Weird electrical fault/faults

[elanelise]

Hello all, my 130/5 has stood idle for three months and i decided to get the old girl running,fitting the freshly charged battery the tail lights and near side front and rear indicator illuminated with nothing switched on?
strange? I tried to start the car,turns over ok, fuel delivery ok but no spark,(fitted with lumenition).Fitted new coil today still no spark and the lighting problem still apparent? Any thoughts anyone to this weird fault/faults.
Cheers
John

[neilsjuke]

Bad earth/s start at the batt .

[ppnelan]

To narrow down the ignition system problem, you could disconnect the 'non-essential' items e.g. at the fuse box, unless you have the complex multi-fusebox system...

Matthew

[elanelise]

Hello,thanks for your words gents, tried removing said fuse still no spark,removed all loom earths and cleaned,engine bay and boot, still the same, when battery is connected tail lights and nearside indicator come on, even with no key in the ignition or anything switched on????.
And weirder still the ignition warning light and low fuel light come on when indicator switch is pushed up for nearside indicators??????
anymore thoughts welcome.
Cheers
John

[Elanintheforest]

Have you tried the main dash earth bunch, just about where your left kneee sits when you're driving. The more wierd the problem, the more likely it is to be earth!!
Also check the loom coming out of the ign switch to see if anything looks to be shorting / loose....esp. where it connects into the main loom.
Mark

[neilsjuke]

Take a wire from the battary earth to a volt meter and then with the other test lead go round the earths ther should be no volts if you get some this should point you to the fault.

[elanelise]

Hello Gents,thanks for all your replies,i checked all said earths and was perplexed until i noticed the Lotus news magazine on the back seat with half eaten rear cover and ball of paper in the boot next to the spare wheel.Which got me thinking of a four legged squatter at large,traceing the loom back under the tunnel trim next to the half eaten magazine i found that the loom had infact been eaten outer tape and four wires picked clean of all insulation .After a quick repair problem solved,but still no spark, which leads me to believe that the short circuit has fried the Lumenition module too.
So if your going to leave your +2 for any period of time make sure you leave the cat in the car!
all the best
John

[neilsjuke]

Ckeck the earth on the Lumenition module .

[handi_andi]

Try also checking the relays up front if you have them, I have been having problems recently with relays sticking or changing over but not making contact and gave me all sorts of weird problems.
Cheers
Andrew

[gordonlund]

John,
You really had me scratching my head there. I have had earthing probs in the past on my +2 and wierd things can happen when lucar connections come adrift but none like you experienced. Insulation plastics loving rodents explain a lot!!

Gordon