Car not starting :/

Mr Angry

A2OC Donor
Hi Guys,

I was driving my wife's car today and noticed something weird. When i tried turning on the wipers on normal setting they were a little hesitant and jerky and when i tried to turn them off they were still on :/ not only that, when i got home i switched off for about 5 mins then tried to start the car and i get no ignition at all. It won't even turn! what's also weird is when i try to turn the engine on the window wipers come on too even though they are switched off.

Is there anything i can check before i start to panic bigtime?

If i need a certain part i have an FSI to take parts from.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi Paul,

Where is the earth point on the car and is it easily accessible?

It's peeing down outside and i'm on a slight gradient on my drive....don't have the manpower to push car to garage unfortunately!

Cheers
 
Earth point seems ok behind passenger side.
 

Attachments

  • 20200717_151552_HDR.jpg
    20200717_151552_HDR.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 155
Even if it looks ok clean it up :) - both on point and on cable. Metal polish and 00 grade steel wool if you have it
 
i gave the bolts a turn with the socket set and sprayed wd40 on it and it seems to have done the trick...for now! i had to put everything back together as it started raining again. I will do a proper take off and clean up when it's dry :) but at least i got it started and moved back up the drive.

I'm sure you are wondering what the other earth cable is for...it's for a bad earth i had on the wiper motor. I just ran it from the motor to this earth point. Do you think this could be the culprit on why i'm getting weird window wiper problems?

Thanks guys :)
 
here is a better photo...the other one was crap!
 

Attachments

  • thumbnail_20200717_151846_HDR.jpg
    thumbnail_20200717_151846_HDR.jpg
    250.4 KB · Views: 169
Hi Cammy

I suspect that the green and yellow lead is a repair lead to fix a bad earth on the wiper motor.

the main thick lead is the one that you need to check. It doesn’t actually look ok in the picture. You can see corrosion on it.
undo the bolt and clean the area that it is screwed into and all faces of the metal washers and the bolt itself with sandpaper.

if the battery is fully charged then this is likely to be the cause.
When you are trying to start the car the electrics are using the earth strap that someone has put on for the wiper motor, rather than the main earth (thick) lead. That is probably why the wipers are operating when you try it.

Steve B
 
Good to see you back on again Steve or maybe it's just me that hasn't seen you frequent as often as you did as i'm not on as much lol

Are you still hunting for the Holy Grail again? and have you got yourself another Audi A2?

As for the dodgy earth cable you see...that was me that installed that as i wasn't sure at the time on where to earth it so that was the closest point i could see and fix temporarily.....that was probably 3 years ago lol

I'm going to be selling the Blue Audi A2 at some point due to needing a bigger car for the rugrats. I enquired several months ago on here about 7 seaters and with lockdown happening it was put on hold. Now that this has eased off somewhat, once i partition a wall for my daughters bedroom upstairs then the car hunt will begin and my wifes car will be for sale :( i will be keeping mine for the foreseeable future but was tempted to sell it and get a crewcab van!

Thanks for all your help guys!
 
Hi Cammy,

my wife and I have A2s again.
She has a very nice low mileage Red Storm tdi
I have bought the silver TdI that A2Steve built.

clean up that thick earth connector and I am sure that will sort it out if your battery is fully charged.

best wishes
Steve B
 
A word of caution from Sarge, worth reading the first post....


Andy
 
A word of caution from Sarge, worth reading the first post....


Andy
Our FSI had this, cable and crimp looked great though cable had corroded where it meets the crimp, hidden by the heat shrink.
 
Back
Top