Dreaded Electrics! Radio comes on, on its own

[tonyjane22]

Since the constant rain over the last few days my 02 406 has suddenly come to life. Sadly this means having left the car locked and secure overnight, i came to it this morning and was greated by the radio been on. Now i know it had turned off with the ignition so its not me leaving it on. Now this has caused the battery to dip so the car would not start, also the immob light was on to start with, this seemed to go off after a few turns on and off of the ignition. I used a battery buddy and the car started first time.

Also whilst driving the day previous the fuel filler cap warning light would occasionaly flash and bleep.


I assume that water has/is getting in somewhere and possibly causing a bad earth. Or do people think that something more sinister is at work?

your thought please.

[Doggy]

The most common problem seems to be damp carpet in the driver's footwell, (lots of electrical connetions under there). Usual primary cause is blocked sunroof drains,(see bangernom1cs excellent How-To).

Saloons can get flooded spare wheel wells, due to leaky rear lights, too.

Try a search or two......

[FarmerPug]

shouldnt economy mode kick in when the radio is left on for a while though

[tonyjane22]

It does go into power saver mode yes.

Since Thursday all the electrics have gone hay wirer.

Sometimes it will start if the immob light isnt on, but if it is then its a no go.

The drivers carpet is wet. It would seem to be coming in from the seal on the sill. But when moving it there is a sloshing sound from the door. It sounds like half a ocean has got in.

Anyone with ideas on where the water would be getting in from?

Would changing all the seals help?

mines a 2002 hdi est no sunroof

[FarmerPug]

check the door seals, if they are bad replace them, also the windscreen seal may need checked, finally the interior heater could be leaking check if the engine coolant is being slowly lost

[ianjoh]

My immediate advise would be to disconnect the battery as soon as poss because the power will just cause further corrosion within the connector and may render it beyond just drying and cleaning of the contacts.
If its not your heater matrix as suggested then it may be blocked drain holes under the scutttle, which is the black plastic thing under the wiper arms.

[steve_earwig]

Water getting into the doors seems inevitable, the door should have a couple of drain holes in the bottom for just this reason. If these are blocked up with crud the door will fill up until it pours into the car. Not ideal

[tonyjane22]

ok i think i have found the drain holes

i assume i am going to have to strip the door off to have a look inside.

Where is the most likely place for water to be getting in?


I have checked inside the door and its bone dry.!!.

So the sloshing noise i heard was not coming from the door. Where could this water retention be.

The carpet is wetting but no puddle wet if you understand what i mean

[DiscoPol]

it could be in the sills

Mr Earwig is the man to ask about that though from what i remember. They too should have drain holes but as with all small orifices they get bunged up with cr@p and block, hence holding the water in there.

Im sure Wiggy will point you in the right direction for checking these too, maybe worth a search for threads relating to that on here.


Polski

[tonyjane22]

has anyone got any pictures of where the drain holes should be, im trying to work out where they are

[steve_earwig]

I tried taking pictures but they didn't come out too well The drains are about where the arch liners end each end of the sill. If you put your fingers behind the bottom lip and move them towards the wheel you should be able to feel them, you might have to release the arch liners just enough to push them back a little.

These should give you an idea:





FYI: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6864&hilit=extermin8
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8171&p=78986&hilit ... ain#p78986
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4234&hilit=sill+drain

[tonyjane22]

thats looks a good help, but alas im beaten by the weather again .

I assume the electrics will go back to normal once they have dried out?

[tonyjane22]

i have managed to drain of the sill and having removed some of the interior door trim i can see where the water has been getting in. I have managed to get a view into the base of the car and its probably worse than i feared.

The is a massive pool of water on the base of the car and the foam based carpet is saturated with water.

not sure how i am going to pump this water out,

decided that it might be best to cut out the offending piece of carpet to get all the water that is held in the foam. once out i can dry off the electrical connections that are swimming and re fit the piece of carpet. This may seem drastic but its a 2002 model with 186000 miles on it. I paid 950 for it and intended to keep it for 3-4 years. i average 20k a year so in 4 years. It will have over 250k miles on it so the retail value should not be affected by a cut carpet!!! or at least thats my chain of thought

[FarmerPug]

ahy that wont matter, use sticky stuff spray too put the carpet into place, and a mat will hide it well

[DiscoPol]

Agreed.

Good luck, keep us informed.

Polskipugless