DSE with loads of faults

Hi everyone. I bought this car in November last year so as not to get stuck in any of the snow we had. It had a couple of little faults which i listed on a previous post but now it has developed something i fear to be much more serious.
About two weeks ago i travelled down to London from Doncaster to visit my relatives, everything was fine apart from it used a little more fuel than i thought it should have done. Upon my return to Doncaster, a few days later it started to have like a rattle or grinding noise from the engine bay, which gets louder with the engine revving but seems to dissappear after 2000rpm and does this in every gear. A few days after this, it started showing Alternator fault on the display so ordered a second hand one from a local scrappy as thought maybe this what was causing the grinding? Also, the car started to run off the battery instead so couldn't go very far in it.
I finally got round to fitting the alternator, charged the battery back up and went to start the car two days ago. The car started straight away but the rattle was still there??? I revved the engine a little and after a couple of mins the grinding seem to quieten down. I left the car ticking over for a couple of mins and the car died on its own accord, like it running on the battery, not the alternator again. However, i have put a battery tester on the battery and it still shows the battery to be fully charged with all four lights lit up. The only way i have been able to restart the car is to jump start it off of another battery. i have tried changing the battery for a know good one using a pair of jump leads to keep the settings while i change the battery as i dont have the EKA code.
Exactly the same thing happened again. Fired straight up and drove but this time when i parked it up and turned it off, it just won't start up again, just sits clicking like the battery is flat but the meter shows different??? Would really appreciate some help on this one. Don't have alot of money to play with so any help with this either knowledge or parts would be greatly appreciated.
Also, the last time i drove the car, the inside showed the temperature to be between 5 and 9 degrees. The display is fine on the hevac unit until it gets to between these figures and then the little testbook appears. Upon dealing with the alternator i found there to be no drive belt on the compressor, would this be what is causing the little book??
I have been without a car for over a week now and i feel like i have had my legs chopped, really enjoyed driving this thing till it started doin this, so again many thanks for any help

bad earth maybe?

starter jamming? have you listened through a screwdriver or something for the grinding? and as above, check all earths, if unsure, take them off and clean them

Crikey, you are hoping a bit to be running a P38 if you are asking for free parts and are working on a minimal budjet. First off, as mentioned check the earth straps between engine and body, then look at the bottom of the fusebox and check for burnt, corroded connnections. The rattle sounds like the crankshaft pulley. Not having a drivebelt on the ac compressor will show a fault on the hevac. Press the ac off button on the controls (light on) to see if that clears the book.

'Not having a drive belt on the ac compressor will show a fault on the hevac'
No it won't. I have not had one on mine for the last 2 years and the hevac has not shown any faults.

Greenrover said:

'Not having a drive belt on the ac compressor will show a fault on the hevac'
No it won't. I have not had one on mine for the last 2 years and the hevac has not shown any faults.

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I expect it got fed up telling you.

No, hasn't mentioned it once in the last 2 years. Thinking about it, it is probably the only major component that hasn't given an issue.

The rest are all fixed now!

Don't believe your battery tester, those things will show 4 LED's on a useless battery. It sounds like you have a charging problem. You need a multimeter to test the battery voltage with the engine running. Your secondhand alternator may be as good (or bad) as the one it replaced.

Hi everyone. Am still having problems with the DSE. I have changed the alternator 3 times now with still no luck. i have also had the three alternators tested by someone that tests and reconditions alternators and all three are showing up as giving out what they should do. He tested the one that is fitted to the car and it still is not charging the battery up at all. There is also an electrical burning smell coming from the main fusebox under the bonnet and one of the big fuses the terminals has started to brown off like it is getting really warm. I have have checked all the earths like suggested in this post and any naff ones have been cleaned and put back together.
Was just wondering if the fusebox could be the root of the charging problem? Has anyone on here got one cheap or know where i could get one from? Many thanks in advance.

kill me now, the bcem plug gets corroded giving phantom alt faults-check if alt is faulty with meter If not do a search ffs

buy a fuse box known issue

blunder87 said:

Hi everyone. Am still having problems with the DSE. I have changed the alternator 3 times now with still no luck. i have also had the three alternators tested by someone that tests and reconditions alternators and all three are showing up as giving out what they should do. He tested the one that is fitted to the car and it still is not charging the battery up at all. There is also an electrical burning smell coming from the main fusebox under the bonnet and one of the big fuses the terminals has started to brown off like it is getting really warm. I have have checked all the earths like suggested in this post and any naff ones have been cleaned and put back together.
Was just wondering if the fusebox could be the root of the charging problem? Has anyone on here got one cheap or know where i could get one from? Many thanks in advance.

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The fuse boxes are a known problem on the P38. The trouble is that you don't have to have a problem elsewhere for the fuse box to play up, they just get old and the solder joints and relay sockets start to fail. Therefore it is a bit dangerous to buy a second hand one, it might be as bad as yours was when your problems started. Bite the bullet and get a brand new one from a main dealer, about £140. Before you even ask, yes, the diesel ones are different from the petrol ones.

When yuou replace the fusebox carefully check all your original; wiring that your plugging into it for corrosion or burning and take the opportunity to check, or just replace, the battery leads and the engine earth.

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for all your help. Ordered a new fusebox on monday, which came today. Cost me £139.61. I have now fitted the fusebox and 99% of the problems have vanished. Only thing now is that since i have had the battery and fusebox off, the remote plip does not seem to work. the little red led on the remote lights up when you press the button but nothing else happens. I have tried to resync it using turn it to lock whilst holding the lock button and turn it to unlock whilst pressing unlock as well as turn it to the right for 5 seconds whilst holding lock and then take the key out and release the lock button once the key is removed. Problem is, i don't think that my door barrel is working properly as nothing seems to happen when you turn the key one way or the other. Doesnt lock or unlock and have relied on the fob as the barrel has never worked since having the car. Is there any way of stripping the lock down? Is there anything common that goes wrong with these?? Any help is really appreciated.

blunder87 said:

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for all your help. Ordered a new fusebox on monday, which came today. Cost me £139.61. I have now fitted the fusebox and 99% of the problems have vanished. Only thing now is that since i have had the battery and fusebox off, the remote plip does not seem to work. the little red led on the remote lights up when you press the button but nothing else happens. I have tried to resync it using turn it to lock whilst holding the lock button and turn it to unlock whilst pressing unlock as well as turn it to the right for 5 seconds whilst holding lock and then take the key out and release the lock button once the key is removed. Problem is, i don't think that my door barrel is working properly as nothing seems to happen when you turn the key one way or the other. Doesnt lock or unlock and have relied on the fob as the barrel has never worked since having the car. Is there any way of stripping the lock down? Is there anything common that goes wrong with these?? Any help is really appreciated.

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Door lock assemblies are another known problem area. Gav Briggs seems to be able to strip them down and fix them so it's worth a try.