| Author | Message | ||
     Carl Jensen Experienced User Username: carl_jensen Post Number: 23 Registered: 2-2005 |
After a drive and the engine is hot, I will park for 10 minutes or so and when I restart the car the gearbox actuator will not work at all. This only happens when the car is hot. If I turn the ignition off and then on again the actuator will operate correctly, but sometimes I have to turn the ignition on and off several times before the actuator will operate. I have checked the electrical connector going into the actuator and the pins are clean. When the problem occurs I have also reset the red button on the thermal switch in the fusebox, but that does not seem to help either (door switches work fine regardless). After searching old posts about actuators in this forum I am still at a loss. Has anyone had a similar problem or have an idea where I should look? This only happens when the car is hot. Thanks, Carl Jensen | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 867 Registered: 4-2003 |
Way back in my memory bank there is a recollection that Bill Coburn did an article in Tee One about problems with the wiring harness that caused intermittent actuator operation and he mentioned a wiring specialist who would take the old harness and use it to make up a new harness. BBC - am I correct or having another "senior's moment"? | ||
| Paul Yorke Prolific User Username: paul_yorke Post Number: 286 Registered: 6-2006 |
It could be the loom, but I'm not sure that being hot or cold is a symptom. usually moving the loom slightly will make it work / fail. But as with all intermittent faults - they will try to fox you.  Shadow I's with the screw in connector looms used to have problems at the actuator end , but II's with the connector inside were usually ok. the relays in the actuator and the finger contacts are usually the problem. Sometimes the motor or brushes can give problems. does it get stuck in Park? what happens if you leave the key in, and leave it in neutral? (FYI: the thermal cut outs are made up of 4 separate fuses, you can only tell if it's operated by a feint click when you press the red button in.) | ||
| Carl Jensen Experienced User Username: carl_jensen Post Number: 24 Registered: 2-2005 |
Thanks very much for your advice David and Paul. Since I will have the gearbox actuator removed I went ahead and ordered a kit to replace the two relays and also the two microswitches inside the actuator. I will also inspect the loom to see if I can find anything there. I will report back in a couple of weeks. Thanks again for your help. Carl | ||
| Carl Jensen Experienced User Username: carl_jensen Post Number: 25 Registered: 2-2005 |
I believe that I have found the problem. I first disassembled the actuator and bought 2 relays to replace the old Lucas mechanical ones. However, I couldn't figure out how to wire the new ones so I cleaned up the contacts on the existing relays and reassembled the actuator (and felt like a total idiot along the way). I did find a problem with the wiring harness that has the screw-in plug going into the actuator and on the other end has a few multi-plugs inside the engine compartment - two of which attach to the firewall near the driver's left foot (on a LHD car) and the other appears to connect to another plug on the inner-left fender. All three had significant corrosion inside and after a clean-up and somewhat laborious sanding of the male parts in each plug things seemed to have been fixed. Thanks again David and Paul for your advice! It is nice to have my car up and running again. Carl | ||
| Jan Forrest Experienced User Username: got_one Post Number: 43 Registered: 1-2008 |
Now you've got the contacts actually contacting it would be a good idea to pack both sides with petroleum jelly - not "KY Jelly" as it is water based. This will keep the moisture and oxygen out of them and prevent re-occurence of the problem. I have done this every time I split a connector of this type for many years and it does work. This works especially well with tow bar electrics which have a very difficult life! |
