Vandalized! No start!
 

Car was broken into last week and had a lot of gauges / wiring literally ripped out. Yesterday and today I got a real chance to survey the damages. At first glance it didn't look all that bad actually, besides a broken fuel pump kill switch (winning!) there didnt' seem to be any damage. Given the spot the car was in and my lack of transportation / tools I had to do a hack job and bypassed the switch using a jumper wire and it started right up.

I then drove it over to a garage where I can work on it and store it safely while I get her back on the road. I cleaned up the cabin, wired the electric fan back up with a relay this time and tried to start her up. No dice.

I checked every connection I had changed, checked the wiring from the "switch" to see if wires had become loose, nothing. No blown fuses. Cranks just fine. Everything is wired up as it should be, no jumper wire bypassing the fuel pump switch anymore, everything looks good. I jumped the fuel pump check connector and the fuel pump is working and pumping with key to (on). So now I'm stumped....

I don't know if it is a related issue, but when wiring in a relay for the fan I noticed that the green 6-pin check connector by the battery that I am using to draw a 12v switched power source from has melted quite a bit. For a while I was using that connector to draw power for my fan. I was being an idiot and not using a relay, drawing directly from the B/W wire on that connector :icon_tdow

There doesn't appear to be any connection between that wire and any of the others, the connector has just melted away a bit where that contact is. I'm not sure what other systems are connected in line with that, but I do know that the fan WAS NOT connected to that power source when I started it up and drove it and that that power source DOES NOT work anymore.

So two questions then:

1) Why isn't she starting all the sudden
2) How do I repair the B/W wire so that I can use it as a power source.

Thanks for your time guys, I appreciate the help. Rx7club rocks.

Are you just assuming that you have fuel, or have you actually checked for fuel pressure @ key on?

The B/W wire is powered by the 30 amp EGI Comp fuse in an S4.

^I would check that EGI fuse, also be aware that the larger fuses sometimes can look ok but are actually bad.

Judging by the sound of the walbro pumping, and the stoutness of the fuel lines as well as the sound of fuel rushing through the system w the key on, I've got fuel. Ill swap the fuse out, but it looked fine. Its acting like the egi fuse is out, but the fuse isn't blown. Would the pump still turn on with the egi fuse blown and the check connector jumpered?

The fuel pump will work independently of the 30 amp EGI Comp fuse. Fuel requires the Main fuse and the Engine fuse to work.

Got it. Hopefully I just blew the EGI fuse testing the e-fan. Thanks!

NVM didnt see your last post.

Ok, I swapped the fuse and it started right up. I let it warm up and then shut her off to wire up my fan correctly.

After incorrectly wiring the relay (un-noticed), I go to start the car and I get the same thing! No start, sounds like the EGI fuse is blown and I'm not getting fuel. I swap fuses again, no dice.

I notice that the relay was wired incorrectly, so I remove it and focus on getting the car running for the time being. So no wiring from the fan, no connections to the B/W wire on the 6-pin check connector, fresh fuse, and no start.

I pull out my multi-meter and get the following with key to *on*:

at the EGI fuse, fuse removed: "inlet" 11.96V "outlet" 2.53V wtf????
at the EGI fuse, fuse installed: "inlet" 11.96V "outlet" 11.96V makes sense, new fuse

at the B/W wire, 6-pin check connector (fuse installed): 2.53V

at the fuel pump relay, cranking: 8.96V (fuse installed)

So I'm stumped. Thats all the info I've got so far....
Does it seem like I've got some bad wiring in that loom then? Something is drawing power and somewhere along the line it is connecting with the EGI circuit? I DO have a power drain somehwere in the system, that's known. Thanks for your time guys.

i would double check the "engine" fuse inside the car. is the EGI fuse popping or no?

The car is an S4, correct? If so, you replaced the EGI Comp fuse and voltage at the B/W wire in the Green plug is very low? Also, voltage to the comp fuse comes from the battery so there is "always" voltage to one of the two pins dedicated to each fuse and this is the reason for only one pin having voltage on it as the other fuse pin needs the fuse to act as a bridge to allow the voltage from one fuse pin to pass onto the other pin.

Karack- The engine fuse is good, the EGI fuse isnt popping.

satch- Yes, its an s4 turbo. Yes, the fuse is replaced and the voltage at the B/W in the green plug is very low. I understand that one pin will always see voltage at the comp fuse, but with NO fuse in place, one pin reads 11.96V while the other reads 2.53V SIMUTANEOUSLY.... where's that 2.53V coming from? Don't know if thats related...

The fuse pin with the low voltage after the fuse has been pulled has a White/Blue wire which runs to the Main relay. When the Main relay closes the voltage on the W/L wire passess on to the B/W wire and the voltage on the B/G wire at the relay passes on to the Black/Yellow wire. So does the Main relay have voltage on the White/Blue wire (no key necessary). If it does and w/key to on the Main relay should cause the B/W wire to have voltage on it.

I am getting little to no voltage ~.02V at the W/L wire with no key.

with the key to *on* I am getting low voltage at the B/W wire ~2.5V

you didnt to have ultra cool A-pillar gauges did you? just curious if that could be reason they broke in.

Super ultra cool. They didn't touch those though???

So i guess I should check the main relay? I'm lost in the woods when it comes to electrical.

OOOooooookay.......

Well for shits and grins I cranked it over... whaddya know it started right up!


So I'm thinking the jerks tried to mess with the ignition switch and jacked up one of the wires to the main relay...

on a plus note, arghx's e-fan wiring write up works like a freaking charm...

So tomorrow I will be looking at the ignition switch. Great.

With the fuse in, the W/L wire running from the EGI Comp fuse to the Main relay must have battery voltage on it 24/7. If it's not, then either the wire came loose from the fuse box terminal or the fuse is bad. This wire is unrelated to the ignition switch.

Weird.... well i will take a look again tomorrow and double check nothing came loose. Thanks!

Woo hoo! Fixed it! Back on the road! Thanks satch!

Re-examining the W/L wire off the fuse block it looks like the P/O had severed this line and used a butt connector to reconnect it; the crimps were loose. A little solder and some heat shrink and I'm back on the road. Thanks guys!

Ok, next issue that hasn't happened before since the break-in:

The car randomly dies now. I guess technically if you think about it it happened the first time when it got broken into.... but anyways, I'll be driving and will come to a stop sign or stop light. When I push in the clutch, get it in gear and start moving forward, it just dies.

No. I am not stalling.

The first time time it did this after I got it back on the road, I started it right back up and went on my way ("Huh, that was weird. Oh well....") However it JUST happened to me again on the way home today and it wouldn't start back up. I had to push it off the road. I popped the hood, everything looked ok. I went to start and nothing. This is where it gets weird, for shits and giggles I swapped the EGI and Retractor fuses and it started right up! The fuses were fine, neither were blown; the headlights open and the car starts.

What gives?

The fan which is using the B/W off the green 6 pin check connector for switched power was still running with the key to on, so the relay was working and everything was getting power where it was needed, right? Confused....

You may have a broken/loose connector on your EGI fuse. sounds like you coulda just jiggled it and got the same reaction as swapping it for the pop ups.

Ok, I will look into that...

Great, well I was stranded last night. I can't tow the thing until tomorrow...

I hopped in it after work and it just wouldn't start. I'm thinking its the main relay now but can't be sure until I get it to the garage. I can hear the relay click, however... but it could be other relays? I dunno. Noob question of the week: Where is the Main Relay?