Club 80-90 Forums

Pretty sure i got an electrical based problem on my 1.9 petrol T25, read stuff on forums about problem finding with electrics which was very useful and i'll be trying it all next wknd!

Wondering if anyone might be able to save me some time by pointing me somewhere more specific.

Been having trouble with battery discharge for a little bit but van has been sat around a bit so thought it was just that, went for a drive and had a feeling elecs weren't quite right... tried flicking onto high beam on the lights and there was a pretty good bang. tried again and same happened.

from this point on signals and hazards not working.

pulled up to have a look and battery had discharged. Jump started, got round the corner and bang. this time engine died along with the bang. it will start again but can bet problem will re-occur.

first bangs were definately electrical sounding, possibly a bad connection and arcing? but last bang could have been a backfire?

any advice would be much appreciated before i get stuck in with the voltmeter.

peteT25 wrote:
first bangs were definately electrical sounding, possibly a bad connection and arcing? but last bang could have been a backfire?

any advice would be much appreciated before i get stuck in with the voltmeter.

To be honest and in my considerable experience you need a couple of hundred volts pushing a tidy current in order to make a decent bang. Fuses on 12V circuits tend to blow silently or with just a Phut! It woud take a short circuit of considerable seriousness to make a decent bang, maybe a main power feed shorting against the Chassis or sumat. Sounds in the order of magnitude of backfires are rarely electrical. I would reconnect the battery via a 21W light bulb and go round turning stuff on in sequence to find the current (pun) short. The light bulb will simply light up without doing more damage when you do find the fault. It is posible that the short circuit or overload is bypassing or independant of the fuze box so a blown fuze is not necessarily going to indicate the source of the problem.
Tricky one this but don't forget natures own diagnostic tools namely ears, eyes and nose.
Good luck
Wolfie

The lid on your battery isn't arcing by any chance?

as above , common problem ,especially on caravelles with battery covers.
make sure all connections are tight .
did it sound like , under seat, dash area?