Allspark Auto Electrical

The cables between the drivers door and door frame are prone to breakage due to flexing. If you find you have no power to any of the switches in the door or the locks and/or windows are erratic; this is the most likely cause. The sleeving will need to be taken back as far as possible to isolate the culprit and an insulated joint made. Ideally the broken cable(s) should be joined in the door and kick panel as a soldered joint will not last long if repeatedly flexed.

Citroens with automatic climate control; if you find that the heater blower is constantly on at top speed as soon as the ignition is turned on and adjusting the controls makes no difference, then your blower module (unfortunately only available as part of the blower motor assembly) will need replacing. The blower motor casing is a large cylinder behind the centre console. If you approach it from the passenger foot-well, disconnect the 2 electrical connectors, there is a plastic clip at the 10o’clock position that needs to be prised up before the fan motor assembly can be rotated and pulled out.

Citroen Saxo, Xara, Xara Piccaso: The ignition barrels on these cars are not particularly hard wearing. The internal contacts are prone to wear resulting in a loss of electronic power steering, heating/air-con, electric windows. On the back of the switch there will be 2 identical heavy cables that should normally both become live when the ignition key is in the on position. The contacts in the ignition switch for the cable responsible for feeding the heating, steering, windows circuits wear out rendering the feed cable dead. The solution is to replace the ignition barrel, however a cheaper fix is to just join both the 2 heavy cables together using a suitable heavy gauge cable and solder.

If you find that (particularly after replacement) the alternator is not charging, there is a hidden 150amp megafuse at the end of the engine bay fusebox. If there is a problem with the charging circuit (i.e. a dodgy old battery or failed alternator) the current spike caused by low voltage can cause this megafuse to blow. The fusebox has to be removed to even see this megafuse as when in position it’s butt up against the bulkhead.

Early Ford Focus have a major wiring loom connector at the bulkhead that is only accessible by removing the inner wheel-arch liner on the passenger side. Due to its location and over time the pins in the connector can corrode leading to an array of problems like twitchy dash dials, random central locking, random wipers, random warning lamps and engine starting problems. This issue can sometimes be rectified simply by accessing the connector, opening it and cleaning all the pins and receivers with a file and some contact cleaner – make sure the battery is disconnected first!