MR2 Owners Club

Hi guys,
can someone please help.... I've had an electrical problem with the dash and a few other things since I've put the interior back together!
I've had the dash out because of the heater matrix and while everything was out I removed the old obsolete alarm, put everything back together and for some reason my fuel gauge wasn't showing anything.... put £20 in a can and threw it in and still nothing! Pulled the dash back out thinking I could trace the fault, but all cables check out, no cable brakes, gauge works as I've put a direct earth on it and up it went! Sender is fine as the resistance changed when I put fuel in... and now I've just moved the dash cluster with the ignition on and I've lost everything! all the warning lights are dead and no gauge works at all, and the cooling fans are on when the ignition is on!

Any suggestions?! Also the passenger window doesn't go up from ether switch!!
I'm one step away from throwing the towel in and setting the "censored" thing on fire!

Jono

Did you disconnect the battery while doing all that work? If not, chances are you've blown a fuse or two - check / test / replace.

Ripping out the alarm may mean your car is immobilised unless you undid the wiring for that too?

jonofd3 wrote: ↑02/12/18 16:24 Any suggestions?! Also the passenger window doesn't go up from ether switch!!

The classic issue here is the unlabelled, square window lock button on the driver's door control.

jonofd3 wrote: ↑02/12/18 16:24 ...no cable brakes...

On a MR2? Other than the handbrake that would be, er, interesting!

shinny wrote: ↑02/12/18 21:37 The classic issue here is the unlabelled, square window lock button on the driver's door control.

That one had me baffled early on as a newbie.
I hadn't twigged that I must have pressed it by mistake without realising.

Unlabelled? Hmmm. It is/has been marked as such on all the Mk2s I have owned.

the fuel needle has to be manually put in the right position for the amount of fuel in the tank before
you wire it up . bad earth or have you found the fusebox near the accelerator.

agree with the above on blown fuses. However.....
A little more detailed info required'
When you say you removed obsolete alarm, was it still wired in and you just cut the wires? or did you trace the wires and rejoin all factory wiring back up in the ignition etc.
Does the car start, crank when attempted?

There is a live and neg feed to the binacle (middle plug) and the screws in the back are actually connect to either the +ve or -ve feed. The flexible plastic circuit board then feeds the positive to all the warning lamps and they are then illuminated by whatever circuit they are on being grounded i.e no oil pressure will make the oil pressure switch go to ground to complete the circuit. (I think this is how it works)

Therefore I would be contorting myself into the footwell and checking all those fuses.
I would also be looking for chafed wires that may have shorted stuff or poorly taped wires were remedial work has been done on the wiring. Unless you think you may have shorted one of the +ve screws on the back of the cluster on a metal bracket or the like.
HTH
Jan

rgb wrote: ↑03/12/18 20:54 the fuel needle has to be manually put in the right position for the amount of fuel in the tank before you wire it up.

Never heard that one before

jimi wrote: ↑03/12/18 23:49

rgb wrote: ↑03/12/18 20:54 the fuel needle has to be manually put in the right position for the amount of fuel in the tank before you wire it up.

Never heard that one before

And it's totally false... the needle just moves really slowly

TonyleFrog wrote: ↑03/12/18 3:25 Unlabelled? Hmmm. It is/has been marked as such on all the Mk2s I have owned.

I stand corrected