Electrical. Gremlins

#1 · 30th May 2012, 5:00 pm

Quote from KenArmstrong on 30th May 2012, 5:00 pm
Hi All,
Seeing as I'm stuck on a train and finally have time to write this I thought I would pass on an experience I have had with the electrics on the LE. Apologies to Colin who knows a bit about this and has been very helpful with advice over the last while.
Almost a year ago the car developed a fault where the engine would fire when the key was turned the instantly die when it was released to the run position. That was it.
I suspected the ignition switch and got one from a popular insect based parts supplier which was the usual reverse engineered Chinese rubbish. It made no difference. In the end I changed the starter solenoid, both relays and the fuse box (you just can't be too careful). Nothing changed the problem.
However the fault became worse with occasions when the ignition warning light wouldn't come on or the engine would die while driving along.
After more thought and advice I came back to the ignition switch. Still the original so I put the Chinese one on again. I discovered the miltiplug was poorly made and had an intermittent faulty connection. I tweaked this and got it to connect reliably. This was the evening before Abingdon 2012. Problem solved I thought and went to fit the plastic switch permanently in the steering lock. It as at this point that the central wire on the back simply disconnected itself along with the small spade it was soldered to. One tiny and inadequate rivet had held it in place. So needing it fixed pronto for the next day I soldered the wire on to the rivet and said a quiet prayer.
We got to Abingdon and back without issue but the wire came away last week so I got another switch from a different supplier which seemed to be of better quality. When fitted the problem was worse than ever. Fiddling with the loom behind the dash made the engine stop and start randomly. After much searching it turned out to be the multiplug for the light switch. The Brown wire from the ignition runs to the light switch plug where it becomes a double wire attached on the loom side of the multiplug.i connected these by bypassing the multiplug and hay presto the problem has gone. So far.....
Simple, eh?

Hi All,
Seeing as I'm stuck on a train and finally have time to write this I thought I would pass on an experience I have had with the electrics on the LE. Apologies to Colin who knows a bit about this and has been very helpful with advice over the last while.
Almost a year ago the car developed a fault where the engine would fire when the key was turned the instantly die when it was released to the run position. That was it.
I suspected the ignition switch and got one from a popular insect based parts supplier which was the usual reverse engineered Chinese rubbish. It made no difference. In the end I changed the starter solenoid, both relays and the fuse box (you just can't be too careful). Nothing changed the problem.
However the fault became worse with occasions when the ignition warning light wouldn't come on or the engine would die while driving along.
After more thought and advice I came back to the ignition switch. Still the original so I put the Chinese one on again. I discovered the miltiplug was poorly made and had an intermittent faulty connection. I tweaked this and got it to connect reliably. This was the evening before Abingdon 2012. Problem solved I thought and went to fit the plastic switch permanently in the steering lock. It as at this point that the central wire on the back simply disconnected itself along with the small spade it was soldered to. One tiny and inadequate rivet had held it in place. So needing it fixed pronto for the next day I soldered the wire on to the rivet and said a quiet prayer.
We got to Abingdon and back without issue but the wire came away last week so I got another switch from a different supplier which seemed to be of better quality. When fitted the problem was worse than ever. Fiddling with the loom behind the dash made the engine stop and start randomly. After much searching it turned out to be the multiplug for the light switch. The Brown wire from the ignition runs to the light switch plug where it becomes a double wire attached on the loom side of the multiplug.i connected these by bypassing the multiplug and hay presto the problem has gone. So far.....
Simple, eh?

#2 · 30th May 2012, 5:08 pm

...I bet it would have been easier to fix an awkward patient (Ken's a GP) :D:D:D:D

If it ain't broken don't try to fix it as if you do it will definitely break