Hi,

I have a bit of a problem with my 440. I got it from my grandad..he said when he gave it to me that the car got struck by lightning once and when he went out to see what happened he said that the horn was blowing and the wipers were wipeing and water was coming out of the jets, so he took the fuse out of the fuse box.

I have got the MOT next week and the car wont pass if the horn doesnt work. I have told the man to fix the horn then do a MOT.

Yesterday, I put the fuse back in to the car (fuse 27), and the horn worked so i thought it was fixed. The then you turn the headlights on but the wipers were wiping and water was coming out of the jets, so i unpluged the fuse. But i still have a problem..when i turn the lights on water comes out of the jets (the wipers don't move), so i turn the lights off and it stopped....also if the lights are on and but the full beam on the water stops.

So I was looking in the haynes manual and it said nothing to help me.

I then put the fuse back in and turned the lights on and pressed the horn and the water stopped, so i took the fuse out, turned the lights off...then turn the lights on and it did it again.

Now today, Every time i turn the lights on the dipped beam light come on the near side and only the side light on the off side, but if I wash the screen the off side light main beam comes on.

But if the fuse is out and the headlights are on and then the washers come on, if you press the horn the washer will stop.

Please could someone help! or tell me what the car mechanic will do to fix my car, and how much you think it will cost.

Thanks

Hi There,

Now when I checked my light fuses they had all blown. This is because the water for the wipers is trying to use the headlight fuses.

How do i stop this from happening temporarily? Does the water jet use the headlight fuses anyway? How can i stop this short circuiting from happening.

I dont mind even if i have to switch off the whole water jet thing just until the 19th Dec when it goes in.

Help!!!

Thanks

it sounds to me one of a few things mate, i have had a lot of electrical problems with my previous cars. if what your grandad said is true, you may have some cross connections due to some melted wiring.
secondly, go into your haynes manul and see if there is a relay shared by all of these services. if so, replace it (either with a new one or get one from the scrappy)

finally the last option is that you have a bad earth somewhere on the car, again, get the good book of haynes out and find your cars earth points. pull these off, emery paper them down to bare metal on the contact and the bodywork then reconnect. if that doesnt help get back :)

hope this helps

I really can't find the bulb for the fog light switch...any ideas where it is?

I will let the mechanic sort out the horn, its strange that all the fuses have gone on all the lights...or does this sound normal to you?

thanks for all your help!

i woudlnt say its normal for fuses to go full stop, as they are there as a line of protection to the electrical systems in your car.
probabaly something has surged through that circuit. get your haynes manual and in section 12 there is a checklist for any electrical problems. go through it step by step and check everything. if a fuse has gone, chances are the corresponding relay has gone first.
if the relay is okay, just replace the fuse and the bulbs and see what happened. if you said it got hit by lightning, some wires may have burnt or fused together. its going to be a case of just hunting for these.
the horn should be simple enough for you to fix, why pay a mechanic? check the fuse, wiring to the horn and test the horn with another battery. if its duff, get another from the scrapyard, it will cost you about £5 at the most as opposed to £30 an hour labour.
finally check your earths, if all this is in order, get another car!


the bulb for the fog light switch will be inside the switch, or probably inside the dashboard. if yours is like mine, the fog lamp switch should be just to the right of the speedo. try taking this panel off, or the whole clockset out, and track the bulb down.

BEFORE doing this make sure you disconnect the negative end of your battery and go through EVERY fuse and repair the broken ones. chances are your bulbs ok and you may save a lot of work.

Hi There,

Thanks with your reply.

The problem is when the horn fuse is plugged in the water jets work when the headlightsare switched on. This is the root of this problem.

How am i to stop the water jets working when the headlights are switched on.

All the headlights fuses are replaced with a higher Amp and they all work well now but jets still come on.

In answer to myself....the water has stopped coming out of the jets..i will still get the car mechanic to check it though!

I will update on monday.