danelliott

Hello all, i am new here and this is my first post so please go easy on me.

OK here we go. I have recently purchased a K reg mkV Escort 1.8 (130) DOHC XR3i Cabriolet.
When i purchased said vehicle the guy i bought it from said that he had probs with the electrics,

I will explain the problems ::

#1: When i turn the ignition on my head lights come on (a bit like the safety feature on a volvo) only my car is not a volvo and its only the dipped beam at the front of the vehicle not the rear lights. The headlights come on and stay on no matter what position i put the headlight switch in they stay the same setting. ie side lights, No full beam or flasher. What i did notice is that when i pull on the windscreen wiper arm it blows the fuse for the lights and the wipers????? strange i know but true.

#2: If i remove the fuse from the fuse box for the windscreen wipers the lights all work properly. ie no probs at all. side lights, dipped headlights, full beam and flashers all work correctly.

I was thinking it was the common fault that the mk5 escorts suffer from so i went to the scrappies and purchased a new secondhand indicator stalk. I was assured by the guy that the indicator stalk was in full working order and had only just been taken out of the scrapped car.

I returned home and installed the newish indicator stalk but once installed i was still presented with exact same probs as with the original stalk which was on my cabriolet.

From this experience i have assumed that it cannot be the indicator stalk which is at fault more like a wiring problem somewhere along the lines of a bad earth or something.

I have since dissasembled my fascia to expose the wiring loom for the indicator stalk to check if there are any wires which may have melted and fused together but after tracking along the wires i cannot find n e thing which looks like there has been an overheating.

I know that another prob with the mk5 escorts is that the fuse box can be a bit dodgy but when i purchased the car i was told that there was a new fuse box installed and the old one was in the boot.

So after all this im am in a position to say that i think it not the actual lights (indicator stalk) but more along the lines of the windscreen wipers as if i take the fuse out for the windscreen wipers the lights work as they shoul and upon returning the fuse for the windscreen wipers the problem re occurs.

But the fuse only blows (both fuses for the lights and the windscreen wipers) when i call for the washer function ie when i pull the wiper stalk towards me to engage the window WASH function. I have checked the washer pump and that is working fine. (i wired it straight to the battery)

so now i am extremly Peeeeed off and really need some help from n e 1 who can help me.




one other question i have is the rad fan was not attached when i purchased the vehicle and the plugs were all cut off so i had nothing to connect the bloody thing to. so what i did was found an earth in the engine bay and now i am looking for an ignition live but as i am no mechanic and i have no idea where to start can someone tell me a good ignition live to attach to, one which is gonna be the amp fuse to run the fan off of.


Thank you all for your help

danelliott

SafeChav

Sorry theres a lot of text to read there, and i can't be arsed to read it, but i bet you a jam tart the fuse box is breaking down

danelliott

But the fuse box is supposed to be new. The old one was left in the boot of the car when i bought it.

n e other ideas?

SafeChav

Ah, right, any reciepts for this **NEW** fuse box? Around the Ł500 mark from Ford i believe..........if you catch my drift

danelliott

so u rekon unless i got Ł500 its a waste of time?

Please dont tell me that.

There must be someway to bypass this prob. it seems like such a simple thing but as im no mechanic or auot electrician i havent a clue where to start.

SafeChav

No what i mean is, you've been told its a new fusebox, but they are a lot of money from ford, i can't see anyone paying that much for a fuse box to go in a K plate car, i expect its another second hand one, and probably faulty......

danelliott

So if i go to scrappie and get another one im not gonna no if its ok to use or not am i untill i try it??

what a pain in the ars.

so can i bypass this or is that not practical??

SafeChav

Thats the right sort of idea, they are very poor fuse boxes.

Can you solder well?

danelliott

I can solder but if its that tricky i can get sum1 to do it for me.

are they hard to do?

what would it be dry joints or summit? or where they have come unsoldered ond are touching others in the fuse box??

SafeChav

Indeed, the fuseboxes consist of a PCB with all the connections sopldered in, they break down over the years, and become dry.

99.9% of the time opening them up and re-soldering everything fixes the car

Also, check your fuse box has the same part number, on the top white bit, it will be printed in small black print.

If i were you i would repair the old one and swap it over, and see how you get on. I bet it sorts the problem out

danelliott

Thanks SafeChav, i will try this and i will let you know how i get on.


n e 1 else with n e ideas please post them here

many thanks

danelliott

Now im in the Shite.

after having a good nose around in the boot i came across another fuse boc giving me 3 fuse boxes to play with.
I thought i would try changing the fuse boxes over so after carful examination and 1 by 1 removal of the relays and loom conections from the top of the fuse box i moved on to thebottom connections.

feeling quite cheffed that i had got this far with no apparent balls ups i kinda lost concentration whilst removing the connections from the bottom of the fuse box and refitting them in the other fuse box.

Im guessing that i have placed them in the right places as i cannot see n e where else for them to go.

after reattaching the battery the interior light came on >>>>>good sign<<<<< so i thought. No smoke or bang so it cant be bad.

i placed my key in the ignition and turned the key to check if the lights came on and guess what happened.......................................... .............................................
no the lights didnt come on . and i thought YEAH sorted but when i look ed at the dash i noticed that i had no lights on the dash at all and after turning the key to start the car ther was nothing therer either it was completely dead.

