Car died - no electricity through ignition :-(

[KirstMin]

Hi folks,

I broke down yesterday and I dont seem to be able to solve the problem

Basically, i was driving and then all of a sudden the car just died completely. It appears that I have lost all electrical power to the ignition - nothing happens when I trun the ignition, light switches dont work, ignition light doesn't come on etc.

I checked the fuse but that's ok, I then bypassed the ignition by moving the wire under the LH fuse to connect under the RH fuse and started the car with the button under the solonoid.

When I got home I took the speedo out as I was expecting a loose wire but no, all connections appear fine and the wires are intact all the way to the loom.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what it could be or what else to check because I am baffled

Thanks,

Kirsten

[bigginger]

The ignition isn't fused, is it? Ummm - checking wiring diagram now...

[blueangelical]

check ya battery terminal clamps are good and tight.......

[bigginger]

That was my thought too - any power to anything else?

[KirstMin]

Hi guys, other than the ignition circuit all is well and good - I've done a hot-wire job to bypass the ignition and the engine runs fine but has to be started with the solonoid button. I ran the car home this way but you have to pull the wire from the fuse box to stop the engine.

Fuse is OK. Is there anything in the barrel that the key and all the connections go to that could be the problem?

[blueangelical]

what happens if you short the wires connecting to the ignition switch as if there were no switch there...??

[Packedup]

Fuse is OK. Is there anything in the barrel that the key and all the connections go to that could be the problem?

Could be. The switch can fail.

If you have a tester, pull the switch and see if there's power going into it (can't remember what colour wire off hand). If there is, and there's none coming out, then there you go

[bigginger]

Surely the live > ign then? Broken connection/wire - I'm a lightweight, me, too tired to look at diagram now but I will tomorrow, by which time Willie will have answered anyway

[blueangelical]

I'm a lightweight, me, too tired to look at diagram now

- should be biggirly instead of bigginger

[bigginger]

It's true...

[KirstMin]

what happens if you short the wires connecting to the ignition switch as if there were no switch there...??

its just dead, I tried that! There just doesn't appear to be any charge going through to the ignition switch. Very odd.

[Welung666]

Did you try changing the fuse anyway? Sometimes they go and don't look like they have blown

[Willie]

In the fault condition do the interior light and the horn still work?

[KirstMin]

In the fault condition do the interior light and the horn still work?

Hiya, I've got a feeling the horn did work but I'll have to double check when I get home... I dont have an interior light but the indicators definitely worked.

Cheers,

Kirsten

[Willie]

The coil is NOT fused but is supplied via one of the White leads on the R/H
fuse supply. Presumably you overcame your problem byconnecting between the Brown L/H fuse lead and these White leads which proves that the normal
12v supply from the ignition switch was missing. What is confusing is that you
say that the light switch didn't work either! Sorry, just noticed you have a
convertible re interior light!!

[Willie]

The ignition switch is supplied via the Brown/blue lead on terminal 3 which comes from terminal A1 on the Control Box so,if 12v is present at A1 but not
at the ignition switch then there is a break in this Brown/Blue lead. The horn
will be working by the way because you are running your hot wire from that
supply point. If 12v is not present at terminal A1 there would appear to be
a problem inside the Control Box and to prove this check that there is 12v at
terminal 'A ' (right next to 'A1). These two are connected internally in the
Control Box.

[KirstMin]

The ignition switch is supplied via the Brown/blue lead on terminal 3 which comes from terminal A1 on the Control Box so,if 12v is present at A1 but not
at the ignition switch then there is a break in this Brown/Blue lead. The horn
will be working by the way because you are running your hot wire from that
supply point. If 12v is not present at terminal A1 there would appear to be
a problem inside the Control Box and to prove this check that there is 12v at
terminal 'A ' (right next to 'A1). These two are connected internally in the
Control Box.

Looks like I better get myself a multimenter then! I'll pop down maplin tomorrow and let you know how I get on

Cheers for the help

[Dominic]

Mine died at the weekend also, at least went into a coma! I soon discovered the cause however... the coil. It was only 7 months old too! At least still under guarantee. Seems daft that new parts are less reliable than the old ones! Whatever happened to quality control?

[Willie]

Kirsten, you could have used any 12 v bulb holder with a couple of leads on
it but a proper tester will be very useful.

[KirstMin]

Hi Willie, thanks for that info. I got a multimeter and tried it this morning. I think however that I am being completely useless because I can't get it to read anything even between the battery terminals!

I also think that in my breakdown panic I put the connections into the wrong positions in the back of the key barrel (the barrel thats screwed into the dash and has 4 wires into it and 3 numbers - 1,2,3 - next to 3 of the connectors).

Could you confirm to me what wires are supposed to go into what numbers? Off the top of my head I have 2 white, one Brown/blue one white/red(or brown im not sure). So what wires go with what numbers?

Thanks again,

Kirsten