Right Folks, loooking for some help with a strange issue i had with the car this morning.
Went out to start the car after 3 weeks of it just sitting, turned the key and the dash lights etc seemed to be very bright and nothing to indicate a flat battery (the battery was replaced about a week before i went away) i noticed that the little red led for the immobiliser that usually stays on until you put the key in was staying on and didnt seem to recognise the transponder,turned the key and it didnt even offer to start, no action from starter motor just silence. so i reckoned it was the immobiliser.
thought i would try a booster pack and the red led went out and the car turns over but wont fire. but i have noticed that the red led for the immobiliser does not come back on now once the car is locked and armed.
I took the battery out and charged it and put it back in but still no joy. no indication of the immobiliser working and car is still turning over but not firing.
am i right in thinking that if the immobiliser was doing its job the car shouldnt turn over? should i be looking elsewhere for the problem?
Factory immobiliser doesn't cut starter motor - having said that I'm not you'll have the factory immobiliser enabled if it's a JDM model. Only the aftermarket alarm immobilser inhibits the starter. Sorry just re-read your post, don't know what the autowatch has been set up to inhibit.
I'm not sure if its a factory imobiliser or not, i found where its located, down in the drivers footwell just to the right of the fuse box, it looks like it could be factory fitted. i know the manufacturer of it is auto watch as it says it both on the transponder and the immobiliser.
The fact that the red led isnt coming on now is really strange. i'm 90% sure uts the immobilser thats packed in. is there any way to disconect/bypass it to confirm?
The immobiliser was on the car when i bought it so cant be sure if its factory or not.
Thats what i thought, any time the car hasnt detected the transponder and i have had to wave it around to get it to detect it the car hasnt even offered to start, no clicks or anything. now it will turn over but not fire.
Went out this morning and had a closer look at the fuses, and found that one of the 15A fuses the one right at the back of the fuse box under the bonnet had blown. I thought nice one thats the cause got a replacement and put it in. hooked up the battery and went to fire it up. turned the key and smoke started coming out of the vents on the passenger side. i ran out and disconnected the battery and set about locating where the smoke was coming from, strangely the fuse never blew this time.
I removed the glove box and removed the plastic cover and sill plate from the passenger side footwell to give access connector box as per photos below, i noticed that there was water sitting in between the plugs!! I started to remove the plugs and one was really stuck, managed to get it apart and found that the plug had melted and alot of the pins are rattling slack.
How should i go about fixing this? try and locate a 2nd hand loom and replace the plugs and any damaged pins? or just bypass the plug and join the wires together?
Also what is this plug for and what does it connect to?
my other concern is could anything else have been damaged if the fuse never blew this time!
managed to source replacement plugs (cheers willox) just ordered a tool to remove the pins and then i'll set about changing them over and replacing the damaged ones.
Can someone tell me what the plug is for/connected to and is there a chance it has damaged anything else since the fuse didnt blow? it looks like the pins ahve just been arcing inside the wet plug and melted some of the wires, it only seems to be three pins that have been shorting out.
You shouldn't need a special tool, a couple of jewellers screwdrivers will do the job
You need to lift the secondary latch, see pics, then lift the barb that retains the contact - It's easy when you've done a few
The plug connects the left hand front loom to the looms under the dash assembly. I did have a quick look earlier but stopped when I realised it occurs on 67 pages of the manual Can you post a pic showing the wire colours on the other side of the plug. I'll try and list the wires for you
As an example, the grey wire is a live, via a 15A fuse, 12V feed to the fuel pump relays
Something else to check is the grommet where the harness comes into the ****pit from under the wing. My guess is that some additional wires/pipes for, as an example, a boost controller have been installed
Cheers steve hopefully i'll get it sorted ok, i'm absolutely gutted, just came home after 3 weeks of driving a crappy rental car went to go for a blast then this happens!:wallbang::wallbang:
Thanks grants, i have a few photos i took today of the wires to try and suss out the orientation of the ones that are burnt out, 1 is grey and 1 is blue/black stripe.
The fuse only blew when i turned the ignition on, then when i replaced the fuse it didnt blow the 2nd time and the loom started shorting out and smoking.
I've just sat and removed the replacement plugs from the loom and refitted the pins and wires that will need replaced, it took me ages to get the first few out then i got the knack and they came out no probs.
going by what you've noted above it makes sense as the fuel pump wasnt kicking in and the ignition wasnt working as it normally would.
Just need to get the pins out damaged plugs and take it from there, looks like i will have a grand total of 9 wires to replace depending on the condition when i remove them.
I will post up some pics of the process so this can be used as a "How To" since it seems to be a daily occurance just now.
Spent last night removing the connectors from the spare loom, and cut the wires that need replacing and fitted them to the new plug and connector.
Since it was dry tonight i braved the cold and started stripping the wires and pins from the busted connectors. I cut back the damaged wires which luckily was only about an inch back from the plug/connector and used heatshrink crimps as i didnt trust my soldering skills....
I printed off a few photos of the connectors so i could clarify the positions of the wires on each plug and noted them down on a notepad to cross reference them.
Heres a few pics of the process.
Removal of pins from old plug
First Row Completed
The Main Offenders
Extent Of the Damage
Completed Connector & Plugs
Trusty Notebook and photos
Also a big thank you to Willox and Grants for their help. Much Appreciated!!!
My respect for what you have achieved :smthumbup and for the use of heat shrink splices
How are your knees, back etc I know all too well :wallbang: what a pain it is to work in the footwell of a car Next time, god forbid, take the seat out
Right folks, car is still running fine but the water is still getting in, i had a heater in the footwell for a good few hours on monday to dry it out it was totally dry last night but when i went out and checked it after the snow shower today low and behold there was a few drips of water on some of the wires. I have checked the grommet that comes through behind the wing and had a look at the main grommet that goes through the bulkhead there is the two avcr cables fitted through this grommet and i will reseal this tonight.
I did a search on water leaks and a few people mentioned the drain on the panel in front of the windscreen being blocked and overflowing into the heater unit. and also the windscreen leaking.
Anyhting else you guys can think of that might be the cause?
It hasnt had a windscreen in the time i've owned it but it may have had in the past, is there anyway to tell?
Had the car out at lunch again today, still a small amount of water present but nothing major, going to take the arch liner out and check the cables as they enter through the wing again tonight.
Martin
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