Intermittant loose/bad connection on negative

[hentey]

Hi to all
Has been a while since my last visit to the site and time is a luxury that is not freely available lately.I dont own my own business anymore ......it owns ME!!!!!

Guys,I dont know what to do with this problem I have on my IFS lux.To date this has cost me an arm and a leg.(My selfbeeld is ook al pad op)The piggy back computer(Dastec chip)has gone for a s.....t because of all the stray currents.Personally have I spend close to 2 days trying to locate this loose connection somewhere.........but no success whatsoever.The biggest problem is that this happens intermittantly.What I can tell you that it must be at a place where a great number of electrical equipment find their negative connection,but not at the batt pole.A new piece of 50 millimeter square has been installed from the neg pole direct to the chassis.The problem persists.I personally checked all the neg connections in the engine bay.Please help!!!!!

[Mud Dog]

Hi Henty ... yes we see that you are often awol these days and we have missed you!

Intermittent problems are always a pain in the rear, and although this seems to be an easy one to trace, it could prove to be elusive (seems it has already done so). OK, I'm no autolec but here are my thoughts ....
• If all the below are in order, it can only be an individual earth strap / negative wire to a particular component or set of components, but this would be the place to start. What is affected when the problem occurs? ... everything, or just some things. If it's general, start looking through the points below, if it's specific then target all those specific wires and feeds.
• I would also check all the fuse boxes that there is no corrosion of contacts or on the fuses themselves. The fuses are merely 'inline' on the positive wires, but the problem could be there, no? Or are you certain that it's on the negative?
• What is the condition of the battery? ... I've never heard of it but could it be possible that the battery itself has a continuity fault ....?
• You say you've checked the pole connection and the connection to the chassis .... what about a connection to the body itself .... the body often has rubber washers where it mounts to the chassis for sound / vibration dampening. Additionally, chassis and body are painted before assembly which could further insulate them. The same applies to motor, gearbox and drive shaft carrier mounts, so even though the motor and drive train are 'earthed' .... there may still be a poor connection to the chassis.
• Check to see that the earth strap between the motor and the body is secure and making contact.

Hope this helps!

[hentey]

Thanks for your reply Andy.The vehicle has been to the autolecs aswell and they could not find the problem.Maybe we should start searching deeper into the cabin and loosen the whole dashboard.The frequency of the problem is now picking up and I believe we will soon be able to find it.The problem affects the following:1)Just the dim lights
2)The electric window winders
3)The electric clock
4)The vehicle starts jerking while driving
5)The fan
6)It will not start but you can hear the Bendix engaging.(That "cluk" sound)

The following has been done:
1)The batt is tested 3 times
2)Both the + and - connectors changed.(batt clamps)
3)The cables to the starter and the one to the chassis have been replaced.
4)All the lugs to the chassis and bodywork have been loosened,inspected,cleaned and reconnected.
I will take it to the autolecs tomorrow with the instruction to find it or set it on FIRE.

[ChrisF]

The Lux has THREE fuse boxes.

Possibly a neutral from of these that is acting up ?

[pietpetoors]

Hentey, my Hilux's indicator lights had a problem where they sometimes stopped working. I discovered that the fuse was not making proper contact. When the indicator stopped working I just touched the fuse and it worked again. Instead of removing the whole fuse box to bend the contractors a bit I just removed the fuse a twisted the legs a bit and replaced it again, that fixed the problem.

Perhaps you have one of the main fuses with the same problem. The fuse is there, it is not blown, but it does not make proper contact.

[hentey]

Thanx Pieter,but I start thinking relay(relais) as well.Was looking and searching this afternoon and got some other avenues to follow.The problem was online and then I heard a relay clicking just below the steering colum and things were good again.Now to open that dash!!!!!

[hentey]

FOUND IT........Jislaaik manne maar die ding het my laaaank besig gehou.Ok it was not on the negative but on the fly leads entering the fuse box behind the battery.At first I was little worried that some acc might burn out,but I bit my lip and used as much current as possible.And then SMOKE from the fly lead lug at the possitive pole at the battery.Under no circumstances will I advise anybody to do this,but it worked for me without major damage whatsoever.


Thanx for all replies.Gotta go,some work for me now.

[Mud Dog]

Glad you found it Hentey .... and I hope that it's just a single and not a compound problem!