Hi Teri. I'll add the picture so people know what you are talking about.

Every battery cable I have seen has the battery terminal on the main feed to the fusebox. I've sent her a spare I had but unfortunately it can't be fitted as hers has the terminal on the feed to the starter like this:

The lack of a bolt is the main problem as the terminal can't be firmly attached to the battery. When I last saw the car, it was there so I suspect the bodgers at NorAuto (think a French version of Halfords only much worse) have lost it when they fitted a new battery.

Question is, is this a normal arrangement on a later diesel? It would make sense to have the best connection going to the starter but it's different to all the others I've come across.

I think you'll find that the 4 holes aren't equidistant so they can only go on in two ways. They always say to mark them so they go back on in the same position as they came off but if they've been off before, you've no way of knowing that they were before. I don't think it's too critical, the diff and transfer box have been changed so you can't put them as they were before anyway. As long as the sliding joint is at the transfer case end and all the bolts are tight, it has got to be an improvement.

Also check the alignment of the UJ's. They should be at an angle and original props had one spline missing so they could only go together correctly, aftermarket ones don't so can be fitted together at any alignment. I bought a new one and found the UJ's were in line so split it and put it as it should be. As the P38 ones can't be changed there is no mention of it in RAVE but there is in the version for the Classic. See below.

There's a switch under the gear lever that operates when you push the lever across to the low side. It is this switch that has the Purple/Green wire on one side and a Black wire on the other.

That means either the switch isn't doing anything cuz it's broke or the wire between the switch and the ECU has a break in it somewhere. There's no connectors to go green and hairy between the switch and the ECU so it's a break in the wire, the switch itself or the earth connection on the other side of the switch (on the black wire).

I'm of the opinion that you have more than one fault. The EAS beep and light going out is caused by a poor connection between the EAS ECU under the passenger seat and the light display on the dash. That goes through the connector in the LH footwell. The dancing locks is caused by iffy microswitches in one of the front door latches, the one that isn't locking itself usually. The rear lights does sound to be moisture related but if it was in the BeCM, the power board is on the top, the logic board is at the bottom so if you have water getting to the BeCM it would have died by now as the logic board drowned. I still think you are looking at water getting into the trailer socket and shorting things out there. Disconnecting the white plugs will disconnect the feed to the trailer socket and isolate that.

For the other faults, the footwell connectors can be removed and the wires soldered and heat shrinked. They are only needed when the car is assembled at the factory so aren't needed once it's put together. There's a similar one in the RH footwell that also suffers from damp so it's worth doing them both.

As for the door locks, Marty does exchange refurbished latches at a very favourable price.

+1 on avoiding a garage if at all possible. Most don't understand electrics, particularly on a P38, and all you'll do is end up spending money for someone to tell you they can't fix the problem (or that you need a new BeCM and wiring loom).

Just had another look at RAVE and the other common point on the rear lights is the connections to the trailer socket. Behind the RH rear light you should find a pair of white 8 way connectors which join a second set of wires from the BeCM to the trailer socket. Try unplugging that pair and see if that makes any difference.

The mention of the EAS light going out intermittently made me think it could be the multiway connector behind the LH footwell kick panel as the wiring for that goes through there. However, having had a look at the ETM in RAVE, it seems that the rear lights are fed directly from the BeCM without even a connector between the two. If the seat is coming out, have a look at the connections to the BeCM, but the rear lights come off different connectors for left and right. That could point to the one common thing, the BeCM.......

Once you get the pump running you'll probably find it still won't work. There's two non-return valves at the back that go non-return in both directions. I replaced one of those, the rear washer worked for about a week and then the other one failed.

They should heat up enough to start working just from the exhaust gases when given some welly, plenty of earlier injected cars only had one or two wire sensors. Is this just on gas or on petrol too?

No idea but I wouldn't just do one caliper on an axle I'd always do them in pairs. Sounds like you need to pull the other 3 apart.

Paintwork is pretty dire and the rust is coming through on the rear arches so I'd hold out for one in a bit better nick to use as a starting point. The spec of a Turner or V8 Dev engine is the same, the only difference is the price and I think V8 Dev are a bit cheaper. I went there as they are local and I could drop in and check on progress (and look at lots of shiny engine internal bits).

If it's running in open loop, it might not power them?

Rcutler wrote:

Also who buys a matt black car, they are a nightmare to keep clean.

Tell me about it, this is one that I had the pleasure of looking after for a couple of months last year while I put it through an IVA test and got it registered onto UK plates. Not a wrap either but ordered in that paint from the factory by a Russian with little taste. The interior was white leather. Yes, an absolute bastard to keep looking like that, one raindrop and it started to look dirty.

Although the Russian registered Audi RS7 (de-catted and chipped to 720 bhp) that came after this one was wrapped but with a clear wrap purely to protect the paintwork. You really had to look very closely to see the wrap and it was only really noticeable where a small piece of it had peeled off the front spoiler. The de-cat caused me a lot of grief when it came to getting it through the emissions test. Fortunately the cats were in the boot when it was bought so was simply a case of fitting them for the test. Unfortunately, they sit between the back of the engine and the bulkhead....

Leave it connected or all you are doing is applying the earth to the other side of the switch. You need to let the ECU see the earth so it thinks the switch has been operated.

Coil springs? Oh dear. If the compressor is still there then chances are the valve block is too as it's bolted to the top of it. No point in removing the EAS ECU, you'd only have to put it back when you see the light. Once you get the opportunity to drive one on EAS, you'll know you just have to......

My god that's horrible......

It isn't completely dead as it can still put the transfer box into neutral but it definitely sounds like it isn't responding to the switch. There'a few on eBay for around a tenner.

The IGG100030 is the auto gearbox controller and the other one is the transfer box ECU. If earthing the Purple/Green does nothing, that suggests it has died.

If you don't like the contrasting piping, you can always sit in the left rear seat instead as that doesn't have it. Only has 3 bars compared with the 5 on the other seats too.....