34 replies to this topic

[Black.Ghost]

Thanks minidizzy. I'm getting there in working out what way to sort it out.

mab01uk; Yeah, I did ask him a few times if he was sure about which way it was, because, at the time, I wasn't able to see on his battery, but only on mine. It turns out he was correct; someone changed them round on his battery whilst I was connecting it up to my battery, and didn't tell me or the owner of the car.

This other person said he changed them because he thought that sparking on connecting up the batteries must've meant that he had them the wrong way round.. this man who changed them is a teacher at my school.

I could kill him I had an audience of around 10-15 people all egging me on to trying the ignition, which is why I failed to recognize that he had swapped them.

Lets hope that the repair/rebuild isn't too stressful. For now, she's sitting in her garage warm and cosy, if a little sulky

Simon.

I would absolutely without doubt send the teacher the bill. It was ultimately his mistake that lead to the problem. At the very least, he should absolutely have told you that he switched them over.

Which teacher was it? I used to go to the same school so I might know him. And you know my brother as well.

When I first got to Germany, I drove through the gate and turned the car off. Went to start again, nothing. I rolled it out of camp (its on a hill) as I thought it was the petrol. Anyway, after getting a couple of lads to help me push it back into camp, I had a look at it and couldn't figure out what it was (after fuel my next guess was fuel cut out switch as I've had problems before). In the end, I figured out what it was, but not before the brakes and clutch (prob master cylinder) had seized. Hence, the car got left unused and is now at a state when it needs a resto . I'm really annoyed with myself for taking so long to find the damn problem as it has lead to a lot more issues, and severe German winters have not helped.

Also, I had a problem with a Nissan Almera recently and tried to jump it off a Lexus. The RAC man that came out said you should avoid using cars such as Lexus, because they have so many electronics that a surge in power can blow various things. Not sure how right this is, but I wont be using the brother in laws car again for it.

[maggies_minder]

a lot of modern cars really dont like being used as jump vehicles.

it can cause more problems than its worth.

[Deathrow]

I would 100% be going to the teacher for compensation. If he had told you he switched the leads, that'd be a different matter but since he didn't and neither vehicle involved belong to him, he had absolutely no business touching the leads at all.

I can't say I call this a break down though. The car didn't cease working of it's own accord (what I call a break down) it was misused and as a result, got damaged.

[puggered]

I think its a tad unfair to blame the teacher as he was only helping out. Even if the leads were put on the correct way, maggies_minder has raised a valid point in that cars with ECU's can still fail with jump leads, even if they are placed on the correct way.

[Deathrow]

He should have said he changed it though. Swapping something over "because it sparked" when you don't know any better and not saying what you've done. Not cool.

[RawlinsGTR]

The only person that he didn't tell was me. Others saw him do it, but I was sitting in the drivers seat ready to try the ignition.

It's harder than it seems to go up to a teacher in school and talk about compensation I'll see how much it costs, and decide then.

tnemini; it was Mr Downing. I'm not going to go all out here and say it was all his fault however. Just so we know. Obviously, the guy who's car it was watching him do it, but didn't say anything when it was switched.

Also; the teacher had helped earlier to try and get it bump started, which is why he was around when the jump leads were produced.

And yup, Deathrow, you're 100% right. That's exactly what I've been telling people when they tell me that I "should've got a better car."

Simon.

Edited by Dog., 11 November 2011 - 04:55 PM.

[minisilverbullet]

I'd put this one down to experience, i am afraid.

It was probably a stressful situation, it is at the best of times, but with an audience, being young etc. too many chefs spoil the broth and all that! He shouldnt have touched them etc, but you should of had control blah blah blah. I would have a word with him though!

Maybe wishful thinking but the MPi ECU must have some sort failsafe in the form of a fuse! Ae you sure the smoking wasnt just some insulation on a wire?

Have you tried it with a good battery?

[RawlinsGTR]

Yeah; I was planning to tell him what's happened, and see how it goes from there.

Definately right in all of that.

Someone said that to me today as well about the ECU. I wasn't able to get under the bonnet before the smoking stopped, because I shouted for the jump leads to be removed first. I did find melting on the box that holds the relay module, but the circuit board inside shows no sign of scorching.

I'm gonna have a proper look inside the places at some point, and hopefully find the source of the scorching.

The immobilisor wasn't working before I replaced the broken fuse that I found in the fuse box, and when I'd replaced it, it allowed me to turn the engine back on.

And no, I haven't tried it with a good battery, but the AA man got out his emergency battery charger and everything turned back on. But the immobiliser light stayed constant red, and didn't shut off when I pressed the button on the key fob. The only way we could disable the imobiliser was to manually press the relay in the relay module, which leads me to believe that a good battery probably wouldn't work?

Simon.

P.S. Can I get a moderator to change the title of the thread 'because I'm a little embarrassed about it now To something like 'Blown ECU and Relay Module". Ta.

Edited by Dog., 11 November 2011 - 05:08 PM.

[Deathrow]

Title changed.

Thing is there might have been a fuse in place but does that even matter when the polarity is wrong? The electrics aren't expecting power in that direction so it's unlikely it'd be fused in the right place to avoid damage.

Yeah, really grinds my gears when people say stuff has broken down when it was their fault. My favourite is running out of petrol. "I ran out of petrol and my car broke down." No, you ran out of petrol and you're a lemon, it's not your cars fault. Haha.

I hope you get it sorted, I know the MPi's can be a bit of a voodoo magic sort of affair when you start trying to trace problems .

[R1minimagic]

I have some MPi relay modules, if you need one PM me!

[RawlinsGTR]

It'll be going up to MLmotorsport some time next week, so I'll PM you minimagic if I need one, thanks

Deathrow; yeah, I got unbelievably annoyed by the number of people who said to me, after I told them that it wasn't the car's fault, but mine, "nah, it's because your car's sh**".

I am placing absoloutely no blame on my car whatsoever, and have told her so many times

Simon.

[Deathrow]

Don't worry about it Simon, they're only jealous because they drive cars which are a bit lifeless and are very difficult to connect with like you can connect with a Mini.

[RawlinsGTR]

Definately People either absoloutely love my car, or think it's an impractical pile of poo.

I know where I'm at, so I'm happy either way

Might have even convinced a friend to get a mini too, so we can share and help each other, as well as go on trips together.

Simon.

Oh, and thanks for the title change.

P.S. - Plus, we got a fantastic photo out of the whole episode of two of my friends. The one on the right is doing movember, which is why the photo was taken; for his movember blog. (Don't ask me why he's doing a blog).



Just so we know, none of those people are me.

Edited by Dog., 11 November 2011 - 05:55 PM.

[mab01uk]

If you receive a jump start some car handbooks recommend you also turn on your headlights, heated rear window and heater blower.......this confuses many people as ideally you want to conserve power as much as possible to attempt a start, but there is a very good reason. As you connect the jump leads from the already running car or good battery to the donor car there can be a power spike as the voltage hits the flat battery, it is these spikes which can wreck a modern cars ECU and other electronic modules, so with the lights, etc on they help absorb any electrical spikes/surges. It is also a good idea to keep headlights, rear windscreen heater and the heater blower motor on while disconnecting the jump leads, again this is to reduce the chances of a sudden voltage spike causing damage.

Edited by mab01uk, 11 November 2011 - 06:23 PM.

[RawlinsGTR]

Ooh, cheers for that info.