sorry usa to uk conversion whats barrels please
plus think weve found the answer, lol
Fuel Gage upsidedown
- Thread starter thizzlemania91
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sorry usa to uk conversion whats barrels please
plus think weve found the answer, lol
Danielsand
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I've never seen a Hippo with the stick (manual tranny), but I don't think that F4 CAN show up on the stick (because there is NO "limp mode" on the stick!). So,....it's the auto tranny, correct? Well,....tranny communicates with the ECU (and TCU!) via two cable bundles (looms). Those have BARREL connectors down on the front of the tranny (in the brackets), and are there to facilitate tranny/engine removal. Those are the barrels I'm refering to.
"Hippo" (forum member) wrote several awesome writeups on cleaning, securing, and testing the barrels.
P.S. I read the rest of the thread that happened while I was sleeping, and I haven't found any solutions suggested for OP's F4 fault.
ah i see, yes the cable ties and where water got i to the connectors or barrels as u say
wasnt f4 where the autobox linkage went out of line and needed a special tool to realign them, is a small lever on the autobox thats selects the gears when u move the gear selector
have u seen this
http://www.myfreelander.co.uk/Transmission/transprobs3.htm
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Danielsand
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ABSOLUTELY! Those too,......but they have nothing to do with OP washing/degreasing his engine. I'll put 20quid on the barrels themselves!
EVERY electrical problem can have multiple causes, that's why I asked the other guy to provide "service history". Not "real" service history,....just what's been done on the car recently, and what steps have been taken up to this point. One guy says "I've done everything". Well excuse me,...my "everything" can be very different from "your everything"! And than we go playing the game,....."have you tried this?" ...."yup"....."how about this"...."yup" and so on.
It helps a GREAT DEAL if the OP (ANY OP!) states in the original post, ......MY/mileage,.....location,.....symptoms,......most recent work performed, and.....THINGS TRIED SO FAR.
MY conclusion in this thread is that the engine degreasing fouled the barrels connectors. They are lubricated from the factory with some type of white lithium grease. This **** hardens over time, and becomes SOLID (almost like plastic!), and the particles lodge themselves between the pins. MY opinion is that the barrels need to be cleaned, and left DRY (no lube), and CERTAINLY not sprayed with WD40, or ANY other lubricant.
oh yes totally agree, get info little by little and a light bulb moment went off when is was mentioned about degreasing the engine,
have many times used a dremal tool to clean connectors if able to get onto them, blown it off with an air cansiter ,
other times have just used a multimeter on both sides of a connector whilst connected to make sure i get continuity
Danielsand
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Regarding this: I tried (FOUR TIMES) to measure resistance from the barrels to the solenoids (I was getting P1717 - low clutch solenoid fault on my OBD every time the F4 was flashing) with barrels disconnected, and got GOOD reading. Four times with barrels connected, measuring from the fuse box comm connector,....had good reading, THROUGH THE BARRELS! Start driving,......HDC and F4 come up! Four times! Drove me NUTS.
"Hippo's" posts helped a great deal (I was learning, and soaking up the info). I even used his "zip tie" method of securing the barrels! And the problem got worse with the barrels tied! Then I decided to cut the barrels off, and solder the wires individually (I was SURE the problem was with the barrels!). So just for ****s and grins, I decided to cut the ties off, and wash EVERYTHING with the contact cleaner one more time before I cut the SOBs off! That was a month ago (or thereabout). No HDC, no F4......nothing since! Wife is driving daily to work/gym, and back. Took it out for dinner the other night too,.....no issues. Also drove it to L.A. for shopping last week (100+F weather, 85miles one way),....no problems!
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thizzlemania91
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Were is this so called barrel connectors. Im gonna go in and do some soaking lol. I bought the contact cleaner yesterday and sprayed her down real good. There was no sign of wet fuse box, so my guess now is the barrel connector.
Danielsand
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As you stand in front of the car, look down on the right side of the engine, between the radiator, and the tranny block (down low). You can also follow the looms from the fuse box, and you'll find them. There are two barrel connectors in their brackets. Be carefull getting them out of the brackets. Brackets are plastic, and BRITTLE. I broke mine, and my barrels are just danggling there. They shouldn't be danggling. I need to address this soon.
The connectors twist open, and they have marks on them to help (dots and arrows). Self explanatory once you have them in your hands.
Search this forum, and look for "Hippo's" pictures, read it all, and you'll be a LOT wiser.
Report back when you're done, and remember......I had to wash all this **** four times before the problem went away (maybe I was too skimpy on the contact cleaner, or the crud was too baked in).
thizzlemania91
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Looked at hippos post. Doing some cleaning now. Good thing this came up on my vacation or else i be throwing this thing away. Hopefully it works cross my fingures.
thizzlemania91
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Nothing same F4 flashing 
Danielsand
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Throwing what away! The car? It's a machine,...old, tired, machine. It WILL have issues (new machines do too!). It's just a matter of finding the problem, and correcting it. When it comes to ANY machinery, there is nothing impossible to fix. And this machine is not out to get you, doesn't have the intelligence, and it's not personal.
I shouldn't be preaching though. I took my wife's laptop out in the back, and shot it 15 times few weeks ago when "it ****ed me off"!
Went out and bought her a new one right away. It felt good shooting it, and I was frustrated after 4-5 hours of trying to get some viruses off. A day later I was sorry for doing it, and basically admitting that I was not smart enough to fix it.
With the help available on this forum, EVERY issue with Hippos CAN be resolved. It takes time and money, and for DIY people like us, usually more time and less money than the "average Joe" out there.
thizzlemania91
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So what now haha do i check the solenoid. Were in the world is that thing at. When you cleaned out the barrel connections, did you just spray it down? Or did you use anoter method?
