help ! electrical gremlins have attacked

on my way home just now in my 200tdi i noticed my radio wasnt working ( not even lit up ) and when i braked or indicated i could hear a staticy crackling noise thro the speakers in time with the indicators or whenever i pressed the brakes .

i also noticed that with my side or headlights on the interior lights come on very dimly
when i stopped to check i found that when i opened the door the lcd display on the clock would disappear and reappear if i pressed the switch in the door .
i checked all the wires on the alternator and they r still on and when the engine is running its putting 14.5 volts into the battery
the batery is only 6 months old and it still starts quickly but thats where my electrical knowledge ends so can anyone point in the right direction if they have any ideas ? thanks Darren

darrenwall said:

on my way home just now in my 200tdi i noticed my radio wasnt working ( not even lit up ) and when i braked or indicated i could hear a staticy crackling noise thro the speakers in time with the indicators or whenever i pressed the brakes .

i also noticed that with my side or headlights on the interior lights come on very dimly
when i stopped to check i found that when i opened the door the lcd display on the clock would disappear and reappear if i pressed the switch in the door .
i checked all the wires on the alternator and they r still on and when the engine is running its putting 14.5 volts into the battery
the batery is only 6 months old and it still starts quickly but thats where my electrical knowledge ends so can anyone point in the right direction if they have any ideas ? thanks Darren

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You could start by looking at the condition of the fusible links in the main +ve battery cable.
Unwrap them and sort out what you find. Chances are they are corroded / broken.

Also check as many earth connections as you can find. If the interior light has a dim glow when other stuff is on, it could be a bad / corroded earth.

thanks guys but i just found the problem , a blown interior light fuse . It gave some strange symptoms tho cos the radio has its own fuse .

darrenwall said:

thanks guys but i just found the problem , a blown interior light fuse . It gave some strange symptoms tho cos the radio has its own fuse .

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Pleased that you've found the problem but might I suggest that you check and clean the earth point which is on the drivers side front inner wing, just aft of the battery.

I had similar symptoms and it was due to this bad earth.

thebiglad said:

Pleased that you've found the problem but might I suggest that you check and clean the earth point which is on the drivers side front inner wing, just aft of the battery.

I had similar symptoms and it was due to this bad earth.

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funny u should mention that cos i put a new battery in about 10 months ago and cos the terminals were the wrong way round i had to pull the negative lead and it popped out of that earth point on the wing , i seen it went further down so i thought fook it . everything worked fine without it but then about 2 weeks ago i realised the main earth lead from the battery goes to the engine and that is rubber mounted so the body isnt properly earthed .
i run an earth strap from the battery to one of the screws on the wing ( nice and easy with no drilling lol ) and i cant believe the difference
where before i got used to the slow heater blower and poor lights now my headlights turn night time into daytime ( well not quite but they are much better ) and my heater blower has the power to demist the windscreen without opening the window as well