VT Electrical Problem

[Benniee]

Hello all VT gurus,

I've got a prob with my VT Aclaim. Happened over the Christmas break (which is always great timing).

Started with the car not starting (no crank and dash lights not lit) - but accessories working ok. There was also some other strangeness with the central locking so I put it down to a body control module problem.

After a bit of mucking around with spare parts suppliers I got a "set" of ECU/BCM and new key head. Replaced all of these and everything was good - for a while.

Now it's back to doing the same thing as it was before. As you go to start the car the dash lights drop out and the LCD goes blank. This happens on the ignition step before you crank the engine.

When I replacing the ECM/BCM I noticed there was a little corrosion on the battery terminals - and they were ever so slightly loose. I cleaned them off with some bi-carb solution and then re-attached the terminals. I had to tap them down with a hammer and piece of wood to get them tighter than they were before.

Cleaning the terminals seemed to get things back to normal - but now I've got the same problem again. Go to start the car and loose all the dash lights (and no start obviously).

It's obviously an electrical problem - but where should I look next? The fuses for the fuel pump look ok. I haven't checked out the negative/earth connection onto the body as yet - I'll do that when I get home from work.

Is there a good spot inside the car to check the 12V supply when I'm seeing this problem? If there is a bad connection somewhere the battery terminals probably isn't the best spot.

Should I just chuck out the old terminals and get new ones?

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Benniee

[VTSSDUDE]

So when you replaced the ECU and BCM did you take the battery terminals off? Then you also cleaned the battery terminals and the car worked again?
Sounds like dodgy battery terminals. I would say you need to replace the battery terminals.

[Benniee]

So when you replaced the ECU and BCM did you take the battery terminals off? Then you also cleaned the battery terminals and the car worked again?
Sounds like dodgy battery terminals. I would say you need to replace the battery terminals.

Yeah.

When working on the electronics I had the negative terminal off. And then disconnected/cleaned them both (pos and neg) after the problem re-appeared. I thought that had fixed it until it started again today.

They are the factory terminals.

I'm hoping that if I can reproduce the problem when I get home this arvo I'll be able to find a spot to check the voltage to see if it's dropping badly. If it is the battery terminals then I'd expect to see low volts at the terminals, and a good voltage on the battery posts themselves.

Thanks for the reply,
Benniee

[Cameron P]

mate same thing was happening to me so i replaced both terminals... after too many times of tightening and untightening them they #### up and wont tighten properly

when this issue occurs try playing with them and taking them off and then putting them back on... might work. but terminals are like $10 each (MAX!!!) at a battery place