one step forward and two back??

[bubba dubba]

Hi all, hope you can shed some light on this for me.
I have just changed the fuel pump as I had petrol in the oil, i was all excited ready to fire her up but no!! i now I have a new problem.
its as though I have a flat battery as when I turn the key I have a very faint generator light and nothing else, if I turn the key nothing happens not a click nothing as dead as a dodo.
Ive put a multimeter on the battery and its reading 12.5 volts, ive checked and cleaned battery terminals, earth strap at rear earth strap on the gearbox, ive checked all wires in the engine bay thinking ived knocked something but all looks to be good???.
Any ideas on what to do next as im stumped?.
I really shouldn't work on my bus myself as I think im bloody jinxed :x

thanks in advance.......Kev

 

[vinvan]

Have you checked the starter motor bush in the gearbox?

 

[BRAD]

Yes that happened to me, but I was blocking everyone leaving the Isle of wight ferry :lol:

Mine turned out to be spade connector had come off on the starter motor, I wasn't popular

 

[Marshy]

Mine was same, spade connector slightly loose, tightened it and goes every time

 

[bubba dubba]

Hi again,
Thanks for your suggestions, I will check them tomorrow after work. The weird thing is before changing the fuel pump it was fine, ive just been out to the garage and had another look and ive noticed that when I turn the key I don't have an oil light at all on the dash just a very faint charge light (I don't know if this helps diagnose the problem?).
The fuel gauge works the lights work etc so what the bloody hell have i done ?. Would it be a faulty voltage regulator I wonder or am I being stupid?.

thanks again........kev

 

[Moseley]

Have you tried jump starting it to confirm it isn't the battery?

 

[bac2ba6]

Try bridgeing the starter motor with something like a spanner or big screwdriver from the main live of starter to the solenoid but PLEASE make sure it's in neutral with the handbrake firmly on and preferably wheels chocked otherwise you will end up running yourself over lol . If that spins the engine ok then work backwards with the wireing . Could be loose or faulty ignition switch maybe ,
It only needs a few seconds to turn and becareful as there will possibly be a few sparks if you try this .
If that don't work I would be looking at the battery maybe needs charging or possibly knackered . Maybe borrow a battery from another vehicle to eiliminate that .
Even though it reads 12volts there may not be enough jolt in it to start ?
Give the starter a good tap with a wooden mallet or similar incase the solenoid is stuck
Not that it makes much difference as starter isn't turning but have you got a live feed to coil with ignition on ?
Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

 

[dubselector]

Petrol in oil can be either a knackered fuel pump or carb(s) leaking fuel due to too much fuel pressure or wrong float settings etc. I would try removing the dipstick and sniffing your new oil -does it still smell of fuel or has the level risen? If so you still have a fuel problem. If you whip out one of the spark plugs and its wet with petrol that's another indicator -take a couple or all of the plugs out and then try turning the engine over a couple of turns -replace plugs and try and start. If it start easily this points to cylinders being filled with fuel causing a hydraulic effect which your starter may not overcome. 12 volts at the battery is not a good indication of charge so I would also stick the battery on charge or jump it as previously suggested. You could take the battery to you friendly local garage or "Halfrauds" and ask them to perform a "drop test"- this will tell you if it's given up. Oil light should always light when ignition is turned on then go out when running -so sounds like you have a connection problem here, more than likely the spade connector on the sender or it's wire -this lives just below the fuel pump area so is easy to dislodge by accident -otherwise could be the bulb itself or poor connection in dash. Hope that helps

 

[bubba dubba]

Thanks guys for your help, I have a bit of an update and its got worse . I have tried the tapping the starter motor and no difference, I bridged the terminals on the starter and just got sparks and no turning over, it was also the same with ignition on or off??.
so I decided to try and see what readings I was getting from the voltage regulator. So i left the ignition on and started with my multimeter. Now this is where things got interesting very quickly.......SMOKE.....**** **** I have never disconnected a battery so quickly in my life :shock: .
so I now have no idea which and to what extent the cables ive fried. I can see the wire to the electric choke has melted as its stuck to the fan shroud, there was also smoke from under the dash. Im guessing my pertonix has cooked too.
I have now given up as every time I touch something on this van it costs me money

think I might have to get it to a professional..............kev

 

[bac2ba6]

I would of though if you've got cables melting then there's something seriously wrong with the wireing shorting or wired up wrong . As fuses should of popped before it got to that !
I would be looking at the fuse board as something must of either been disturbed or is in the wrong place or has dropped down the back when maybe doing something else ? Or maybe wired something wrong or disturbed something in engine bay or undearneath especially if you didn't have this problem originally and only had the starter issue . Bridging the terminals for a few seconds shouldn't of made a difference unless you have disturbed something . Haven't messed with anything round by the ignition behind the steering wheel have you ? Or behind the clocks on the dash as most of that is live with the ignition on ?

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[bubba dubba]

Hi, I have a well recommended auto electrician coming out to have a look on Wednesday. I think it must be the ignition switch though as it has been a bit iffy for a while if I think about it.
When talking through what happened to the guy he didn't seem to think it was as bad as I was thinking, so here's hoping , fingers. toes and eyes crossed :?

.............kev

 

[ozziedog]

Good luck Kev, a decent auto electrician will just make it look so simple and you`ll be thinking "Why didn`t I do that " because he should know what hes doing and we don`t :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Is it done yet ???? :mrgreen:

 

[bubba dubba]

Hi all,
thought id better post an update on this in case anybody else has the same problem.
ive finally got the bus up and running but its been a bloody headache to be honest. So after a visit from the auto electrician (ouch) he took all of about six minutes to find the problem. it turns out that when I fitted the new fuel pump (the right one for my dynamo with the longer push rod) was actually the wrong one as I needed the shorter alternator one (100mm pushrod). this is because I have a weber progressive carb and the fuel pump is very tight against the manifold. so with the taller fuel pump fitted (it was a struggle to get it on, I probably should have realised but my thinking was this is the right part ive bloody checked its got to fit right ??).
so that in turn pushed the manifold against the fan housing and the electric choke cable was touching it and shorting everything out.
this was ok for the small amount of time that I was trying to crank the van over. the real trouble started when I left the ignition on trying to diagnose the problem with my multimeter (see early post ref smoke and filling my under crackers :lol: )
.
So total damage done = ignition switch, various bits of wiring, electronic ignition, a couple of fuses, also had to buy another correct fuel pump and pay the auto electrician a couple of hours, and my pride of course :lol:.
im hanging up my spanners actually all my tools are now for sale and also an unused fuel pump and rod :? :lol: :lol:.............kev

 

[Dickie524]

Good of you to post an update for future reference - and don't hang the spanners up just yet! Soudns like you did the hard part of the work, it was just a detail that went wrong really - obviously with significant results, but the root cause wasn't anything significant really. Well done with the tenacity though and very glad you're all sorted now.

Just for interest's sake - and sorry if this is nosy - how much did the Auto Electrician come to for a couple of hours? (it's ok to tell me to mind my own business!!)