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Zero electrics all of a sudden

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LTCamper89 View Drop Down
Vanorak
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    Posted: 30 Apr 13 at 18:38
Excerpt from ?Anything suitable?

'Bugger when home time came the bus decided to cut all power, seemed to have been the isolator, but flew, relatively speaking, home'

The day was fine, built another big plastic box.

Jumped in the bus at 3.30pm, turned the key and....crackle....click.....all the dash lights out and no diesel throbbing.

I checked the isolator but it seems fine. I could not pin the noises down more accurately than 'around the fusebox area' All the fuses are OK, just no power to the dash or ignition switch, and thus the starter. The fusebox was dry and quite clean, as was the wiring behind it.Shocked

I tried the key again, and the same crackling. I sounds like a short but I am ten miles away from it now, thankfully the new job comes complete with friends and a massive empty unit next door.

A lot of my tools are in the back of the bus, since I was faffing on with the double front seat at the weekend, just no axle stands or creeper.

I will go back on the bus on Thursday with my multimeter and some electricians' tape, in the hope that it is an easy fix. I am back in tomorrow to work properly, so I might get an hour or so in after I clock off.

?Anyone had any similar trouble to point me in the right direction?

So much for doing the brakes on the drive on Thursday.Angry

1989 LT28 2.4D    Saviour of 6Music, well one of them. Now playing http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_6music

VW LT Camper not Cramper

....at least the roof is not rusting away....
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LTCamper89 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LTCamper89 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 13 at 18:32
Like a dodo I forgot my keys, and my apples, this morning, so could only check for a broken cable restraint or something similar in the NS wheelarch. Nothing to be seen there, so it will be out with the fusebox, ignition switch and dash for a proper look in and around.

Since I will not have internet access until I return home, I would appreciate any words of wisdom, however insignificant you may feel they are.
1989 LT28 2.4D    Saviour of 6Music, well one of them. Now playing http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_6music

VW LT Camper not Cramper

....at least the roof is not rusting away....
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bibblybobs View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bibblybobs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 13 at 19:22
I lost all my electrics once. It turned out that one of the wires at the back of the engine bay had dropped and was touching the exhaust manilfold/downpipe. It burnt out all the electrics at the fusebox.
1984 LT31 2.4 petrol Camper
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LTCamper89 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LTCamper89 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 13 at 21:54
Thanks bibblybobs, that has cheered me up no end.

I am hoping it is not that bad, but the engine bay wiring is first on the list. 

Too many spinning things in there.
1989 LT28 2.4D    Saviour of 6Music, well one of them. Now playing http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_6music

VW LT Camper not Cramper

....at least the roof is not rusting away....
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t'onion View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote t'onion Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 13 at 22:39
Long shot , have a look at the main wire that goes to the starter motor
LT28 Westfalia FloRida, 2.4 diesel

miserable fooker



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LTCamper89 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LTCamper89 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 May 13 at 22:43
^^Ta.
1989 LT28 2.4D    Saviour of 6Music, well one of them. Now playing http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_6music

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bibblybobs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 13 at 08:18
I have a fusebox that I am due to put on fleabay. If you would like it, give me a shout and I will put it on hold for you. I managed to get a few spares built up over time and am now clearing them out.
Have a look from under the van (passenger wheel arch) at the loom that comes out from under the fusebox and runs over the front wheel into the engine bay for signs of burning (plastic cover melting) as this is where my electrics shorted and all the wires melted together. There was quite a smell behind the fusebox.
1984 LT31 2.4 petrol Camper
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LTCamper89 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 13 at 09:02
Thanks bibblybobs, that would be appreciated.

I did look yesterday dinnertime, I get them now- a full half an hour uninterrupted me-time. Since there was no smell, it did stump me. 

I have been thinking about what I have moved or replaced/repaired recently, so will be starting with the starter wiring, and thus the engine bay.

Just collecting my sticky tape and cable-ties to set off, hopefully to return under LT PowerLOL
1989 LT28 2.4D    Saviour of 6Music, well one of them. Now playing http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_6music

VW LT Camper not Cramper

....at least the roof is not rusting away....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LTCamper89 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 13 at 13:43
You are going to love this.

As far as I could tell the only thing which was not as good as it should be was........the temperature sensor spade on the rear of the head. Crimped on a new one and bingo, up and running.

When the wire, which is about the thickness of a human hairWink, was earthed I got the same crackling coming from the fuse box, so I guess it must be one the same circuit as one of the relays and was causing it to switch uncontrollably. I have not looked to see what is on the circuit, mainly because I do not like the modern fangled 'current flow charts'.

So after you have all splurted your coffee out in comedic fashion, remember it for next time.

Thanks chaps for the other ideas, and though I am bound to regret it later, I will forgo the offer of a fusebox bibblybobs, though thank you all the same.Thumbs Up
1989 LT28 2.4D    Saviour of 6Music, well one of them. Now playing http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_6music

VW LT Camper not Cramper

....at least the roof is not rusting away....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Canada LT28 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 May 13 at 12:40
billybobs,
how much do you want for the fuse box, I may be interested.


Mike
94 LT28 Doka 2.4D
Slow and built to stay that way
87 T3 soon to be a camper
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bibblybobs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 May 13 at 20:03
I was looking about £15, it still has all the fuses in too.
1984 LT31 2.4 petrol Camper
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LTCamper89 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jun 13 at 12:52
Originally posted by LTCamper89 LTCamper89 wrote:

 turned the key and....crackle....click.....all the dash lights out and no diesel throbbing

Same again today, but had to call on my recovery people. Less than ten minutes later I was helping the mechanic to locate the elusive electricity in the fusebox, and then getting the bus onto a lowloader.Cry

The temperature sensor ruse worked once but not again.

Fusebox dismantling, here I come.ClapClapClap


1989 LT28 2.4D    Saviour of 6Music, well one of them. Now playing http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_6music

VW LT Camper not Cramper

....at least the roof is not rusting away....
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LTCamper89 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LTCamper89 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jun 13 at 20:23
All back together and back in the bus but no better. About four hours to strip, clean and refit. 6.00pm.

There was a small amount of corrosion but really not significant at all. It may only take a little bit, in the right place, to cause problems but that does not appear to be the case here.

I was happy to see that the ancient Greeks were commissioned to design the fusebox, once the sealed top and bottom were split, the layers of PVC and tracks separated neatly. Reassembled with lashings of Vaseline, just in case.

EmbarrassedEmbarrassing last post in this thread.

7.30pm Dearly Beloved turned the key while I held the relays, to find out which one was clicking. Big starter. I levered off the cap to see if was burning out or had lost its' contacts, nice and clean and when reinstalled there was no clicking, or starting or anything.

I got out my meter to check the battery, 12.78v, but when I checked a chassis earth, the door latch, 0v-1.3v.

The earth cable from the isolator to the body by the battery was loose.Embarrassed It must have been working that way for a while since the bolt had evidence of arcing.

Stupid me on so many counts. 

I could easily wonder why the mechanic did not find the fault since he was rummaging around at the battery to put the booster on.

Here endeth the lesson.
1989 LT28 2.4D    Saviour of 6Music, well one of them. Now playing http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_6music

VW LT Camper not Cramper

....at least the roof is not rusting away....
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