Random coincidence or deeper issue?

**Lambolica** · 25-05-2006, 10:10 PM

As some of you know I have been having a bad run of wiring issues with the Sprinter.

I thought I had them sorted but this week I have had a heap of issues arise in a short time. These could be random issues as I can't find a common cause but I may be missing somthing.
On Tuesday I noticed the oil guage wasn't working (yes there is oil in there)
On wednesday I noticed the water temp gauge stopped working and the Brake light came on for a while.
This morning all of the above still happening except brake light went off after 5min or so (and the fluid level is up)
This afternoon the car wouldn't start (ie no starter crank)

I haven't looked a great deal in to finding the issues however are these random occurances that just happened to happen in a short space or is there a common link? I thought maybe a wiring issue in the dash however the issues would be in a separate loom.

Ant thoughts?

Cheers
Simon

**allencr** · 25-05-2006, 10:37 PM

Most 'wiring issues' are really 'people issues', since they rarely break(open circuit), or make a new contact with another wire or ground(short circuit) all by themselves.
Pieces do fail, and their connections do corrode & sometimes get loose, but I think for the most part that 'electrical problems' are people caused.

It's very unlikely that multiple problems like yours might also have multiple sources, since

I have been having a bad run of wiring issues

**BrianRA23** · 25-05-2006, 10:41 PM

I am sympathetic to your problems, but besides the link being that it is a wiring problem, I would be looking around to make sure all your earths are connected.

It could be a bad connector, but I cannot think of any sharing the engine and brake circuit, but a bad earth under the dash could be an issue.

**Lambolica** · 25-05-2006, 10:42 PM

Yes.... I understand and for the record.... I didn't do the wiring and yes every problem revolves around people issues. I have almost completely rewired the car to solve other issues. However corrosion has been a big part as well in a few areas.

looks like the dash will be out this weekend as well.

**thechuckster** · 25-05-2006, 11:19 PM

now that cooler weather is back with us (or at least in Qld) your car is collecting more moisture overnight so you'll have greater chance of moisturer getting into switches and open connectors - inside and outside the car.

i'd suggest going over connectors to check for loosness and corrosion, checking that all your earths are good and that there's no resistance between earth wires and the chassis, finally going over various components that have 12V at the back of them and seeing if you are actualy getting 12V.

i know what cool1 would suggest in these circumstances...

**Vios-GT_07** · 25-05-2006, 11:27 PM

something like that happened to a mate..

clutch fluid was leaking and it dripped onto the wires. After a while the car started acting weird like lights wouldn't work and sometimes stuff would work for a while then wouldn't work. Exposed wires around the car touching the body would do something like that as well. Sprinter dashes are a bit weird and occassionally stuff up. On me old spoontah the dash would randomly work. When i got it, there was no lights and tacho wouldn't work, oil pressure etc was all sluggish. Just before it died (on a hill) everything worked and very well.. there was lights, tacho worked, etc etc.. after i got it working again nothing worked.. over the week we had it it randomly worked..

speaking of biodegrable looms the spoontah probably has it.. coz the looms deteoriate and bits of wires need replacing especially at this age..

hope this helps cheers!

**Norbie** · 26-05-2006, 08:47 AM

I'll put money on bad earths. Random behaviour of the gauges is a dead giveaway, this used to happen on my RA23 all the time before I pulled my finger out and fixed up all the earth points.

**The Witzl** · 26-05-2006, 09:22 AM

twist'n'tape wiring for sure!

**kingmick** · 26-05-2006, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by Norbie

I'll put money on bad earths. Random behaviour of the gauges is a dead giveaway, this used to happen on my RA23 all the time before I pulled my finger out and fixed up all the earth points.

i secound this as the culprit. the trouble with rewiring, if you dont do the whole lot sometimes you have to chase the gremlins for awhile till you have totally rewired it. it has to be an eart unless all the gauges etc are getting power from the same source.

**Lambolica** · 26-05-2006, 07:20 PM

Yeah all valid, I'm chasing gremlins. I have replaced all engine bay earths which seemed to solve the odd fluctuation. and once that was done I could rule that out and sorted some of the engine loom stuff.

I can't link this stuff other than they may be wiring issues. So I'm assuming they are a coincidence that all these things happend at once.
I'll start with the interior earth points to check.

Karl.... No twist and tape special edition wiring left. (unless the dash is like this which I haven't touched yet)

chuckster - yes I was wondering if the cold be playing a part as this week has been the first really cold mornings here.