[Splurs]

Hey all, well with a new carbie the car was running almost perfectly, however the lights have been an issue with what I suspect to be a dodgy earth somewhere. Today I thought I would try to find the problem and now cant get the car started at all. Oh its a 1.3L SJ70.

Symptoms - Car cranks over fine however wont fire (not sure about spark as I cant check it myself atm)
I get radio when the key is turned to ACC,
However when I turn it to ON I don't get any of the normal dash lights that I should, (battery, oil etc), that being said I do get indicators and windscreen wipers,

I have pulled the steering wheel off, and the indicator/lights stalk off to try to find the issue with the lights, however all that is back on now. As I couldnt find the issue.

The car started fine and drove fine 30 mins before I started to play with wires, so I am guessing it is an earth/wire that has either been knocked off or broken, however I cant find it, and any info as to where to start would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[shep]

Check the fuse link. It is the single wire with white plug at the positive battery terminal.

[Splurs]

Yeah the fuze link is still good, if it was burnt I wouldn't be getting any power at all would I?
I have power going into the ignition switch and coming out at the respective switch positions, I also have power at the fuze box.
I am leaning to the ignition circuit, and probably a relay wire knocked off, are the relays located under the dash near the heater core?

Also is there a lighting relay?

[Jimny_No_Power]

Electrical issues can be a real pig, without a multimeter you are pretty much shooting in the dark, do you have one?


Wouldn't be looking behind the dash. I'd say ignition relay, earthing, ecu and the bigger wiring loom connectors would be where I'd start.

Indicators, head lights and wipers are ancillary circuits I.e on older cars they are pretty much isolated from the rest of the circuitry.

I'm assuming this is a carby motor?

[Splurs]

Yes I do have a multimeter, I have been checking all the earths I can find hoping one would be out but no luck.
Where is the ignition relay?
I did have the bigger connectors disconnected for the indicator stalk removal.
Yes it is a carbie motor

[shep]

It takes about 30 sec to check it fuse link. Have seen 2 or 3 sierras with the same symptoms that were fixed with a new fuse link.

[Splurs]

So it has been a week and I am still scratching my head, I can confirm the fuze link is good, have checked it about 5 times now. As previously stated, I have power to the ignition switch, and the power comes out again the other side of its respective switch,

All fuses have power going in and out of them, I have checked all the fuses with a multimeter too.

I am leaning towards the control relay, well acording to the wiring diagram I have, can anyone tell me where that is?

Am getting quite frustrated with it at the moment.

[bumstein]

Electrical gremlins!!! Ultra frustrating..

Not 100% sure but is this not the ignition relay on top of the fuse/junction box?

Just popped down to the parts storage to get a pic so will be bad pic

[HarryHoudini]

OK,probaly not related but put a jumper lead on the Starter motor and make sure it cranks,neighbour had a similar problem to yours on a Magna and it ended up that the Starter was fused(or something like that) and it shut the rest of the electrics down when he turned on the Ignition.

[tanshi]

bumstein wrote:

Electrical gremlins!!! Ultra frustrating..

Not 100% sure but is this not the ignition relay on top of the fuse/junction box?

Just popped down to the parts storage to get a pic so will be bad pic

I thought that was the indicator flasher unit

[Splurs]

thanks for the pic bumstein, I was wondering if that was it, however there was none of the normal relay pictures on the side, so I wasnt sure if that was it or if it was a larger fuse. Might have to try to see how it goes this arvo.

As for Harry I dont need to jump the starter motor, the engine cranks over fine, I just have no ignition.

[bumstein]

Sorry Splurs, I can't be sure that that's it. If I find my wiring diagram I will have a look and see what I can spot.

Tanshi may be right but I'm not sure

Have you been able to check for spark at the plug yet?

[Angus Martin]

tanshi wrote:

bumstein wrote:

Electrical gremlins!!! Ultra frustrating..

Not 100% sure but is this not the ignition relay on top of the fuse/junction box?

Just popped down to the parts storage to get a pic so will be bad pic

I thought that was the indicator flasher unit

Yeah that's for the indicators

My suggestion is to check the coil (meter) fuse and if that's fine check the coil, had a very similar issue on mine and it was the Coil fuse (coil meter on fuse box)

Angus

[HarryHoudini]

Splurs wrote:

As for Harry I dont need to jump the starter motor, the engine cranks over fine, I just have no ignition.

OK,misread OP.

[Splurs]

Ok so I found what it was finally.

Seems when the previous owner had it he thought it would be a good idea to rewire some of the components, he put in a relay that run through the cigarette lighter as the earth for the coil. Yes you read that right.

While I was trying to fault find the low beam issue I disconnected it trying to reduce the amount of useless wires in the car as I dont think he had any electrical knowledge.

Thanks all for the help, will have to get back to the dreadful wiring that I have now and slowly cull the rest of the useless wires.

[HarryHoudini]

Good news,i guess.

[fordem]

Splurs wrote:

he put in a relay that run through the cigarette lighter as the earth for the coil. Yes you read that right.

There is NO way a relay interrupting the "earth" for the coil will prevent the dash lights (CHG & OIL) from coming on - that can only be an interruption in the power feed. You may have the problem but it's not what you think it is.

The coil is "earthed" via the distributor - points if you have them, igniter if it's electronic.

[Splurs]

Sorry my bad, not an earth for the coil, the earth for the relay, which ment it wasn't switching so the power wasn't being applied to the coil. So I have now earthed the relay to a proper ground, and it works like a charm.