feeling defeated

Peal · Post by **Peal** » 13 Dec 2009, 21:01

I had posted part of this in the activa corner but more problems are coming to light.

Apart from the stresses of the physical kind to change a clutch all went well, then......

engine started cutting out, would restart then got worse and would not.
= lose of power to one of the twin injector relays (fuel pump).

Gear mech would disconnect trying to engage 5th gear
= bent cable end found and fixed today = sorted

linked power to the pump relay and success = running after a few miles/couple of days started cutting out again, sometimes recovering sometimes with jerks and a quality backfire (blown the back can off twice)
restarting is getting worse now.

Noticed today locking the car, the led flashes quicker and not staying perm on when deactivated.

Beginning to think either I have water contaminated petrol or over fueling to give the backfires, or in reality that I have an alarm fault that is causing everything?

Apart from the knackered clutch the only common fault previously was seeing the ABS light show, but cleared on a rolling restart, I believe a common thing.

I now am really suffering from french wiring headaches as I now beginning to get confused of what I've done and why is this not working to the drawing???

Any ideas please before this becomes an insurance claim.
HELP
Alan

deian · Post by **deian** » 13 Dec 2009, 21:36

Well weird electrical problems are usually caused by bad earths, hunt them down and check them all.

Ignition barrel can cause intermittent problems too.

Won't do any harm to go around with WD40 on the electrics either. Look for breaks and tears on plugs connectors and splices.

What condition is the battery and it's terminals?

Good luck.

Stempy · Post by **Stempy** » 13 Dec 2009, 21:58

If I remember rightly Mk1 alarm ecus are under the passenger seat carpet and prone to getting damp, especially if the matrix is a bit leaky.

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 13 Dec 2009, 22:39

I think the key here is the 'backfire' unburnt fuel is making it into the exhaust somehow, to do that one or more cylinders must not be firing, check your spark plugs, HT leads, coil pack and amplifier, if it was your fuel pump there would not be enough fuel and the engine would just cut out with no backfire at all.
Also dont drive it too buch in this state, raw fuel burning in the cat will kill it stone dead in no time.

D

Post by **CitroJim** » 14 Dec 2009, 05:58

Alan, sorry to hear all of your bother

Presumably all was fine before the clutch change? If so, you need to look at everything disturbed during that job and work backwards from there.

I'm sure this'll bring it to light.

Dei's thoughts on bad earths is a good place to start. Is the earth stud on the gearbox tight? Easily missed and this being loose can cause the most odd problems. Did you reconnect the oxygen sensor? Is the coolant temperature sensor connected?

Have you trapped and damaged a wiring loom somewhere in your work?

Are all inlet tract pipes reconnected? The symptoms are similar to those of a big air leak somewhere around the inlet manifold.

Careful logical checking of all that was disturbed will bring the problem to light.

Good luck on this and I look forward to hearing of a successful conclusion

Any more diagrams you need, just let me know...

Peal · Post by **Peal** » 15 Dec 2009, 19:30

Thanks all for the ideas.

I very vaguely remember on me old LX it popped a fuse at work and gave a no start situation that may be the same fault. Old memories come back after a while, so I want to do a full fuse check and will need to restore the "fix" to normal.
I'm sure my "fix" is causing the overfueling and yes I'm leaving it at home till the weekend "games" time mainly as the back box is floating free and a bit loud for early morning workruns.

As for the fuse circuits ??
I have the early owners handbook
the first haynes book '93to 98
and some of CJ's diagrams

in some places I see differences and many individual systems don't seem to match the handbook so I can see fun ahead.

I will keep you all posted

Alan

flying clutchman · Post by **flying clutchman** » 16 Dec 2009, 05:25

Ther's more than one earth onto the gearbox, normally the ecu has it's own earth(s) attached somewhere as well. If one of these is just touching, not tight it could give these symptons. (happened to me on a peugeot 306 once, I only spotted it 'cos it was getting dark and I saw a spark!)

Peal · Post by **Peal** » 18 Dec 2009, 14:33

Next stage

Full check of ALL the fuses done - pull and continuity perfect

Continuity check of relay line to earth, low resistance so circuits are intact,
Reconnected as normal in with the key code in and it fires up

ran for 2 minutes then stops no more play. re-enters code, 0 button not good - lots of presses to "engage" - starts continues to run

.

Turned the car round to put the back up on ramps to sort the blow from the exhaust after the last backfire (BIG) on Sunday. Seam split wide open almost full length. New can needed!

Engine still running, fetches spare keypad from the old LX. Changes and restarts perfectly even beeps at me?

Have since given the car some local exercise 4 trips round the block -

Perfect but Loud

Whether it was a faulty contact on a fuse or the keypad dying, (some of the buttons have been reluctant at times) I'm not sure, hopefully this is the end of this tale.
As for now I will have to stay slow and quiet in the mornings for the neighbours.

Regards
Alan

Peal · Post by **Peal** » 18 Dec 2009, 19:48

Electrically I believe it is now clear and is not the real fault as I've just given it some exercise (3 hours ago) but I'm still getting the fade outs and the backfire, it also decided not to return home again!
I'm still of the mind that water may well be in the tank as the problem gets worse with movement, so tomorrow it will be drain the tank time, if she comes home.

Alan

Peal · Post by **Peal** » 24 Jan 2010, 20:10

Latest update

Basically lost interest, the snow didn't help and still it's doing the fades and banging away.

Found a '01 C5 for a good price - new ticket, 3 months tax left and a basic service done.
Just needed a working car fast and there it was---
I think the only bad point is the front tyres don't match and they need a balance, the suspension electronics may be picking the vibration up.

So the Xant has to go, it's now more expensive than the boat!

Thanks all for the advise

Alan

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 24 Jan 2010, 20:19

Sorry to hear your woes. What fate exactly is to befall the car now?
An enthusiast forum following here would be your best audience to
sell it rather than weigh it in? Try us with some details?

You never know - with the forum up and down many aren't looking in
who may even have the answer to your problem. Give the car a chance!

Andrew