[therealdb1]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

From what I've read on the internet... BMW electrical problems are much worse

You should try owning a Jaguar!

I hope the Indians have managed to source better electrical components

[therealdb1]

Originally Posted by Bennn

To be fair mate if I could get into the car, start it up and drive it I'd be happy!

I feel your frustration! I was only trying to point out how far cars have come in the 40 years I have been driving and given the increased feature count and complexity they offer levels of reliability that we could only dream about back then.

I hope that the new battery block resolves your problems and your "Ultimate Driving Machine" starts delivering what it promises.

[Bennn]

Originally Posted by therealdb1

I feel your frustration! I was only trying to point out how far cars have come in the 40 years I have been driving and given the increased feature count and complexity they offer levels of reliability that we could only dream about back then.

I hope that the new battery block resolves your problems and your "Ultimate Driving Machine" starts delivering what it promises.

Cheers, I hope so too. To be honest the car is a bit of shitter (we only bought this one because the other half had to have a white one and I wanted a manual)

It is in need of some TLC but should hopefully be a nice car if I ever get round to giving it some love!

[Bennn]

Well I took the battery tray apart tonight, the nut on the positive terminal had been cross threaded. I twisted this off and the bolt snapped. Luckily there was plenty of thread left so a quick trip to B&Q and £1.50 later for a new pack of M6 nuts and it's running again with the old battery.

Took it for a quick drive and I had no warning lights or issues with the dials so I'm hoping that's resolved it.

I've left it plugged in tonight so will see if it's still charged tomorrow.

Fingers crossed that's all it was!

[Bennn]

Took it in for the recall and was flat when I picked it up. Still no issues with warning lights/dials though.

It jump started ok so I'm getting another battery.

Once that's in I'm going to check it's charging properly off the alternator and that there isn't anything draining the power.

Can anyone tell me the best way doing this?

I have a multimeter.

Cheers

Ben

[wallsmk2]

quite easy https://haynes.com/en-gb/tips-tutori...st-car-battery

I was trying to describe a complicated way to test for problem circuits but this guy covers it easily

[Bennn]

The lights are back so its not fixed. Going in to a local specialist next Tuesday for a diagnosis. I don't really think there is much else I can do!

Will just keep the battery unplugged when we're not using it.

Cheers

Ben

[Bennn]

Right, over the weekend we noted the rear footwell is damp, well actually soaking.

Its been into the specialist today whos got pages of error reports.

He's pretty confident that water has got into some of the connectors on the K-Can and corroded them.

He's told me its very labour intensive for them to remove the carpets and repair the wiring, so has suggested if I don't mind getting my hands dirty to take the carpets out and get the car back to him.

Not a job I'm looking forward to but hopefully it will make the bill a bit less painful.

He seemed a very knowledgeable guy and seemed to know his stuff, so hopefully he'll get to the bottom of it once I've got the carpets out.

He said its most likely that water is coming in from the vapour barrier behind the doors, or through the scuttle beneath the pollen filter on the front.

[wallsmk2]

Originally Posted by Bennn

Right, over the weekend we noted the rear footwell is damp, well actually soaking.

Its been into the specialist today whos got pages of error reports.

He's pretty confident that water has got into some of the connectors on the K-Can and corroded them.

He's told me its very labour intensive for them to remove the carpets and repair the wiring, so has suggested if I don't mind getting my hands dirty to take the carpets out and get the car back to him.

Not a job I'm looking forward to but hopefully it will make the bill a bit less painful.

He seemed a very knowledgeable guy and seemed to know his stuff, so hopefully he'll get to the bottom of it once I've got the carpets out.

He said its most likely that water is coming in from the vapour barrier behind the doors, or through the scuttle beneath the pollen filter on the front.

Taking the carpets out would be an epic job. If he suspects corrosion where water has entered why not just pop off the trim and peel back the carpet to see. I don't want to criticise but it feels like he doesn't know how to diagnose the problem.

[Sensible_]

Originally Posted by wallsmk2

Taking the carpets out would be an epic job. If he suspects corrosion where water has entered why not just pop off the trim and peel back the carpet to see. I don't want to criticise but it feels like he doesn't know how to diagnose the problem.

+1

also, which footwell is damp? Rear drivers or passenger or both?

[Bennn]

Originally Posted by wallsmk2

Taking the carpets out would be an epic job. If he suspects corrosion where water has entered why not just pop off the trim and peel back the carpet to see. I don't want to criticise but it feels like he doesn't know how to diagnose the problem.

To be fair mate it looks like he was bob-on.

I took the carpets out last Saturday which were absolutely sodden and its become apparent they had been for some time.

The passenger rear was wettest but the passenger front was also wet both are hanging to dry.

I've traced the leak to the vapour barrier on the passenger door, water was getting in through here and draining under the seat to the rear of the car where the water was ponding.

There were two plugs under the passenger seat where you can see the wiring had corroded but one doesn't plug into anything.

Its been to the garage today and he's cleared the faults and they haven't come back, he basically said it seems fine now its dried out and it was likely the water on the connectors which was causing issues with it shorting (which is probably why we haven't had issues since I've sorted the leak and the carpets have been out.

Hopefully that's the end of this saga but I guess time will tell.

We'll obviously be using the car the rest of the week before I put the carpets back in so that will give us a bit of a chance to ensure its not still leaking and that the electrics are OK now.

Not looking forward to putting the carpets back in mind!

[wallsmk2]

Fair play, glad it appears to be sorted

[therealdb1]

Originally Posted by Bennn

Hopefully that's the end of this saga but I guess time will tell.

Fingers crossed for you mate!
That is the downside to all this electronic trickery that modern cars carry around with them.
The old Vauxhall Viva could leak for months and you wouldn't even know until the stagnant water started to pong but at least the car was no less reliable with soaked carpets!

[Bennn]

Cheers guys. So far so good! The electrics have been fine but we haven't had any significant rain yet so I'm unsure as to whether I have sorted the leak or not!

[1 AKY]

Originally Posted by Bennn

Cheers guys. So far so good! The electrics have been fine but we haven't had any significant rain yet so I'm unsure as to whether I have sorted the leak or not!

Hosepipe?