Electrics gone haywire

[Poggit]

Daughter in laws 1.8 mk1 has gone a little crazy in the electrics department and any advice, as always, greatly appreciated.
When she stops the car and removes the ignition key the wipers start up all on their own and run for several minutes then stop! This also occurred just now when she unlocked the door with the remote key. Last week the electric seats ceased to work-these were fitted aftermarket. I will investigate tomorrow in the day light but just wondering where to start

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by Poggit

Daughter in laws 1.8 mk1 has gone a little crazy in the electrics department and any advice, as always, greatly appreciated.
When she stops the car and removes the ignition key the wipers start up all on their own and run for several minutes then stop! This also occurred just now when she unlocked the door with the remote key. Last week the electric seats ceased to work-these were fitted aftermarket. I will investigate tomorrow in the day light but just wondering where to start

Has it got highline Nav, or a boot mounted CD changer?

Check for water in these areas first, it's K-Line corruption you're experiencing

Brian

[Poggit]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

Has it got highline Nav, or a boot mounted CD changer?

Check for water in these areas first, it's K-Line corruption you're experiencing

Brian

Hi Brian and Happy New Year! It has got a cd changer but its mounted in the glove box. It hasn't got the high line nav. Since the last post i got a call again from Paula -she was out side the chip shop and it wouldnt start. Also when trying to lock the car on the key it just pips as though a door is still open-but all doors and bonnet/boot are closed.
I met Paula and investigated-I disconnected the battery earth for ten minutes and it started up fine-but upon on stopping it gave a random windscreen wipe again.

[Poggit]

One other thing that was strange-upon reconnecting the battery after being disconnected for ten minutes I expected the radio to ask for a code-but it operated normally.

[Jules]

Agree with Brian
Water in the K-bus line somewhere.

Are any of the carpet footwells squelching when pressed with a foot ?!

[Poggit]

Originally Posted by Jules

Agree with Brian
Water in the K-bus line somewhere.

Are any of the carpet footwells squelching when pressed with a foot ?!

Hi Jules.
There is an issue with the classic leaking rear lamp seals which i have not got round to fixing yet. I have no experience of the k-line circuit -the car is being dropped off tomorrow and I am happy to inspect the wiring with a can of wd4o but what will this involve and where would be the best place to start?

[75Connie]

Originally Posted by Poggit

Hi Jules.
There is an issue with the classic leaking rear lamp seals which i have not got round to fixing yet. I have no experience of the k-line circuit -the car is being dropped off tomorrow and I am happy to inspect the wiring with a can of wd4o but what will this involve and where would be the best place to start?

Oh Dear! Had penned a response, and lost the flippin' thing :-( Will try again:

Consider using 99% IPA (IsoPropyl Alcohol) as well as your WD40. There are places I would hesitate to use WD40 on its own- a rinse of IPA once WD40 has been used as solvent/water repellant might be advisable once you have checked out and found that a particular component/circuit is not at fault.

As said earlier, if you concentrate on areas of the car where there is evidence of water ingress, you will probably have a better chance of finding the problem. This is likely to require at least, checking out the ECM, BCU, LSM and IPK components for noticeable evidence of damp.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a magic bullet in this- A well documented test and results recording strategy ought to pay dividends and should limit the extent to which you will end up chasing your tail. Some of the recent posts about electrical measurements at various points in the K-Bus were very interesting and seemed to give a good clue as to how your problem solving strategy might be put together.

My 2 cents worth...

[Jules]

If yer haven't fixed your boot leak the water will have run down under back seat underneath the carpets into ;

Either front left and front right footwells or front right and front left.
If you were born unlucky all 4 footwells!

Long job drying the 2 inch thick carpet and various ways of doing it well documented on here.

A bit futile spraying WD or IPA if carpet is sodden.

[Ched]

Exactly the same problems as mine.

[Poggit]

By a stroke of luck the first area of damp carpet I lifted revealed the cause of the problem; the aftermarket relay for the electric seats was positioned behind a very damp piece of carpet and was soaked. All the terminals were badly corroded but nothing had fused. Upon removing the relay water dripped out of it! I disconnected the circuit and hey presto no more poltergeist activity with the wipers and the car remote locked as it should do
Now comes the task of drying out the sodden carpets and sealing the rear lamp clusters etc It was a bit of a perfect storm that resulted in this-the car is parked on a steep drive nose first and we have had rain of Biblical proportions up here these last few weeks.' For a h'peth of tar the ship was sunk' comes to mind with this one. On my own 75 I have fitted the modified seals available from a member on here-may well be prudent to do the same again on my 'foster' car.
A big thank you for all the helpful suggestions-your knowledge is truly invaluable in keeping these fine cars on the road.