Ok, iv had my Saph for about 2 weeks now and its been running pretty smooth until this Wednesday just gone. So try and follow this story and see what might have gone wrong.

On Wednesday i went in for an "oil pressure test". Got through that no probs. When the mechanic was putting the bits and bobs back together underneath the engine he accidentally touched a metal spanner on something which caused it to spark pretty heavily. This COULD have been the starter motor he touched but im not too sure about this.

Anyways, didnt think too much of it till i started driving home. I couldnt have gone more than a mile when it seemed like something shorted itself out. The stereo switched itself off straight away and a strange "drumming" noise strated coming through the speakers. Each "drum" was sort of 2-3seconds apart. I couldnt power the headunit back up again as it just wouldnt respond.

After about 25-30seconds i had to switch the car off, leave it off for about a minute and then try again. Car felt a little heavier on start up but was then fine. Maybe about 100yards later the exact thing happened again. Once again i couldnt power the stereo up to switch it off so had to switch the car off again. This time it felt really heavy on start up and it seemed liek the battery was dying. This happened about another 2times on the way back home (i only live about 3miles away). But by the time i got the car home and it happened again i just couldnt start the car back up again as the battery had died. So i disconnected the battery and put it back together again about half an hour later.

Started up first time with no problems what so ever, remember iv just disconnected the battery, not put a new 1 in. So i figured the battery had nothing to do with it.

But iv left it since then and drove it twice tonight. On the first run of about half an hour it went alright but on the way home the same thing happened with the stereo switching itself off and the "drumming" coming through the speakers again. However this time it managed to sort itself out after about 10seconds before i got round to stopping car. Car drove home fine after that.

Second trip out tonight though, was a complete nightmare. It was dark so i had the headlights on. As i was just driving along i went over a speed hump and then "bang", out it went again. Stereo switched itself off, drumming through the speakers, but this time the headlights went off aswell as did the dash lights and everything else electrical.

I was quitye far from home so i didnt stop it but kept driving on, back towards home. The car just got heavier and heavier and heavier to drive as it drove on. It was spluttering and jerking all over the place and i just couldnt get any power out of it. ALL the electrical's were switched off, but as it was dark i switched the headlights back on. They came on like there was a little candle in there powering them up, and the car didnt take too well to that power consumptionl. It almost stopped due to a lack of power. But i kept going, driving in the dark with the ll the lights switched off, then i just HAD to stop the car as it was just coughing and spluttering so bad that i thought it was just gona fall apart right there and then. But as i was coming to a stop SOMETHING just seemed to connect back up again and i had power. I switched the headlights on, the stereo came on itself and drove fine for the rest of the mile back home.

SOOOO....... if you havnt commited suicide yet then my question is, what the hell seems to be wrong with it???

I cant figure out wether something cutting in and draining the power? Or wether something's short circuiting? Or something completely different?

Im taking it back to th garage tomorrow but i want to know what to tell him and where to point him to.

Your help on this matter would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

Sounds like a battery earth strap has melted and can't pass enough current when hot.

 

Silly question but would that, or could that happen if there was a short circuit somewhere on the car for a brief moment, as with the starter motor?

But then the burning question is that if it cant pass current when its hot then why did the car just come back to life all of a sudden when it was nice and hot???

Not being funny or anything Jon, as a matter of fact i appreciate any comments towards this, but iv got to ask all the relevant questions along with the suggestions poeple will be making.

 

the only thing connected accross the battery when the ingnition is off is the alternator and the side lights when I had disconnected my alternator by mistake i had the same problem. the battery will recover some of its charge if disconnected. Start the car if poss and put a meter across the battery it should read 14v approx if it is only 12-13 you have probablt damaged the alternator also check when you turn on the ignition that the ignition light is working if this has blown the car wont charge. hope this helps

 

Cheers Ed,

The car starts and drives fine, no probs until it seems to get nice and warm. Then it seems like "something" is either short circuiting or disconnecting and then later reconnecting. This is why i said the power seemed to drain for about 5mins until i thought the car was about to completely die, and then it just came back on again like something had just magicly connected back up again.

Just got to try and find out what this "something" is or even could be???

 

Ok..... took it back to the garage and the bottom line was that it wasnt his fault and that theres something wrong with the wiring. The fact that its happened 10mins after he's short circuited the starter motor was a "coincidence". So that was friggin useless.

However in his generousity he did point out that a wire from the alternator was cut up. This is a little BLUE wire from the alternator. And from i can see theres only 1 blue wire coming from the alternator so for any 1 whose in the know how this should be easy to identify.

But according to the mechanic he reckons it could be the wire sending the signal to the alternator to start charging. I dont know how true this is but this make sense to any 1 else???

 

if you follow that in the wiring diagram you will see it goes to the ignition warning light as I said If it goes there is no charge from the alternator.

 

Cossied - er..... so what he said was basically right then??? Once the blue wire is connected back up again it should be fine?

 

I was just about to say charging too, then read the post by cossied, fix that and see where you get to.

but, you mechanic sounds a little dodgy mate, got a big spark with a spanner , should have disconnected the battery first really, then, he can't tell you what he shorted ??? Are you sure you want your cossie looked after by him ?

You say he's generous ... I reckon he's dangerous.

 

the sudden short circut to earth when the mechanic hit the starter terminal could have simply fried or damaged a cell in your battery,this would be enough to cause you problems when a load is demanded of the battery.the blue wire is the charge indicator wire to the red dash bulb.i can assume its going out when the engine starts,a quick check with a hydrometer will indicate if a cell is down,if you cant access the cells then i would sugest a quick change of battery to see if this fixes you problem,
if not then look at the alternator charging end,as big short circuts can damage the diodes within the alternator giving rise to battery drain and similar symptoms

 

as above

 

Right...... iv connected the blue wire from the alternator back up and its beena few days since. So far no glitches. So it could well have been that.

Frog - The mechanic in question is alright, he knows what he's doing. Its just that i think he took it the wrong way when i went back to him to simply "ask" what the problem could be and what sort of effect the short circuiting would have had on a number of different wires/things.

I think he just took it too personally and thought i was just there to throw blame at him. When i said "in his generousity", well i was being sarcy with that, he isnt all that generous.

Reason we didnt disconnect the battery was that it was in there for an Oil Pressure Test so we needed to start it up. But yeah i see where your coming from on that.

But like i said, it SEEMS to be sorted for now and im hoping it WAS just the wire from the alternator. If however it does it again then il be back here before you guys again (prolly crying like a little girl )

But thanks for all your help anyway, its helped a great deal.

 

it would be a good idea though to disconnect the battery and do a full chage on a charger, as letting the alternator do it form almost flat doesnt give the battery a proper charge.

 

Glad you got it sorted for now. Fingers crossed now.

 

That little alternator wire came partly disconnected on mine not long ago, all sorts of weird electrical symptoms, then my mechanic noticed the loose wire, wish he'd noticed it sooner