Posts: 4
Threads: 2
Joined: Jul 2018
Got a new battery (Yuasa 075 12v 60Ah 620A) last Saturday & the car seemed to be working fine. Came to start it today & there's no power. No 'clicks' or anything. The only thing on is the red door lights. The indicator on the battery says it's ok, so I've no idea whats happened! Anybody any clue what it could be? I'm hoping it's just a fuse or something.
It seems to be one thing after another with this car & I haven't even driven it yet.
Posts: 776
Threads: 144
Joined: Aug 2006
Hi Rob check fuse 7 (top middle)
It can pop / melt. Mine melted when the battery connection was loose... and I was miles from home!
DOC 116
VIN 6237
Posts: 4
Threads: 2
Joined: Jul 2018
(18 Aug 2018, 18:31)Stuart Rees Wrote: Hi Rob check fuse 7 (top middle)
It can pop / melt. Mine melted when the battery connection was loose... and I was miles from home!
Thanks. Think I sorted it. Unplugged those coloured connections in the back right corner of the engine bay & sprayed WD-40 specialist contact cleaner on them. Although for some reason theres one that was unplugged & couldn't see where it plugs into. It comes from under where the light switch is.
Anyway, got it running but the 'coolant fan fail' light came on & it was dripping water from somewhere and the engine started smoking!
Posts: 776
Threads: 144
Joined: Aug 2006
Ah, Welcome... to DeLorean Ownership!
DOC 116
VIN 6237
Posts: 377
Threads: 39
Joined: Feb 2009
Ahh yes welcome to DeLorean ownership.
You want to check out your relay compartment. Have you got the original
Fan fail relay? If so you want to get rid of it and ether do the temporary fused
link wire fix or pick up one of Dave's solid state fan fail relay upgrades.
Then I would suggest checking the fans and otterstat for correct operation.
Nick H
DOC 650
Jaguar X-Type
Range Rover Sport SDV6 "Rufus" (Mrs H's motor)
DeLorean DMC 12 Vin#2862
My other hobby...
http://www.lccuk.org.uk/
Posts: 154
Threads: 25
Joined: Oct 2013
My opinion is that just unplugging the connectors spraying WD40 will not have solved the root cause of your Battery Problem (I have the same battery too)
I have just carried out a wiring loom modifiaction that gets rid of the wires running along the top of the engine - so I know those pesky wires intimately.
In that same compartment that you sprayed wd40 is a brass post that takes some thick brown wires to the back of your alternator, then from the back of the alternator to the solenoid. Nearby all the connectors is a grounding wire check that too.
The brass post I mentioned, passes through the rear (plastic/GRP) bulkhead to a space in the rear pontoon behind the passenger seat (assuming you have a LHD) This is where all the wires feed through into those connectors you sprayed - and don't forget that brass post !
So a thorough job is to :-
Disconnect your battery - you will be dealing with wires that are continually live whilst the battery is connected.
Remove the rear panel (where the string vest attaches to :-) )
Check the connectors to the brass post (mine were off!!)
Clean them up
Now go back into the rear of the engine compartment and check the brass post in the rear compartment that you sprayed WD 40.
Get a helper as it is useful to have somebody hold a spanner in the connector compartment whilst you loosen, clean and re tighten the nut on the brass post that take the thick brown wires into the pontoon compartment, that feed the alternator and solenoid. (too many bloody compartments eh?
Now check the feed to the alternator by checking the brown wires (The looms are usually made from 3 brown wires making up one wire) that run to the alternator - clean them up.
Check the wires from the Alternator to the solenoid - clean them up and check that they haven't melted - they run close to the exhaust
Check the earth/ground wire and if you can - run another one !!!
Please let us know how you get on?
Vin 11789 (probably #50 of the Middle East batch of 50)
Posts: 154
Threads: 25
Joined: Oct 2013
Oh I forgot - it's normal to find connectors that aren't plugged into anything !!!!
