At a dead end - HELP! Absolutely DEAD car!

[ginge191]

Hi - if anyone is still here!

I'm at a bit of a loss with my Phase 1 GTI - in short, I'm getting no dash, no crank, no fuel pump, no headlights, essentially no power.

What I am getting: hazards, interior lights, immo light, 12v into the cabin and into the barrel.

It was working, running well - 2 days later, I'm trying to get my new fan motor installed and working as the previous had rusted up and seized, alongside a busted heater matrix (which got changed).

I've checked: 
- 12v to the barrel
- Fuses inside
- Engine bay and maxi fuses
- Relays , and they're working
- Power to relays
- Recharged the battery
- Used jump leads with the battery and without the battery connected in case it was a dodgy battery
- Checked earth straps on the gearbox and in the cabin
- Checked the wiring behind the fuse box (as good as I can)

I'm at a bit of a loss.

The only thing's I worked on since it worked:
- Coolant flush (emptied via the stat housing)
- Rear lights refitted 
- Headlight bulbs added
- New fan motor plugged in 

Notoriously, I went to unplug these all one by one to see if they were causing an issue and still nothing.

Any suggestions would be great!

[darrenjlobb]

Sure its not got any form of aftermarket immob fitted ? (check big wires heading to IGN barrell and make sure there not interrupted going to something aftermaret).

Have you got switched 12v on the out side of the barrell?

If not, have you confirmed you still hav 12v on the feed side of the barell when key is on? (Could have very bad connection somewhere and second you put any load on it it just goes to nothing but gives false 12v pos when unloaded...)

[ginge191]

Sure its not got any form of aftermarket immob fitted ? (check big wires heading to IGN barrell and make sure there not interrupted going to something aftermaret).

Have you got switched 12v on the out side of the barrell?

If not, have you confirmed you still hav 12v on the feed side of the barell when key is on? (Could have very bad connection somewhere and second you put any load on it it just goes to nothing but gives false 12v pos when unloaded...)

There's no aftermarket immo on it - my confusion is that it's been running fine.

It's reading 12v leaving the barrel also, but I just don't believe it... 

The possibility of getting a phantom 12v is possible - is there any way to trace or track where I might be shorting out?

I've got another barrel coming, fit and rule that out at least.

[darrenjlobb]

There's 4 wires out the barrell, one should be +12v all the time, another one should go live when in first position, then another one should go live in 2nd position, and the last one should be live when held in the crank position..if you have all of this the barrell is fine.

[ginge191]

There's 4 wires out the barrell, one should be +12v all the time, another one should go live when in first position, then another one should go live in 2nd position, and the last one should be live when held in the crank position..if you have all of this the barrell is fine.

Ah, I get you!

Don't suppose you recall which plugs? I've got black and brown plugs which have a constant 12v going in (from one pin on each plu

I'm away for a few days but will do some more diagnostics on the barrel when I get back.

Let's say, the barrel is fine, what would be the next go to do you think?

[Mighty306]

Hi Ginge. It makes a nice change to see someone on here asking a question rather than commenting on the death of the site!

Ignition barrel does seem to be good place to check for a start. If the barrel checks as good I'd look at the big connector between the engine bay & the bulkhead. I assume you had it apart to remove the dash & replace the heater matrix? I'm just fishing but wonder if it hadn't gone back together securely. Check for corrosion, any signs of a pin overheating, and potential poor pin tension on the female side of the connector. The other immediate thought is a poorly secured ground on the dash-side of the bulkhead.

Like I say, that's just blindly fishing for ideas & I'd really want to study a wiring diagram to try to see a link between all of the things that aren't working. The headlights are a bit of an outlier as they aren't ignition dependent. That might be unrelated. I do have access to Sedre but the wiring diagrams in that are pretty rubbish & very hard to read, mostly because of the coding system Peugeot used. If you haven't got any diagrams you could do an Autodata trial (https://www.autodata-group.com/uk/buy-autodata/). I did it for my XSi a few years ago & downloaded all of the wiring diagrams I could before cancelling. You have to be really careful to cancel it before the month is up or you get rolled on to a VERY expensive subscription. (Cancellation is performed at the bottom of the 'Contact Us' page https://www.autodata-group.com/uk/contact-us/)

[ginge191]

Hi Ginge.  It makes a nice change to see someone on here asking a question rather than commenting on the death of the site!

Ignition barrel does seem to be good place to check for a start.  If the barrel checks as good I'd look at the big connector between the engine bay & the bulkhead.  I assume you had it apart to remove the dash & replace the heater matrix?  I'm just fishing but wonder if it hadn't gone back together securely.  Check for corrosion, any signs of a pin overheating, and potential poor pin tension on the female side of the connector.  The other immediate thought is a poorly secured ground on the dash-side of the bulkhead.

Like I say, that's just blindly fishing for ideas & I'd really want to study a wiring diagram to try to see a link between all of the things that aren't working.  The headlights are a bit of an outlier as they aren't ignition dependent.  That might be unrelated.  I do have access to Sedre but the wiring diagrams in that are pretty rubbish & very hard to read, mostly because of the coding system Peugeot used.  If you haven't got any diagrams you could do an Autodata trial (https://www.autodata-group.com/uk/buy-autodata/).  I did it for my XSi a few years ago & downloaded all of the wiring diagrams I could before cancelling.  You have to be really careful to cancel it before the month is up or you get rolled on to a VERY expensive subscription.  (Cancellation is performed at the bottom of the 'Contact Us' page https://www.autodata-group.com/uk/contact-us/)

Thanks for this - that'll be my next plan..

Weird update - I've been away for 5 days, ordered a new barrel, got back today, plugged new barrel in and boom it lives.

Great. 

Plugged old barrel in to check I wasn't going mad and, it fires up again... 

So why, when not touching it, completely left alone for five days, does it then decide to live?!

Possible wet earth strap where I emptied the coolant, making a nasty earth? And then it's dried out?!

Weirdest thing ever!

Will update tomorrow... Again...

[ginge191]

So slight development - although the car fires up now, I don't have any headlights, full beams, flash, horn etc.

Odd one this is proving to be!

[Mighty306]

Yea, that is an odd one. On a '97 XSi (phase 1, which I have wiring diagrams for) there is a circuit with alarm, horn and headlamps (low beam though) connected to it. Don't know if your phase 1 would be the same, in which case it might be worth investigating. Not sure how that could affect the high beams though, unless they won't operate without the low beam circuit being intact.