Electrical Gremlin

[JimmytheTurbo]

Recently I had a bit of an engine stagger /splutter.

First time I noticed I thought my wheels were spinning as I drove at speed over a train crossing as my rev counter jumped around.

Few days later it felt a bit rough but though it was due to accidently filling with non premium fuel.

I sucked out and replaced fuel. I also checked the cam belt and confirmed all was correct TDC.

I took it for a MOT and it passed fine. Tester said he thought it might not be charging correct as the volt meter was only ready 11.5V.

Driving home it sputtered a few times in between driving fine.

 

So thinking about it all was fine until I fitted the isolator switch so I decided to start there.

I found one of the terminals was a bit loose which could give a poor connection to the main earth. I tightened this.

Car started all ok and now was reading 13V on the meter but when I put my hand round the back to check the isolator terminals the car died un expectedly.

I have tracked the issue down to the wires in the picture. They look fine but if I give them a wiggle the car stops. I must have disturbed or broken one when fitting either the boot boards or the isolator switch.

There looks to be a few wires going into a connector and one "bare" wire. 

Anyone know which one would cause the car to stop or where to start to find the culprit?

[LotuStuart]

remove the isolator and see if its cured.

Then hold the bundle of wires tight, and wiggle just one at a time.

Then clean any and all connections/earths.

Not likely to be one that is bound up in black tape, but possible I suppose.

 

[910Esprit]

Those wires are the ignition feeds for the ignition module, so any/all of them could cause the issue you describe.  The red wire and the earth lead will be the rev counter feed.

You could 'de-pin' the connector and shorten and resolder them all.   or you could replace them all individually with bullet connectors or whatever.   (but that's not what I'd do!)  

   

[JimmytheTurbo]

To check the isolator I was going to bypass with a jump lead but I can now see that its not that.

Its deffo those bunch of wires as it cuts out when I touch or move them.

In the photo it almost looks like the silver "bare" wire is split as is comes out of the tape.

1 minute ago, 910Esprit said:

Those wires are the ignition feeds for the ignition module, so any/all of them could cause the issue you describe.  The red wire and the earth lead will be the rev counter feed

Ahh that makes sense then.

 

Ill have to check. I suppose the bend is the most likely place to be the issue. I had to move them over when I fitted my new battery cover trim.

[LotuStuart]

OK.

Which wires have you tracked it down to? Specifically, which ones-there are plenty in your photo.

What happened when you removed the isolator? Did that fix it?

Did cleaning the connections make any difference?

[JimmytheTurbo]

Its the group of 5 wires that loop round from the right into the connector. 

I will investigate further. I think Ill need to remove the tape and see if I can track down to a single wire.

[Escape]

The bare wire is the earth for a shielded cable. It should be connected to a good earth, but unlikely to cause the engine to cut out.

I'd start by checking the connector: take it apart and inspect and clean each pin.

[JimmytheTurbo]

Cheers Filip I will give it a go.

[JimmytheTurbo]

I cut the tape back to give me access to the wires individually. 

I disconnected the connector and cleaned the female holes and squeezed them in a bit with a small screwdriver.

Reconnected the connector and now when I give any of them a wiggle car doesn't cut out!

Seems to be better just need to take it out for a test drive.

Thanks for you inputs chaps

Edited May 5 by JimmytheTurbo

[JimmytheTurbo]

Took her out last night and all was very good.