R19 Earth problem

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

Hi All, my R19 is a bog standard Diesel Biarritz. I am having a problem with unwanted noise thru the stereo when my MP3 player is powered from the cigar lighter. I have established that the problem is with an earth connection (m10 according to the Haynes manual). Has anyone got any ideas where this earth actually is??? I'm demented trying to find it.

Thanks.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

dash thus radio earth connections are behind the kick panels.

if you look in the tech article section I put up nice pictures in tne earthing article.

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

Thanks Chris, forgot I'd emailed Haynes to ask them (since they literally wrote the book on it!) got a reply today and it's the one under the passenger side trim. You're pictures will help tho'. Will take your advice on the other main earths too.

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

Right, I've cleaned up the terminals under the kickboard (passenger side) and I still have the rotten noise when my mp3 player is running of the cigar lighter. Any other ideas? I'm sure it's an earth problem coz I've tested it with a multimeter and it's not reading zero!

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

how did u test it with multimeter?

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

I tested the resistence on the earth at the cigar lighter as instructed in the Haynes manual.

Level 3 User Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 79

maybe you have an earth loop..

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

Oddly enough that's exactly what I'm just looking at...can't see anyway around it but now can't decide whether I need to put an isolator between the MP3 player or behind the head unit Confused

Level 3 User Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 79

Have never encountered yor problem as such. My mp3 is built in and hence have never tapped into my cigar lighter. Am guessing/assuming your cig' lighter power lead is of decent quality and designed for the appliance you are running. If your radio/cassette/cd players ok with no noise interferrance then maybe your cig lighter earth needs beefing up.

Level 3 User Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 79

Did you say you had checked your earths as according to Chris's guide?

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

Yep. Ripped half the insides out of the car today! Haven't been behind the dash ... yet.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

there are no earths behind the ash only the 2 each side of the car. Did you file them back through the paint to clean metal?

Whats the voltage between the lighters eath and the chassis earth? Any more than 0.1/0.2 is trouble.

Do the drivers side if you haven't done that side.

Btw I have had to many experiences with these dahes and theres various ways earths are piggybacked and a lot of the time they go to whichever earth they feel like going to!

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

Chris H wrote:

there are no earths behind the ash only the 2 each side of the car. Fantastic!!! Did you file them back through the paint to clean metal? Yup.

Whats the voltage between the lighters eath and the chassis earth? Any more than 0.1/0.2 is trouble. Can't remember exactly but more than that!

Do the drivers side if you haven't done that side. Will do it tommorrow, also need to find the gearbox to engine one!

Btw I have had to many experiences with these dahes and theres various ways earths are piggybacked and a lot of the time they go to whichever earth they feel like going to!

According to the Wiring diagram it looks like that particular earth is piggybacked off the heater controls and there is also at least one connector block somewhere. If I can't get the the root of this problem I will go for a ground loop isolator, but that will be a last resort because it's already like spaghetti junction in the car with the MP3 player!!!! Really need to mount it somewhere....passenger seat's ok as long as nobody wants to sit there!

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

Is there an easy way to get to the earth strap on the gearbox??? It's a diesel engine!

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

on my 1.8 rt , it was a hard job really .the bolt holding the strap to the gearbox snapped .

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

Not what I wanted to hear! Looks a possibility on mine too, it's really rusty.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

try some wd40 first and use a decent socket
try to ease the bolt hitting the spanner/wrench with a hammer gently rather than using all your mighty power at once.

Site Subscriber Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 2317

I'll have a look on my TD tomorrow

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

I'm getting quite good at getting stubborn nuts and bolts off the old thing...for a girl! Laughing

Must get more wd tho'....running out!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

the strap is held to the inner arch by a 13mm bolt into a captive nut, this can often break free so you need a spanner to hold the captive part. There is also a serated washer and its normally corroded away to nothing.

Like Schakal said the bolt that holds it to the gearbox normally snaps its head off.

Just stick a new strap from the bulkhead point to the engine head.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

when the bolt on my car snapped ,i stuck the earth on to one of the airbox housing bolts on the gearbox again