Hi, I recently purchased a 1989 escort xr3i convertable, which I bought knowing it needed a little tlc, however the problems Iam having with it Iam currently unable to find solutions for, so any help would be great!!

Firstly, the battery seemed to die pretty quickly, I took it off, charged it fully, only to find the same thing happened again within a few days...figuring it may be a faulty battery, I bought a new one, but again, after a couple of days all of the power seems to have dissapeared, to the point of not even bringing up the lights on the dashboard....anyone got any ideas?.

Secondly the powerhood. I was advised to disconnect the mechanism and use it manually, because it is very tempremental, and currently refusing to operate at all, ( although again Iam thinking this may be to do with the battery losing power so rapidly? )

And lastly, the brake lights....tried replacing the fuses and the bulbs, but still nothing?.

The kids are dying to be able to cruise along the beach in the summer with the top down... ( ok, me too if Iam honest! .... so any advice before I gotta fork out loadsa money I dont have would be really appreciated!!

 

the drainage sounds like the alternator try disconnecting the battery when its running if it dies the alternator aint charging, or test the alternator should be 14.v output, as for the roof it could be the wirering knackered, im pretty sure theres a switch for the power roof to which cuts all power?and for the back lights it might be the rear cluster

 

The brakes could be the switch on the end of the pedal if both lights aren't working ive had it before where the switch has came out it should just twist in.
The roof i wouldnt came a clue as ive not had a cabby.
And your battery problem sounds like the alternator stick a multimeter on the battery when its running and see what voltage reads

mark.

 

If its not the alternator I'd try removing each of the fuses with everything off and putting an ammeter across the terminals. It would tell you which circuit is drawing power.

I assume you know that the power hood will only work with the key in Pos 1?

 

Cheers guys, going to try out all these suggestions in the morning, got my fingers crossed!!

And yup Mark, I knew it only works in pos 1, but unfortunately even then its still refusing to move after the first few inches...kinda takes the fun away when people see me struggling to put it up by hand! lol

 

When you say the battery draining in a couple of days I presume thats with the car in use if so as said you have a charging problem. Do you see the battery light on the dash when you turn ignition on?

For the brake lights as said will 99.9% be switch (On top of pedal itself)as you have covered the fuse and bulb. Check continuity on the switch.

Roof probably is as you say as there is not enough power.

Martin

 

Hey guys,

Well after spending the week trying to skip work to get it sorted I have managed to do the brake lights, ( was the wiring at the pedal , and the issue with the battery dying rapidly is deffo the alternator.

I have been offered an alternator for free of a mate, only its coming out of a diesel, same mk, he seems to think they are identical and it wouldnt be an issue, be great if someone could confirm this before I go creating even more problems! lol

Thanks for all the advice thus far,

Stu

 

stu yr mate is right it may even be a little more powerful [bonus] if u ask me

 

Nice one mate, cheers....and a bonus to me too!!

 

What makes you think it's the alternator itself, is the battery light on?

Martin

 

Duplicate post

 

Sounds like someone might have fitted the power mechanism to a manual frame. If that's thase case the front will lift up about 2 or 3 inches and then stop, - it won't fold at the first pivot without a push, and then it should open all the way up on its own. When you close it it should close on its own - but will drop the last few inches pretty heavily.

If that describes how your roof is - then that's the problem.

If its a proper power roof - it should have a warning sticker on the driver's side roof locking handle. Have you got one?

 

Get it swopped over pal just whilst your doing it check over the wireing for brittle connections.