Series 3 ignition problems

Sunday morning laning spoilt my the dodgy electrics again.
The old SIII diesel will sit with the ignition on (charge light and oil
presser lights lit), but any attempt to load the battery kills the electrics
and all dash lights go out. The electrics "recovers" back to ignition-on
state after a few seconds.

First thing Sunday morning it worked OK. I heated glow plugs for the usual
20seconds, turned the engine over twice, stoped, tried to turn the starter
again and all I got was a clicking sound from the engine bay. After that the
glow plugs and starter would not work at all, as described above the
electrics would "die" when any load such as plugs/horn/indicators etc were
swiched on.

Any advice would be very much appreciated, I'm stumped.

I thought the solonoid might be stuck and shorted, so diconnected it, With
the heavy black +ve lead connected only to the alternator and vehical main
loom (not solonoid terminal) it still displayed the electrical fault.

Also tried it with jump leads from another car, no good.
Ideas please.

DavidM

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DavidM djm81NOSPAMatcam.ac.uk

It does sound like a dodgy connection somewhere betwene the battery
terminals and the rest of the car.

If you have treid it with jump leads and there is still no joy it is
probably not the battery terminal contacts, but its probably worth
taking them off and cleaning them and putting them back on nice and
tight.
..
Where does the +ve power lead go next after the battery?. Does it go
to a stud on the starter (or solenoid) and then the rest of the wiring
loom is fed off here too? Are you sure that this connection is good?.
Maybe taking it apart and cleaning it is a good idea.

Worth checking the earth straps too. I recently replaced my main earth
strap from the engine/starter as it was turning over slowly. The old
cable looked fine (but hard to tell under the gunge), but on closer
inspection was very frayed inside. A new strap made it loads better!

"DavidM" <djm81@(I hate spam)cam.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sunday morning laning spoilt my the dodgy electrics again.
> The old SIII diesel will sit with the ignition on (charge light and oil
> presser lights lit), but any attempt to load the battery kills the
electrics
> and all dash lights go out. The electrics "recovers" back to ignition-on
> state after a few seconds.
>
> First thing Sunday morning it worked OK. I heated glow plugs for the usual
> 20seconds, turned the engine over twice, stoped, tried to turn the starter
> again and all I got was a clicking sound from the engine bay. After that
the
> glow plugs and starter would not work at all, as described above the
> electrics would "die" when any load such as plugs/horn/indicators etc were
> swiched on.
>
> Any advice would be very much appreciated, I'm stumped.
>
> I thought the solonoid might be stuck and shorted, so diconnected it, With
> the heavy black +ve lead connected only to the alternator and vehical main
> loom (not solonoid terminal) it still displayed the electrical fault.
>
> Also tried it with jump leads from another car, no good.
> Ideas please.

I had same problem on mine it was the earth lead from battery to chassis.
It was suposed to be soldered but it was manky at the chassis end,
so I made a new one and soldered it and had so problem since.
On mine it has a - cable battery to chassis and one from chassis to engine,
and a + from battery to starter (90 nad)
--
Jon

On or around Mon, 14 Mar 2005 11:49:02 -0000, "DavidM" <djm81@(I hate
spam)cam.ac.uk> enlightened us thusly:

>Sunday morning laning spoilt my the dodgy electrics again.
>The old SIII diesel will sit with the ignition on (charge light and oil
>presser lights lit), but any attempt to load the battery kills the electrics
>and all dash lights go out. The electrics "recovers" back to ignition-on
>state after a few seconds.
>

crappy connection in the circuit - I'll give you very good odds. classic
symptoms.

check all round:

battery + post to terminal
battery + terminal to wire
battery + wire to terminal (at starter)
battery + terminal to post on starter

battery - post to terminal
battery - terminal to wire
battery - wire to terminal (at chassis)
battery - terminal to chassis

for starters.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young / In a world
of magnets and miracles / Our thoughts strayed constantly and without
boundary / The ringing of the Division bell had begun. Pink Floyd (1994)

"Austin Shackles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> crappy connection in the circuit - I'll give you very good odds. classic
> symptoms.
>
> check all round:
>
> battery + post to terminal
> battery + terminal to wire
> battery + wire to terminal (at starter)
> battery + terminal to post on starter
>
> battery - post to terminal
> battery - terminal to wire
> battery - wire to terminal (at chassis)
> battery - terminal to chassis
>
> for starters.

