Electrical help for a numpty!!

Just went to pick up a Hi capacity 110 I'm buying off a mate. It's been stood a good while as he's been unwell. Put a fresh battery on it but nothing at all, no lights, no ignition no horn etc etc. Do they have a "mane" fuse i.e 20 or 30amp that may have gone? It's doing my head in. I checked the two banks of fuses in the cab, they are all ok. Cant find any bigger fuses? it's on a "D" plate but had a 200tdi disco lump put it a few years back. Thanks in advance.

Weird one

No, no main fuse that controls lights and everything else

1) Presume earth lead is still connected to chassis

2) No 'kill' switch hidden somewhere which your mate has forgotten to tell you about? Could tell you some places to look, but not on open forum

No, he said he drove it to back of his bungalow & parked up cos hanbrake cable wanted changing. Before he got chance to do it he fell ill. It's been there about two years but he took battery off almost straight away so not corroded? I'm at a loss with it? Just wandered cos some vehicles have a "main" fuse but you say no so don't know. I'll look in the cold light of day. Thanks anyway

OK.

Battery negative lead goes direct to chassis.

Positive goes direct to starter motor, with a feed going to the fuse box behind the gear lever.

So whilst there are fuses, really odd that you have nothing - no lights, no horn, no ignition etc.

Even if say the ignition switch had failed, you'd still have side lights.

Last shot in the dark - mine has an aftermarket immobiliser which unless unset prevents ignition lights on dash etc coming on when key is turned - but the interior light still works. Nothing like that fitted?

So, where to start.

Assuming battery really is ok, you'll need a test meter, or failing that a 12v bulb and 2 wires.

1) Run a continuity test from battery -ve terminal to a part of the chassis - just to make sure the battery terminal is tight and is earthed to chassis

2) Check feed to starter motor (large cable) is getting 12v

3) Check fuses in engine bay (usually 3 in an oblong black box beside heater matrix) are ok - test them don't just look at them - they can get corroded terminals or hairline cracks

4) Pull every fuse behind the gear stick - check them - again they can get corrosion, particularly if left and damp (all Defenders are damp!) for 2 years

5) See if getting 12v at ignition switch

still struggling to work out why no power to anywhere, but above is a start to look at.

Thanks I'll try all that tomorrow. Battery definatly good it was taken off my sprinter afer driving up there, so there are fuses in the engine bay? I didnt spot them, as I said don't know if it makes a difference but it's a hi capacity on a D plate so 1986/7. Thanks for the help

Engine Bay ones (if same configuration as mine) are 30 and 60amp fuses - control glow plug and starter motor

As i say, the absence of any power to anything makes me think something else is at play here.

Sorry but not familiar with any differences specific to the Hi Cap - I could be wrong but would expect wiring to be pretty much the same

Cheers I'll let you know tomorrow night as I'm going up to try again tomorrow pm. Thanks a lot for the help.

Trace the earth cable to where it is bolted to the chassis/gearbox and see that it is making a good connection. If in doubt even loosening the bolt a turn and doing it back up will help to score the surfaces enough that you should be able to get the lights back on.

It sounds a bit like a dodgy connection somewhere. My daily driver conked out one day on a roundabout, giving me no electrics at all. Simply wiggling the big negative wire showed that it was the crimped connector at the battery was at fault. It looked fine at a glance, but the connection was broken.

As Station House says, you need to trace out whether you've got any voltage at the fuse box. So find yourself a voltmeter (or bulb and wires).

If you cant do that right now, can you get a pair of jump leads and connect the red from the battery positive to the red terminal directly on the starter motor. And the black one from the battery negative to: 1 - the chassis, 2 - the engine block.

You can do these as separate tests. It would be highly unlikely that multiple connections have broken simultainiously.

Thanks lads for all the ideas. Iv'e spent ages today as last result i started tracing the wiring from the fuse box inside the cab through the dash & guess what? Where it's been stood for two years mice have chewed through most of the bloody wiring behing the dash!!! So looks like pulling the dash out & sort the lot out. No wonder i have no power. Thanks again. At least I know what have to do now!!

Wow, i know I said in post 6 that i suspected something else at play here, but must confess I didn't see that as the likely cause!!!

Will add to my list of things to suggest people check

sprinterman said:

Thanks lads for all the ideas. Iv'e spent ages today as last result i started tracing the wiring from the fuse box inside the cab through the dash & guess what? Where it's been stood for two years mice have chewed through most of the bloody wiring behing the dash!!! So looks like pulling the dash out & sort the lot out. No wonder i have no power. Thanks again. At least I know what have to do now!!

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might be best poping a new loom in anyway might have gone brittle and give ya problems later on simple enough i have used 7 core trailer wire works well

Can't believe Station House forgot to tell you about the dreaded Landymouse!

Andy Land said:

Can't believe Station House forgot to tell you about the dreaded Landymouse!

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I know, failed again In mitigation worry more about the steel rat

Station House said:

I know, failed again In mitigation worry more about the steel rat

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Oh him! ... the one that eats metal and pees rust! ...

I'm not good with electrics, the wire doesnt seem brittle?t all wires back together, still nothing except battery light? Tried using my jump lead as earth from battery to chassis & I got lights, horn hazards. Turn key, battery light goes out & glow plug light gets brighter?? Still not turning the strater? Bad earth somewhere else? Christ knows!!