Danielsand
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I opened the barrels, and generously sprayed both sides. Cleaner dries out quickly. Reconnect, and drive. It got "better" after the first try (F4 and HDC would not appear right away). After that, it seemed like it's "ambient temperature" related. Wife would drive it in the cool morning to work without "fits" (she was saying her Hippo is "throwing fits"), and on the way back in the hot afternoon,......HDC+F4! So I cleaned again.
Then it would come up every day or two in between. We even drove it to L.A. in the summer heat, with no "fits". And then a day or two later it happened again!
So I decided to put zip ties on the barrels, thinking that them danggling out of the brackets can't be good. After the zip ties were placed, AS SOON as the shifter was moved, the lights would pop up. I failed to mention, that after each of these cleaning operations, I was clearing the codes with my scanner.
Then I decided to cut the barrels off, and solder the wires. But just for "one last attempt to be nice", I cut the zip ties off, opened the barrels, and washed them again. Every time I did that, I also washed the fuse box. And on that last try, I guess it worked. It's been a month now, and lights are off.
P.S. Solenoids are inside of the tranny. Go on Youtube and look at Hippo's video. At the bottom of the video (in the replies), he gives the resistance values for each solenoid/valve. Then you can put your ohm meter on the contacts of each solenoid (in the fuse box, or at the barrels), and see if any of the solenoids are whacked. Solenoids are EASY to replace, and you can buy the whole kit, and replace them all, but I don't think you'll have to.
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thizzlemania91
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Awesome. I cleaned them out. But they only appear to come on after i drive the car. Maybe an earth connection? They dont always pop up. Only when i put the keys in 2. If i start the car up quickly then no faults. Ill try removing the code. See if that helps.
Danielsand
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In my case, the amber HDC was on all the time. F4 would come only while driving (with the appropriate "thud" when the tranny goes to 4th gear). When I zip tied the barrels, F4 would appear as soon as the gear was sellected (but not before). I don't know if your HDC light works or not (it could be blocked-blacked out), but the problem seems VERY similar to mine.
Mind you, I didn't have a fuel gauge issue.
My theory is that something is dirty/loose in the barrels, and as you take off, the vibration breaks the contact. If the contact is broken (and re-established) for a VERY short time (seconds), ECU will "feel it", and throw the tranny into the limp mode to protect it. You pull over, check the barrels (with Ohm meter), and all seems good. You take off, and the cycle repeats.
Anyway,....I know it's frustrating. I kid you not, I was not able to sleep few nights thinking about this, and "tracing the wiring" in my mind. If I ever see F4 again, I'll cut the barrels off, and connect the wires directly. In hindsight, I wonder why they didn't extend the harness on the tranny side, made the fuse box harness shorter, and place the barrels away from the heat, mud, water, and oil? They could've placed them ANYWHERE, even inside! The current possition is hard to reach (easier from the pit on the bottom), dirty, and HOT. I've never seen any plastic that responds well to repeated extreme heat, and cold.
hi
like has been said dont let it beat u, can honestly say in all the 25 years i worked on boilers and heating systems, underfloor heating was never beaten, just took time to work through each stage
sorry side tracking, u must clear the faults , have u cleared them then , see what the hawkeye comes up with , if it keeps changing theres an intermittent fault
go through every step and dont miss anything , have u done everything thats been suggested
know ur going nuts but if its winding u up walk away from it for abit , and come back
let us know how ur getting on and theres plenty of people to help and report back what you've done
like has been said dont let it beat u, can honestly say in all the 25 years i worked on boilers and heating systems, underfloor heating was never beaten, just took time to work through each stage
sorry side tracking, u must clear the faults , have u cleared them then , see what the hawkeye comes up with , if it keeps changing theres an intermittent fault
go through every step and dont miss anything , have u done everything thats been suggested
know ur going nuts but if its winding u up walk away from it for abit , and come back
let us know how ur getting on and theres plenty of people to help and report back what you've done
thizzlemania91
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I dont got a hawkeye, i just go to a local garage were they clear the fault codes for me. Ill try clearin the codes. As for the barrel connectors . They dont wiggle and are still on the plastic secure thing hanging properly. I didnt clean inside the L shape box tho. Should i give that a try as well?
Danielsand
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You need to get the barrels OUT of the brackets. Open them, spray the insides AND outside, let dry. Open the "L shape box", pull the relays, and spray the cleaner directly onto the relay contacts (both,....contacts on the relay itself, and the "receiving" contacts in the box). I also pulled all fuses, and washed EVERYTHING with contact cleaner.
Since you washed your engine, I think barrels are at fault here, but cleaning the fuse box and relays can only help down the line.
If you don't feel like doing all this, just drop it at the dealer or Indy, and tell them to call you when it's ready!
thizzlemania91
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I cleaned the inside of the barrels already. Sprayed 1/2 of the bottle cleaning them. And the rest in the fuse box, fuses and relay. I took the fuses and relay out of course. So ill go get another bottle and clean the inside of the L box. Will report back later. Gotts drive to San Francisco ( checking out a school) im driving the girlfriends car.
Danielsand
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OK, I misunderstood, I thought you left the barrels in place, and just sprayed them like that. You should be good to go. Clear the codes (do the hard reset,......disconnecting the neg side of the battery, and crossing the cable with positive). This will wipe out memory. Drive and observe. If the F4 comes up again, repeat.
Have fun in San Francisco. One of my favorite towns, I'm going to Carmel/Monterey tomorrow.
