Oh Bugger! Help!!

[poorpeet]

I went to put the car back in the garage just now. I turned on the ignition pressed the button on the alarm fob, its a Laserline alarm BTW, but no whirring noise from the fuel pump! I tried a few times but nothing. Turned off, took out the key & noticed that the ignition lights were still on! Put the keys in & turned it on & off but not able to turn them off! Decided to disconect the batt. This set the alarm off! Re connected it & dash lights were out. Tried to start it, no whirr & again dash lights stay on! Went thru same process a couple if times & decided to push it into the garage for tonight.
I was cleaning the widow motor contacts earlier & left the ign on for 5-10 min by mistake. Would this have caused a problem? The only other thing I've touched are the block connectorsby the door lock on the passenger side. Both have been pulled apart, cleaned & reassembled.
May I need to reset the alarm?
Any advice welcome.

[GreenV8S]

Strange and complex symptoms. I would guess either a sticky relay, alarm fault, or the alternator has just chosen this moment to fail. If the alarm has a window close module that would seem a possible link to your recent work.

[350Matt]

Charge the battery up before anything else, low battery voltage causes all manner of weirdness

Matt

[poorpeet]

I'll charge it but as it's spinning the engine over as fast as ever so I don't think it will help.
I'll try to contact Laserline tomorrow & see if they can advise.

[spend]

My laserline is linked to the TVR immob/Central Locking Module, they occasionally get out of sync. Sometimes it can be cleared by using the alarm reset (the plug in thing on the keyring?) at other times I have to disconnect the battery and reset everything. Luckily I have a disconnect switch, so I can just clamp the battery terminal whilst holding the door switch - which always seems to work if quickly unlocking with the remote.

They could all be different tho Try alarming the car and see if it starts

Dave

[GreenV8S]

spend said:

Try alarming the car and see if it starts

You want him to sneak up on it and say "Boo"?

Edited by GreenV8S on Sunday 7th October 21:39

[poorpeet]

Well I swore at it! does that count?

Dave do you know the propper resetting procedure?
I dont have a manual for the alarm & have no idea how it works or what the buttons do beyond working out that one of them locks & unlocks the doors!

If the problem is a sticky ign relay can I swap it for one of the others, like hazard lights & see if it works? or will this cause more probs?

[spend]

They make several models, the square blippers, have a lock/unlock button & a panic button (for scaring people away?). The other round blipper has 3 buttons, the extra one can be wired to an accessory like boot unlock. They should all have an electronic key & receptacle, touching in is like pressing the lock/unlock, holding in does a reset IIRC.

Dave

[poorpeet]

Right, I dont thint it's the alarm. I have spoken to laserline & all working as it should bar the fuel pump. So this may just be a connection I disturbed.
On the ign front the lights now go on & off with the key as they should but when you turn it off you get a buzz for a second (Sticky relay?) that I have not had before. seems to come from the front rather than from all the relays in the footwell.
Any ideas?
Also does anyone know which wires in the loom run to the fuel pump? I'm assuming there in the two blocks I disturbed yesterday.

[spend]

You could try replacing the main relay in the fuse box, feedback when this fails has been reported to keep the dash powered.. and a spare would not be a complete waste (just a common 70a relay - quite cheap).

Check at the fuel pump itself first, could be the earth or connectors. Then work back to the ecu relays, but make sure you see 12v at the ecu fuel relay first.
I had a basic coloured wiring diagram at http://tvr3.dspen.com/Wiring_Diags/lucasecu.png which should give you an idea. My immob cuts the circuit by the inertia switch YMMV.

Dave

[poorpeet]

Thanks again Dave!
Where are these relays located?
They are not shown in the handbook as being on the fuse panel. Are they the ones that just dangle infront of the battery or the ones under the dash cover?

[spend]

Maybe its called the 'ignition' relay in the hand book? There is only one of them, it only has 4 terminals is on the top second from the right (IIRC and your fuses are at the bottom), the terminals are bigger than the other relays 6.3mm as opposed to 4.7mm OTOMH. Basically when you switch the ignition on, this relay powers up the big copper bus bar in the fusebox that supplies all the other relays and fuses internally. I'm pretty sure there have been a couple of reported occasions on here where when the relay has failed the live power has leaked back to the ignition circuit (the relay didn't click off).

TBH its the odd relays like this I keep as spares in my car (wipers & courtesy light are the others). I know that all my fan, lights, horn, ecu relays are interchangeable (I have made sure I have twin make breaks in all my std relays ) and they are commonly available anywhere anyway..

I don't think this will be your fuel pump problem, but it is one of the first things I would check if my ignition was staying on when the key was out

Dave

[poorpeet]

The ign is ok now so it's just the pump to sort. I can't get to the pump at the moment so I just want to test the output from the relay.
Where is the fuel pump relay located in the car?

[Flintstone]

With the ECU in the footwell?

[poorpeet]

Jesus! what next!!!? I have checked thw wire from the pump & all is fine. I undo the two screws that hold the glove er, box? It swings out of the way to reveal the underside of the ECU flat against the opening & solidly fixed! No room to get more than a slim finger pst it. The bible shows that this should be a clear opening for access.
What on earth did I do in a previous life!!

[spend]

Do you mean when you checked the wire at the fuel pump you saw 12v?

The ECU has a mounting bracket pop riveted to it, on the opposite side to the connector IIRC. You may find fasteners that enable it to be removed (cant be under the dash cos you need to get your hand thro there to remove it..)

Dave

[poorpeet]

No I mean the is not a break in the cable. 0 volts when tested. I will have a look for some sort of fastner when I next get time. I was rushing tonight.

Pete

[spend]

Its easier to check for 12v against a good ground .

Dave

[poorpeet]

I did. I ran a separate ground. I don't think the problem is anything to do with the work I did I think its in the relay/fuse area. i can't do much till I can get access to the relevent wires to see where the voltage gets to. I have found a badly overheated relay, one of the ones that hang from the ecu loom. I'll replace that one first & see what happens.

[jonnyb]

poorpeet said:

Jesus! what next!!!? I have checked thw wire from the pump & all is fine. I undo the two screws that hold the glove er, box? It swings out of the way to reveal the underside of the ECU flat against the opening & solidly fixed! No room to get more than a slim finger pst it. The bible shows that this should be a clear opening for access.
What on earth did I do in a previous life!!

ECU is in the passager footwell, along with the battery and the relay for the fuel pump.