Thanks all for the replies, good to hear that people have seen similar
faults. I'll get to work with the voltmeter.

Think I'll buy a couple of heavy earth leads for battery>chassis and
engine>chassis. The starter has certainly been slower to turn recently, as
described by Tom.

Cheers
David

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DavidM djm81NOSPAMatcam.ac.uk

On or around Mon, 14 Mar 2005 14:24:46 -0000, "DavidM" <djm81@(I hate
spam)cam.ac.uk> enlightened us thusly:

>Thanks all for the replies, good to hear that people have seen similar
>faults. I'll get to work with the voltmeter.
>
>Think I'll buy a couple of heavy earth leads for battery>chassis and
>engine>chassis. The starter has certainly been slower to turn recently, as
>described by Tom.

The only way to be sure of the joint to the chassis is to undo it and clean
it. scrape (file if you can get at it) the bit where it mounts, assemble
dry, bolt it up tight and for my money put some grease over it after bolting
it tight to try and stop it rusting again so quickly.

The screwed type of battery clamp can be cleaned and the wire soldered into
it, instead of/as well as screwing it, for better connection.



--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"If you cannot mould yourself as you would wish, how can you expect
other people to be entirely to your liking?"
Thomas À Kempis (1380 - 1471) Imitation of Christ, I.xvi.

"Austin Shackles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> The only way to be sure of the joint to the chassis is to undo it and
clean
> it. scrape (file if you can get at it) the bit where it mounts, assemble
> dry, bolt it up tight and for my money put some grease over it after
bolting
> it tight to try and stop it rusting again so quickly.
>
> The screwed type of battery clamp can be cleaned and the wire soldered
into
> it, instead of/as well as screwing it, for better connection.

I want to replace the earth to a few places, and add an additional one from
the battery to the engine just to make sure. Can't find anywhere that sells
the heavy braided cable though. Any suggestions?

David

DavidM wrote:

> I want to replace the earth to a few places, and add an additional one from
> the battery to the engine just to make sure. Can't find anywhere that sells
> the heavy braided cable though. Any suggestions?

Use welding cable and crimp lugs - they should be available from your
local welding supplier for a sensible price.


--
EMB

On or around Tue, 15 Mar 2005 07:59:50 +1300, EMB <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>DavidM wrote:
>
>> I want to replace the earth to a few places, and add an additional one from
>> the battery to the engine just to make sure. Can't find anywhere that sells
>> the heavy braided cable though. Any suggestions?
>
>Use welding cable and crimp lugs - they should be available from your
>local welding supplier for a sensible price.

aye, or buy the largest size elcheapo jump leads you can from halfrauds.

there are 25mm² ones on sale pretty cheap. the clamps are crap on these
anyway, and you can use 'em double to get more capacity - they're a bit thin
as a single wire. Mind, if you start from the battery - terminal and take
one wire to the chassis and another to the engine, and leave the existing
engine-chassis wire in place, it ought to work.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam! afar Drag the slow barge, or
drive the rapid car; Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear the
flying chariot through the field of air.- Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802)

DavidM composed the following;:

> I want to replace the earth to a few places, and add an additional one
> from the battery to the engine just to make sure. Can't find anywhere
> that sells the heavy braided cable though. Any suggestions?

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk/VWPweb2000/cables/cables.html

I know these people from when I had the S3 and lived 'across the valley' in
Nottingham. They do earth braiding, terminals etc. They also sometimes
have made up earth braids with terminals already made in varying lengths.

--
Paul ...
(8(|) Homer Rules ..... Doh !!!