Vin 11789 (probably #50 of the Middle East batch of 50)
Posts: 4,525
Threads: 812
Joined: Jul 2006
All good points from the man above :-) WD40 is not a cure all you may get better results removing any connector and cleaning it up with some wet and dry and then checking. If your not sure how get someone to show you how to use a multimeter and check each connection including checking for voltage drop. Usually most electrical gremlins are due to corrosion and bad connections, especially on a DeLorean. Are you anywhere near another owner who may be able to help?
Chris
Posts: 154
Threads: 25
Joined: Oct 2013
I was re reading this thread and was interested in understanding the "fuse 7" conundrum.
So having googled fuse 7 it covers - Lambda,Frequency Valve, fuel pump, CPR - all good reasons why a car won't start but isn't the problem here the main cables (live/ground) from the battery to Alternator to solenoid ? .... but there again why are the damn door lights on? I'm confused !!! Maybe the wires to the alternator are all ok, so you would have power .....but the solenoid wires are iffy?
I'm no electrics expert but I'd like to know the solution to this one?
Vin 11789 (probably #50 of the Middle East batch of 50)
Posts: 377
Threads: 39
Joined: Feb 2009
Just catching up with this thread.
Note Rob’s using WD40’s electrical contact cleaner. Not standard WD40.
What concerns me is that fan fail light illumination. If the car has the fused temporary fix done as a recall. The lamp does not operate.
So what is plugged into that “fan fail relay socket”? Allowing the warning light to come on.
Is it the original relay that should be removed, Fanzilla or Dave’s solid state or some other upgrade?
If it’s been upgraded then there is a problem with one or both fans. As most upgrades reinstate the fan fail light.
Nick H
DOC 650
Jaguar X-Type
Range Rover Sport SDV6 "Rufus" (Mrs H's motor)
DeLorean DMC 12 Vin#2862
My other hobby...
http://www.lccuk.org.uk/
Posts: 4,525
Threads: 812
Joined: Jul 2006
Quote:So what is plugged into that “fan fail relay socket”? Allowing the warning light to come on.
It could be a simple bridging wire, I have one so that when the fans come on it illuminates the light. Or indeed it may be it still has the OE relay?
Chris
Posts: 1,746
Threads: 119
Joined: Aug 2009
Some parts of this story sounds familiar with something I fixed on my car this summer. For about 2yrs I had a gnd fault issue. Around 150ohms to gnd. I finally found where the issue was (using multimeter, WD40 contact cleaner and a bit of elbow grease scrubbing up contacts to be nice and shiny all around the car again.)
During the two years though, the one visible symptom (other than I suspect this is also where part of my struggling to get the car started from lengthy periods of inactivity had been coming from too), was that my fan fail light would come on with the cooling fans, even though both fans were running. Clearly the gnd fault was giving an imbalance in the current flow through each fan, setting off the fan fail light incorrectly. Now that I've found my gnd fault though, fan fail light is back to working perfectly as designed.
Rissy
(Forum Member 288)
(DOC Member 663)
May 1981 vin#1458 "LEX"
Grey, Flapped, Black
Chassis: #1073
Engine: #2839
Main Car(s):
2005 BMW M3 in Velvet Blue
2010 Honda Civic Type R in Sapphire Blue (1 of 115 made)
Posts: 154
Threads: 25
Joined: Oct 2013
Rissy that sounds like a strong candidate.
it was strange that the OP said that things seemed better after rummaging around in the connector compartment maybe brushing against the live/ground helped along with cleaning the electrics?
Ive run a better ground just at the back of my car and I like the idea of beefing up the whole grounding system at some stage? - it would be easy to do in my case as I have the centre console out - I'd run a thick ground wire from the front where the fans are ground(ed?) inside along the console to the rear pontoon and out to where the existing ground is on the rear of the frame. There seems to be threads on DMC Talk about modding the ground system but some go into it far too deeply?
Barrie Wills said that they were not proud of the DMC electrics :-(
Vin 11789 (probably #50 of the Middle East batch of 50)
