Project E28 from the Dirty South

[UnitedWeStance...]

Awesome find! Looking forward to more!

[paul@brawlinpictures]

the time approaches

[paul@brawlinpictures]

Alright guys, I'm frustrated...

I'm going to copy what I posted on mye28.com to see if any of y'all know what might be going on here...


I've spent the past couple days rewiring all of that to a new push button and a toggle switch for all power on. It started right up and looks a lot cleaner now. I drove it to my girlfriends house about 10 miles away and on the way home it just died at intersection. After pushing it into a parking lot and popping the hood, I noticed the alternator was wobbling and the lower bolt was about halfway out. With some voodoo magic, it fired right up and I drove it home. When I was almost to my house, doing some low speed turns navigating through the neighborhood, the steering wheel kept "grabbing" and trying to lock. I would have to brake hard to not drive through my neighbors' yards and yank the wheel back to unlock it.

So I spent all day fixing the alternator and pulling out the entire steering column. The alternator had a sheered bolt so it was replaced and everything under the hood is back to normal.


The steering column was the biggest PITA ever. Finally got the ignition lock ground down to not interfere with the steering column anymore.



(note the push button to the left of the headunit and the tiny power switch to the right of the light switches)

SO....
I get everything buttoned up and good to go, right?

I flick the power switch and nothing.
I try the interior lights and they don't turn on.
I checked the battery and alternator wires to see if anything had been knocked off earlier but it looks fine.
I even tried jumping the battery and STILL no power anywhere.

What do I need to check? I don't have a Bentley manual
I've been searching through different threads to try to find something similar but nothing comes up. I'm extremely unfamiliar with the e28s wiring system and my Haynes manual is awful about wiring schematics.

Thanks for the help, everyone!

-Paul

[CSBolger]

The only thing you removed from that circuit was the ignition switch wiring - check there. I'd be willing to bet it's the crank signal wire (black/yellow).

[paul@brawlinpictures]

I just looked under the dash and I never touched a blk/yel wire

This is just the damnedest thing. It's so frustrating not being able to trace it anywhere. I dont have a multimeter so I cant read if anythings getting power. I would blame my own wiring (even though I made sure everything had solid connections and tried to go overkill so I wouldn't have to worry about it later) BUT the interior lights won't even come on.

It's like there's a bad main ground but I don't see anything

I'm stressed out cause it's obviously my DD and I need to be focused on homework instead of a 25 year old german tank /rant

-Paul

[CSBolger]

Did the new steering column come with an ignition?

If so, match up the wire colors, and report back with what's left over.

[paul@brawlinpictures]

Did the new steering column come with an ignition?

If so, match up the wire colors, and report back with what's left over.

I didn't install an new steering column. I took the column out and got rid of the lock mechanism and put it all back together.

While I was taking everything out, I did flick on the power switch and nothing happened. I assumed it was because I had so many different things unplugged. But then after I reconnected everything and double checked, there's still now power. Like I keep saying, the interior lights don't even come on and I never touched any of those wires or connections!

I tried jumping the car off with my dad's Mercedes and still there was no power anywhere.
Did you see my thread on mye28? I have some more pictures and diagrams

-Paul

[CSBolger]

Just looked through it - I didn't realize it was you haha!

If you're not getting any power at all to the inside of the car, it sounds like the main power from the fuse box. I'd look to see if that got pinched while pulling the column (should be a big red wire) other than that there should be a couple of big green wires, they're also main constant power. Check where all of those wires terminate and make sure none are pinched or cut.

It very well may be a fluke and actually be a loose connection under the fuse box, but that doesn't sound likely at all. It has to be something that supplies constant power under the dash. Good luck.

[paul@brawlinpictures]

Thanks dude.

I just picked up a volt meter at the parts store so now I gotta figure out how to use it

Hopefully I can track this bugger down pretty quickly

[paul@brawlinpictures]

So much thanks has to go to Paul (Paul@RevoTechnik) for driving out to my house last night at almost midnight to help me figure out what was going on. We banged our heads together for a while tracing wire after wire. FINALLY... we figured it out


soooo..... I finished rewiring and fixing some stuff. I go to fire it up and the battery is drained I'm waiting on a buddy to come over and jump the car off since my brokeass doesn't have a jump box

THEN...

I'm headed to Jonathan (evilrduck)'s shop to do some mounting and balancing

-Paul

Here's the interior buttoned back up with my junkyard steering wheel

[CSBolger]

Nice! Post picture of dem reeems ASAP!

[paul@brawlinpictures]

Nice! Post picture of dem reeems ASAP!

well I would except now the car won't start. My buddy came over and we tried jumping the car off with his accord but no dice. I was on the phone with Paul (from Revo) and he asked if I heard the fuel pumps. Hmm... nope.

Well according to the ETM all I have to do is either jump the fuel pump relay or swap it out with another relay. But I CANNOT find the stupid thing. It's supposed to be on the side of the fuse box but where the ETM says it is, I have a big grommet of wires going into the box. I'm really getting tired of this bullsheet

-Paul

[paul@brawlinpictures]

Found the relay. Tried using the horn relay and it wouldn't do anything. I jumped it and you can hear the front puller pump come on but nothing from the rear pump (both are new). The battery is not holding a charge so I'm sitting there with a car running in front of mine, jumper cables pumping power into my battery, fuel pump relay hot wired, and not getting a volt reading at the rear pump...

I'm running out of ideas... well, at least ones that don't involve a sledgehammer

-Paul

[CSBolger]

You're not hearing a fuel pump in the front - E28s don't have any in the engine bay. There's one under the gas tank, and one in it. The external is the primary. If the internal one doesn't work, it doesn't really matter.

Does the car turn over?

[paul@brawlinpictures]

You're not hearing a fuel pump in the front - E28s don't have any in the engine bay. There's one under the gas tank, and one in it. The external is the primary. If the internal one doesn't work, it doesn't really matter.

Does the car turn over?

Hmm... when I jump the fuel pump relay, I immediately hear an electrical humming that sounds like its coming from the direction of the fuel filter near the top of the motor. Maybe the fuel pressure reg?

Before, the main pump was very audible from inside and outside the car. It's a new pump that was installed by the previous owner the day I got the car (slightly over a month ago). I hooked up the volt meter to the green/purple wire that connects to the top of the pump through the trunk floor and got nothing. That was while the car battery was being jumped off of another car, fuel pump relay jumped, ignition on (lights on the dash).

Fuse #1 was swapped out with another 16a fuse from the sunroof/rear defroster and the terminals were tightened.

I tried using the horn relay for the FPR and it didn't do anything when I turned the ignition on.

I've been reading through pages and pages on mye28.com trying to find the solution (including your no-start trouble thread, Chris)

The only thing I haven't checked was the sensors around the bellhousing. Mainly because it's late and I got frustrated.

There's over a quarter tank of gas in it and I couldn't really smell fuel while trying to start. That's what led me to do the volt test of the green/purple wire attached to the top of the in-tank pump.

The car will try to turn over then the starter just commences it's rapid-fire clicking.

I had just replaced that alternator bolt and in doing so, unbolted the alternator and slipped the belt off to fix it. I attached everything back to tension when I was done.

There is a broken coolant temp sensor plug on the top right of the radiator (when standing in the front, closest to the battery). There's two plugs going into the sensor and the top one is broken. I forgot the color of the wire.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head right now. I'm still searching through mye28 trying to find hope...

-Paul