Technical no power to engine or dash, blower, starter.

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Technical no power to engine or dash, blower, starter.

jonjg

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i recently put a lower mileage engine in 1 of my cinquecentos.

after putting it in the ignition key was on on the dash but it ran ok.

was running fine the other day. then yesterday it wasnt running very well, as if chuckingish along unless you gave it some beans, i thought maybe a dodgy coil as it has never ticked over very well, no matter what engine is in it.

after getting some fuel and pumping the tyres got home. turned it off, went to turn it back on and there was no power to anything.

still got no power to anything, although the interior light works and the horn so battery is ok i think.

nothing else works, no lights, blower, fuel pump prime or starter.

i have checked all fuses, including by the ecu, all fine.

checked wires to alternator, starter, all earth leads, all ok.

checked ecu connections, swapped ecu with my other cinq, still no power.

the only thing that would have been a bit dodgy is the earth lead from gearbox to the shell, had to replace it when i changed engines and the 1 lead i made out of 2 wasnt the best but it worked. i have also added a second earth lead from box to shell but still no power.

checked igniton switch wiring, all ok.

i am stumped. any help would be great.

thanks.
 
Battery failure due to sludge build up shorting the charge plates can give a sudden drop like this.

Also check the alternator is giving the correct voltage. If the Vreg fails it will quickly cook the battery with 20+ volts.

Disconnect the car's battery and test with jump leads from a known good battery.
 
thanks for the reply. i will check with a known good battery tomorrow. having checked the fusebox the 7.5 fuse on the far left (a fuse all on its own) was blown. also checked the small alternator pin (think its the black one that has a plastic protection round it) and that isnt getting any power on ignition on. also starter solenoid (the small red wire) isnt getting any power on ignition on, tho i checked this wire on my other
and this doesnt get any power to it either. Where is the voltage regulator? thanks for your help.
 
tried a known good battery, made no difference. still no power. not sure what to try next.
 
haynes manual wiring diagram is talking rubbish. it shows a live wire red from the battery to the alternator. i have checked all 3 of my cinqs, this red wire does not exist! there is just a big brown wire and a violet and black wire to it.
the black and violet plug that plugs into the alternator is getting no power.
im wondering if my alternator has died, didnt get any warning tho, no battery lights on dash or bearing noise. i have also run out of ideas.
might return to it later in the week, thats if i havent torched the car by then.
 
Replace the blown fuses. If they're blown then there's not much point wasting time looking to see whether there is any juice at random points on the car.

Once you have power back (at the instrument console), you need to check the fuel pump. It should have a quick supply when the ignition is turned on .. and it should pulse when the engine is cranking.

If the fuel pump looks good, then check the power to the coils. They should have a permanent power supply when the ignition is on. When you crank the engine, the spark plugs should fire. You can test this by sticking in an old plug to each HT lead in turn (actually only need to test one of the leads connected to each coil) and earth it against the block.

If you have petrol pump and sparks then the last thing to test is the injection. That should "flash" as the engine cranks.

If you have no juice to any of these, then that's why the car isn't starting. If you have no juice to all of them then it has to be something more fundamental (fuses or relays or bad earth).

If you have power but the starter doesn't turn then that's the starter circuit.

If your alternator is knacked, then that won't make any difference to anything as long as the battery has a charge in it. On the other hand.. a failure within the alternator itself (or the starter) could be blowing the fuses... but you'll know as soon as you swap any of the fuses.


Ralf S.
 
Its an N reg. ive just changed the engine over to a lower mileage one.
There are no blown fuses.
all earths are good,even added an extra to the gearbox for good measure.
Lives to starter and alternator are good, getting 12v.
Changed alternator for another just incase alternator was dodgy, made no difference.
as i said before, i have no juice to anything, no dash lights, fuel prime, coil, turning key to ignition on does nothing. even my seperately wired fan switch doesnt do anything,no fan runs.
im not sure what else to check. all connections are ok.
is it possible for the ignition barrell to mess up? which wires would i check from the barrell, red and brown?
 
changed ecu, changed barrell, transponder ring, took out starter motor, tested., works fine, checked all earths, fuses all fine,added earth cable,changed alternator, checked lives from starter and alternator, checked wiring from both of these, checked earths from battery, checked battery., checked ecu connections.

there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of it but it wont do anything, no power to anything even though everything that should be getting power is getting power. i give up. might sell it as spares or repairs.,
 
It's haunted! Ahhhh Ahhhh Ahhhh

There's obviously some fundamental problem, probably fairly simple to fix, once you've found it, so keep going fella.. :D Cinq' doesn't have CAN or anything wierd so it's all analogue in there.

If the battery is connected and earthed, then the next thing to do is work your way along the electrical path. Is there power at the fuse box? Connect a meter to the post where the big red wire(s) from the battery attach to the fusebox and then earth the other end. See if you have any juice.

If not, then there must be some break in the line between the battery and the fusebox.

If yes, then check any of the individual fuses (with the ignition on). They ought to be "live" .. although I suspect with your symptoms there'll be a whole heap of zilch there.

I'm not familiar with the Cinq' fusebox but it won't have a Body Control Module (as far as I'm aware) so if you have juice going into the fuse box and bugger-all at the actual fuses, then there must be a problem in the fusebox itself. A lot of cars' fuseboxes run fairly hot, so it's not unheard of for insulation to melt (start a fire) or degrade over time, although Cinq's don't usually suffer from fusebox issues.

It's good that everything else is looking positive. You just need to unlock the problem and it sounds like it would all work.

Ralf S.
 
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hahaha, i think it must be haunted. im thinking of holding a seance to try talk to the car. Can you hear me? is there anybody here?
tbh the fusebox is a bit naf and i sometimes have to jiggle it a bit as the headlights done work and the dash lights go out so you may be onto something. i do have another fusebox i can put in, tho not looking forward to the wiring. whoever had it before me had regular knitting contests i think and enjoyed cutting wires for the fun of it. my day off 2moro so il give it a go then. good job there isnt a swear box as il be owing a fortune. thanks for your help!
 
is that the big one ontop of the battery? that is ok still. got no power from the ignition to the starter solenoid. should this be live with the ignition on mar?
 
Solved. replaced this piece of junk with a chocolate block, works fine now. what a joke. only took me 3 evenings.. bonfire will have to wait after all. ashame, cars burn ever so well im told.. 20190726_170436.jpeg
 
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