What a twat , i know i can hear you thinking it.

but now im stuck cos i dont wanna start messing about n e more incase i do balls it up to much to be repaired.

please please please help me if you can

im willing to pay someone but i cant afford the prices auto electricians want to charge.

n e help will be much appreciated.

there must be someone near Epping Essex who can help me. im now getting desperate.

SafeChav

Wheres this other fuse box? Are you talking about the one under the bonnet hanging off the positive battery terminal?

danelliott

No the old fuse box from driverside footwell and another fuse box the same. along with the fhe fuse box that was in there when i got the car.

Nothing to do with the one on the battery.

SafeChav

Ahhh i see so you are talking about the link pieces etc that bridge some of the relay connections?

danelliott

Actually i dont know what i am talking about lol. had it been the fuses on the battery i may have been within my limits as theres only a few there but unfortunatly i do mean the main fuse box in the driverside footwell.

I am goin to attemp changing back or to the pther spare fuse box to see if this rectifies the problem even if i get it back to the original fault with the lights because at the mo my roof is down and i can get it up so i have to try something.

SafeChav

Theres a bypass valve on the roof pump so you can lift it by hand

danelliott

where is this bypass valve located please?

SafeChav

On the pump itself, looks like a T, open the valve fully until it stops and then supposedly the roof can be operated by hand, incase say the pump should ever fail.

By the way aswell, yours being a cabrio, they have the most expensive fuse boxes of them all, about Ł700-Ł800 IIRC and they are specific to that model only from what i know.

Would be in your best interests to check the part numbers on the fuse boxes.

danelliott

ok ill check for the release valve and i will also check the part numbers with that in the haynes manual. ill let you know how i get on.

thanks

SafeChav

Part numbers in the haynes manual???

danelliott

should it not say in the manual which are the correct part numbers for the car?

SafeChav

I doubt it very much.

Just check the part numbers of the other two fuse boxes against the original one from the car

danelliott

Ok so ive checked the part numbers and they are the same on all 3 fuse boxes.

please check this link out for more, it may help you help me if you get what i mean

thanks

http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n...6072201_00.flv

by the way i know that link looks wrong but it does work.

danelliott

OK so my father in law came round today and for the price of a coffee i got him to have a quick look at the car for me (wish everything was that cheap) he is a lift engineer so has some idea about relays and fuses and wiring etc. from what i have told him and after taking the indicator stalk apart the problem lays in the main loom. He has told me though to check first the windscreen wiper motor by re fitting the fuse bax etc and bridging the connections to see if it blows the fuse he said if it blows the fuse then it is the wiring loom but if it does not then there is some unidentifiable problem with the indicator stalk. so this is what i am going to do i am going to re fit the fuse box and put it all back togeteher then bridge the wires for the windscreen wiper motor and if the fuse still blows i will be posting in the items wanted for a new loom lol

i will keep you all up to date as im sure you are all so very interested in my plight to get the bloody car on the road.

lol

thanks all who have posted comments.

dan

SafeChav

As you have said try new stalks etc if this is whgat you believe the problem to be before you start cha nging looms as theyre a right slag on mk5's

danelliott

lo again everyone.....

ok i have been looking around the car and i have changed the fuse box over again with another with the same part number and after figuring out what some of the bodge wiring jobs are i am stuck with another dilema.

this time i have taken the side panel off of the driverside footwell and i have been presented with several relays which i cannot find in the manual. if i video these wires and relays would anyone possibly be able to tell me what they are for??

i will video and post either later or tomorow.

hope you can help

SafeChav

Shouldnt be any relays in the passenger footwell im sure

danelliott

Not passenger footwell, driver side footwell

SafeChav

Oh, ummmmmmmmmmmm

I think they have the inertia switch down there, shouldnt be anything else though.

Has it got an aftermarket alarm by any chance? Could be central locking relays??

danelliott

OK ive been to fords and they have checked on there compter system to see if the part number i have is the corect one and they said from my chassis number that my car was built in september 92 and the part number on the fuse box was used from august 92 till august 93 so it is the correct fuse box but im still having probs. I was told by a friend to try a new ignition relay as all the probs kinda focus around the ignition so i went an purchased a new one at a cost of Ł13 only to be presented with the same problems.

im at my wits end and im hours away from torching the bloody thing

please if n e 1 is near by (epping, essex) and you may have an idea or may be able to help my please get in touch

many thanks

SafeChav

Really hard to say without seeing mate as you say

if i was close by i would come and have a go at sorting it out

Bungle

CHILL OUT MATE YOUR NEW FUSEBOX WILL BE ON IT'S WAY WHEN YOU RETURN MY EMAIL

EVERYTHING SHOULD BE FINE THEN AS IT WORKED PEFECT IM MY CAR RIGHT UP UNTILL THE DAY I BROKE IT

danelliott

OK everyone, just want to say thanks to all who have helped me. The problem is now sorted thanks to XR3I 130 and his fuse box he sold me.
I put it in and all my problems faded away.

Thanks again to everyone. maybe you can all help me again with my next problem when it arises lol

SafeChav

So did you actually have 3 faulty fuse boxes

danelliott

looks that way m8. unbeleivable aint it.

SafeChav

All with the same faults aswell though

What are the odds of that