Gaz5535
Active Member
I have tried that, or do you have to hold it for 30 seconds or so? I thought that was for the headlight adjustment?
Switch the lights on and move control to left to dim dash lamps and to right to brighten them.
My next port of call would be to try the old trick of undoing the battery, neg - and leave it a few minutes before reconnecting. It may or may not work. If not, check the BECM plugs aren't compromised. Usually it's damp off the carpet that does it. Undo battery, leave a few minutes then pull each plug from the BECM (it's under the drivers seat BTW). Cheack for signs of corrosion, but use a strong torch because it may be hard to see. Eventually found this to be the cause of my drivers window not working. Cleaned it up with a mouse tail file, some contact cleaner (both available at Maplin) and it's been fine ever since..... Unless you count the rear drivers side window 
But since I never use it I haven't got around to dealing with it yet
These old girls are tempraMENTAL and sometimes they need a tickle in the right place, ooh err
But since I never use it I haven't got around to dealing with it yet These old girls are tempraMENTAL and sometimes they need a tickle in the right place, ooh err
Ok, discovered your problem this afternoon... It'll be the ignition barrel at fault!
I left my sidelights on today, came back to the car & opened the door, fitted the key into the ign before I get my arse in, then crutches... I digress, I discovered the dash lights up when the key is inserted!
So I imagine the fault lies somewhere along there.
One of the guys will figure it out, but I should imagine the key might need to be synced with the BECM to tell the dash lights to go on or some such...
I left my sidelights on today, came back to the car & opened the door, fitted the key into the ign before I get my arse in, then crutches... I digress, I discovered the dash lights up when the key is inserted!
So I imagine the fault lies somewhere along there.
One of the guys will figure it out, but I should imagine the key might need to be synced with the BECM to tell the dash lights to go on or some such...
Gaz5535
Active Member
Hello Doo, I was thinking of disconnecting the battery, I will give that a try. Btw,what is a BECM? I know there is a fuse box under the drivers seat.My next port of call would be to try the old trick of undoing the battery, neg - and leave it a few minutes before reconnecting. It may or may not work. If not, check the BECM plugs aren't compromised. Usually it's damp off the carpet that does it. Undo battery, leave a few minutes then pull each plug from the BECM (it's under the drivers seat BTW). Cheack for signs of corrosion, but use a strong torch because it may be hard to see. Eventually found this to be the cause of my drivers window not working. Cleaned it up with a mouse tail file, some contact cleaner (both available at Maplin) and it's been fine ever since..... Unless you count the rear drivers side window
These old girls are tempraMENTAL and sometimes they need a tickle in the right place, ooh err
Gary
That "fuse box" under the drivers seat is the BECM or Body Electronic Control Module. It's a serial bus controller that can communicate to various independent stations using something similar to digital serial comms. It cuts down on the sheer amount of wires needed. If you imagine it will have a positive & negative power feed and some wires from the BECM that can communicate many different signals via very few wires. It's an old system, but still pretty clever by today's standards.
Like any electrical system, it relies on clean contacts and uninterrupted feeds. So if you have a damp patch on a plug, it can cause some corrosion and high resistance which will create all manner of hassle. Most of the BECM problems are ultimately caused by poor connections, short circuits and even just a bad battery earth!
The problem is there are so many different possibilities for failure from the BECM connector, ignition switch, dimmer on the indicator and even the dash connections...
Gaz5535
Active Member
Hello Doo, thank you for your reply. I will have a look later when it warms up a bit. Are there any specific plugs that I should look for? As far as I know the switch on the top of the indicator stalk had never worked, I always assumed that it was a head light dimmer. I did change the stalk for a good secondition hand one last year because it had issues with dipping from main beam whilst indicating.
Gary
Gary
Gaz5535
Active Member
Yeahh, thanks Doo. I disconnected the earth for a whilst & guess what... The dash lights wor, along with the CD player, which had gone on the blink ayr the same time.
I am probably going to regret saying this, but the old girl has some funny little quarks, that you guys luckily seem took have a vast knowledge of. Most of problems are simple inexpensive fixes.
I am probably going to regret saying this, but the old girl has some funny little quarks, that you guys luckily seem took have a vast knowledge of. Most of problems are simple inexpensive fixes.
That's excellent Glad it's all working now
If you think about it a bit like a computer. I've seen me losing power (battery run out on laptop for instance) and rebooting brings all manner of silly gremlins. So, reboot again and all is well Cars are a bit like that. My 2004 XK8 needs the full power from the battery or all strange happenings occur It purely because most systems are voltage critical and on a car like the P38, the BECM does NOT like being disconnected or it may "forget" a few chores it must carry out
Anyway, keep on truckin and Happy New Year
Glad it's all working now If you think about it a bit like a computer. I've seen me losing power (battery run out on laptop for instance) and rebooting brings all manner of silly gremlins. So, reboot again and all is well
Cars are a bit like that. My 2004 XK8 needs the full power from the battery or all strange happenings occur It purely because most systems are voltage critical and on a car like the P38, the BECM does NOT like being disconnected or it may "forget" a few chores it must carry out Anyway, keep on truckin
and Happy New Year
Gaz5535
Active Member
I get where you are coming from now.That's excellent
If you think about it a bit like a computer. I've seen me losing power (battery run out on laptop for instance) and rebooting brings all manner of silly gremlins. So, reboot again and all is well
Anyway, keep on truckin
Great work, & thank you again.
Happy new year to you also
