioned all the fuses checked out it’s just the relays I need to check now

[blitzracing]

If there are no relays in the 14CUX loom clicking when you turn on the ignition its likely either the immobilizer is playing up is this interrupts the fuel pump supply and starter and you dont get the relay click. The only time Ive seen a Rover Gauge connection cause an issue is when a laptop PSU (battery inverter type) failed and put voltage on the laptop chassis, that then fed down the Rovergauge cable earth and back to battery earth. This cooked the cable, but even in this extreme case the ECU survived. I assume you dont get any readings from RoverGauge as well now?

Edited by blitzracing on Friday 15th May 10:44

[ChrisW500]

Hi.. re-connected the laptop and RG but nothing working, the cable leds flash once when connecting to the laptop and that’s it.
No relays clicking at turn on as you mentioned

To make matters worse I am now locked out of the car the arm and disarm lights work on the car but the doors remain locked 🔒 Door buttons are operating and activating the door solenoids are operating but remain locked. Boot and bonnet are down and locked.

So left the car and considered a bonfire 🔥

Chris

[LucyP]

Good lesson though. When it starts fine and is running well, leave it alone!

[bobfather]

LucyP said:

Good lesson though. When it starts fine and is running well, leave it alone!

^^very sensible advice^^

....however, we are TVR enthusiasts so we can't help ourselves, fiddling about is what we do

[Belle427]

Flat battery?

[ChrisW500]

The battery is fully charged :-)

[ChrisW500]

So after some advice at least I am back in the car!

Back to the main problem!

[Penelope Stopit]

Wonder if the alarm is playing up and that caused the doors to become problematic on top of it bringing in an immobiliser?

[ChrisW500]

A bit more info on my problem today as picture tells a thousand words note the mess in there



and

[Belle427]

You sure that’s not another of the famous hot start bodge kits?
Normally the relays look like this.

Edited by Belle427 on Friday 15th May 18:14

[Mutley00]

Sorry I can't be of any more help Chris, but as Belle427 said, I think we've both got a Hot Start 'bodge' installed, and if your 'bodge' relay is not faulty like mine was, then I am out of my limited technical depth.

Good luck with sorting it.

[blitzracing]

The relay switches two contact live at the same time, unlike the more common 2 way ones. If RG is dead, its likely the ecu is not getting power. Drop me a mail Ill show you how to bypass the immobiliser circuits with no wire cutting to remove that from the equation. Otherwise it all looks like you have a big voltage drop somewhere if things are so intermittent like door locks.

[TV8]

Hi Chris, hows things?

It’s telling you it wants to be driven Not having lap tops plugged into it

always something simple with these cars, though we naturally tend to do the difficult things 1st...

Have you tried the relays I put in the post?

I would rather have this problem than the one on the 996, which seem to have a dodgy earth that drowns out radio when the air con is on full. That car has more wiring behind the dashboard than all my TVRs and Triumphs put together!

[blaze_away]

Its not much but worth a try............disconnect battery and leave it a minute or two then reconnect it.

Could be a bad connection on battery and ECU gets a reset.

[ChrisW500]

Thanks for the advice so couple of things can I confirm that the main engine relay should be a 4 pin one rated at 30/40A? As you can see mine has soldered in 5 pin one but the centre pin is not connected.. on the bit brown heavy wire there is 12v but nothing on the other pins. If it’s a bodge in what is the correct wires / connection to the correct relay as I will put a proper socket in there and the correct relay?

There is no sounds coming from either relay on turn on or at pressing the fob button?

Blitz has sent me some info on the immobiliser but I now need to get the dash top off... what a pig of a job!! I have only found 1 bolt on the passengers side and have the steering wheel and drivers seat now out and cannot find the other 2 so left the car and considered heavy drinking!!!