delerium75

So I was getting ready to head out yesterday for TG dinner and was going to take the Maxi out since I hadn't driven it in a couple days. Turned the key, all the usual lights and sounds happen, starter cranks, nothing. Turn the key off, turn it back on listening for the freshly replaced fuel pump earlier this month...nothing. Crap! Take the GP to my destination instead. Get home last evening, poked around the car and online, checked for codes and low and behold, no ecu lights at all. Nothing. Double crap. I was beginning to wonder if this had something to do with me replacing a couple of the door light switches the day before...like if somehow something with the ECU got messed up because of it? I spent a lot of last night finding and reading thru the wiring diagrams in the FSM for anything that's related to the ECU, checked fuses, checked for continuity on several fusible links (cuz hey, just cuz it looks good...), checked to see if I had power at the ecu (I didn't). Gave up for the night. But at least it seemed the problem was between the ECU and the battery. Then this morning, I found a thread here about there being a fusible link right on the positive terminal and wondered if this was the "br" fusible link mentioned in the FSM to check for power to the ECU. I go about cleaning the positive battery terminal (there was a mild amount of crud and did the "you might as well while you're there") and removed the link (no wonder I never saw it before...it is kinda hidden) and checked for continuity (there was), cleaned it up all the terminals on that and the connector on the harness and thought that if it isn't this, then that means it's something with the wiring to the ECU and I'd have to fiddle around chasing a wiring problem. So I get all that back together, mumbling under by breath the whole time about this damn car, spitefully put the key in the ignition and turn it and presto, ECU lights, the fuel pump primed and the engine started.

This car is just buggy. And most of the electrical problems I have had in the few short months I have owned it seem to be traceable to dirty electrical connections. First problem was the turn signals stopped working which ended up being a dirty hazard light switch. I turned them on to see if they worked right after getting the car and the turn signals no longer worked. After a lot of searching and reading, buying a new flasher unit that didn't fix the problem, I cleaned off the old dielectric grease on the hazard switch, applied fresh grease and fixed that problem. A fuse on either the stereo or the equalizer was blown so replacing that fixed the stereo. I'm still having an intermittent problem with the horn/touch entry system blowing a fuse about twice a month. So as time allows, I think I'm going to make it my mission to go thru area by area and clean wiring connections. If nothing else, electrical is probably the area that I was weakest in terms of trouble shooting but this car has definitely made me learn rather quickly about wiring and how to use my multimeter.