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[Raeturbo]

Take the fuse out and put a torch in the pouch, that’s what I did

Are you a kangaroo Rae?

               No Rolf

[TheBoy]

Hmmm, watching with interest, TBE is starting to do "weird shit", including faint buzzer noises when the ignition is off but key still in.  Whatever the issue is, it seems to be disabling the seats though.  I'm suspicious of the drivers door contacts and/or the alarm ECU.

[cam.in.head]

all sounds very familiar.
could be same as mine,could be different .time will tell.

[Doctor Gollum]

It's probably a moisture issue. Sitting around getting damp and never being driven far enough to warm up, let alone dry out won't help.

I drove mine to the big shops 11 miles away the other day just to give it bit of a run. I did consider Chichester, 20 miles each way, to give it a decent blat and top the battery off, but decided against it as we actually have a Sainsbugs and Tescos in the village, so had no real justification to even do the 11 miles... Other than to give the car a stretch.

Incidentally, if you have a preserved Plod car, you can use it on the Public roads for three reasons... to/from shows, to/from garage, and for 'battery charging' purposes... Which in itself implies that taking the car out for a run is actually a thing

[Franks Dad]

Mine was doing exactly the same while it was laid up for lockdown , faint buzzing from light switch, seat(drivers only) not working.
I was trying to keep battery topped up by charging every couple of weeks ,but every time I came to start it battery was dead, I figured out eventually interior lights were staying on and I guess draining battery, so I pulled the bulbs instead of doing a proper fix .
Eventually decided to buy a new battery anyway and while getting ready for new MOT so starting car to work on it etc and driving to get wheel bearing done(about 20 mile round trip) it all went back to normal ?? Seat works, no more buzzing, but i have left the bulbs out for now!!
See how it goes, as now using as daily.

[gbh]

It's a strange one and moisture could be a problem but perhaps the timer/relay as the foot lights go on/off normally.Having left the battery off all night it's fine again very difficult to find a fault like that.I could change all the door switches using my other car or the relay if I knew which one and where or just take the bulbs out strange there's no setting for permanently off

[Doctor Gollum]

Off position is all doors closed and headlight switch pushed in.

On position is headlight switch pulled out and/or door open.

It's complicated by the fact that the alarm also uses the door contact switches, which are grounded via the screw. Any corrosion here and they become temperamental.

Damp can cause a cars ignition to misfire, why wouldn't it upset electronics inside the car?

Especially if it has a fist sized rust hole in the bulkhead

[TheBoy]

The door switches on Omegas have 2 sets of contacts - one purely for the courtesy/puddle lights and the other for alarm/delay/seat etc.  So just testing by watching the puddle lights will only test one set of contacts.

Contacts easily tested with a meter.

[TheBoy]

Damp can cause a cars ignition to misfire, why wouldn't it upset electronics inside the car?

Especially if it has a fist sized rust hole in the bulkhead

Low lying electronics should be protected, usually with potting or varnish type protections.  In an Omega, there aren't really any low lying electronics internally, unlike cars which, for example, mount engine management in the footwells.

So unless you submerge such a module - which is pretty near impossible on an Omega - this is rarely going to be a problem.

[Doctor Gollum]

Damp and condensation don't require submersion to cause chaos 

[TheBoy]

Damp and condensation don't require submersion to cause chaos 

Which automotive modules should be protected against, as its not a guaranteed dry environment.  And certainly the vulnerable ones in the Omega like ATWS are.


We ain't talking about MB designed* shite here, like the location and lack of moisture protection on the Smart's SAM modules...


*word used in the loose sense, seeing as the company haven't had designers since the 80s.

[Nick W]

Not to mention VAG's penchant for putting them under the passenger's feet. Next to the scuttle drains.


I recovered several big Audis, and a couple of Phaetons from Sheerness docks to the nearest dealers for warranty work before the cars had been delivered to the supplying dealer. All electrically dead, so no way of releasing the parking brake, transmission lock, steering lock or door locks, all which make moving them interesting.

[Doctor Gollum]

I take your point TB, but you're ignoring the fact that between the hole, the non working aircon, the time of year and lack of meaningful use all conspire to add more moisture in the car for longer than might have reasonably been allowed for.

I would wager that once the temperature starts to rise into spring it will be working fine

The Mercs weakness is that the front fuse boxes are open to the front footwells, and if the righthand one isn't closed properly, then water drains straight down the loom and if parked up hill, allows water to flow all the way to the rear fusebox/SAM. RHD are better because the cabin intake only floods the passenger side, so it only kills a couple of modules and one of the Canbus nodes 

[deviator]

deja- vu is kicking in !

Deja vu? I've heard that before somewhere.....

[Franks Dad]

Mine was doing exactly the same while it was laid up for lockdown , faint buzzing from light switch, seat(drivers only) not working.
I was trying to keep battery topped up by charging every couple of weeks ,but every time I came to start it battery was dead, I figured out eventually interior lights were staying on and I guess draining battery, so I pulled the bulbs instead of doing a proper fix .
Eventually decided to buy a new battery anyway and while getting ready for new MOT so starting car to work on it etc and driving to get wheel bearing done(about 20 mile round trip) it all went back to normal ?? Seat works, no more buzzing, but i have left the bulbs out for now!!
See how it goes, as now using as daily.

Err
drivers seat has stopped working again , everything else seems ok , still no bulbs in interior light tho