Very strange problem with the starting

[Flubbie]

Hi,

I'm having a H2 03 and I have right now a very serious problem with the starting of my ignition.

First I had the problem that my complete dashboard (lights) were dimming at a interval from about 2sec for 0,5sec.

Once the engine was running for 20sec this problem went away.

Right now I think it came back and maybe even worse.
Now when I try to start my vehicle then it's doing nothing at all. If I try it several times then suddenly the engine is starting.
When we put a wire over the contact switch then the engine is starting and when releasing the wire then the engine is stopping again.

Any toughts what the problem could be? http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif

[Flubbie]

Hi,

I'm having a H2 03 and I have right now a very serious problem with the starting of my ignition.

First I had the problem that my complete dashboard (lights) were dimming at a interval from about 2sec for 0,5sec.

Once the engine was running for 20sec this problem went away.

Right now I think it came back and maybe even worse.
Now when I try to start my vehicle then it's doing nothing at all. If I try it several times then suddenly the engine is starting.
When we put a wire over the contact switch then the engine is starting and when releasing the wire then the engine is stopping again.

Any toughts what the problem could be? http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif

[Hummertech]

First check your battery, it's probably leaking out of your positive terminal causing corrosion and all sorts of weird problems. Check the obvious first. If you know you have a strong battery, then post a good description of what the truck is doing and I'll help you from there.

[Flubbie]

Hi,

We have replaced the battery with a other one and also with a battery booster. But still no result.

What we have noticed is that when trying to start the vehicle that the display on the battery (that should be green) is turning black and then after a while becoming green again.

Here's my try for a better description:
The first thing that I saw was that the display (lights on dashboard) were dimming a little bit and then lighting again bright. That was just like in a interval of 2(bright) sec. and 1(dimmed light) sec.

We have read out with a meter (I think tech2) the diagnostics on the car and saw that the voltage was only 11,4V but the voltage on the engine was 13V

After some days I had the problem were my vehicle was not starting when turning my keys. After trying several times the car started suddenly without any problem.

Last time (when I was with my dealer for the repear) we checked the battery and saw this display (window on the battery) that it's was black so we swapped the battery's and we still had the same problem.

We are in the dark here and don't know were the problem could be.

Looking forward for a respone http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

[LasVegas]

hummertech would be more of an authority but it sure sounds like an intermittent (loose) connection to me. Could be a nightmare to locate but the dealer just needs to start at the beginning & work his way through.

[Flubbie]

Yeah I know but he's already working on it for about a week. It's a very difficult problem to find.

PJ

[KenP]

Intermittent problems are terrible. Hopefully one of our esteemed Techs will have some more info soon.

How's the weather? Are you still in Austria?

[LasVegas]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Flubbie:
Yeah I know but he's already working on it for about a week. It's a very difficult problem to find.

PJ </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Time consuming yes, difficult no. He just needs to start at the beginning taking voltage reading at each & every junction block. As soon as he hits lower voltage/resistance he's isolated the problem. Then look further in that area & repair/replace whatever necessary. Could be on the 12V side, ground side or just a bad connection in a connector.

[Flubbie]

LOL, unfortunately the trip in Austria was to short.

Right now here the weather is not so bad. Around 15°C but I need to drive with my motorcycle to work. I realy mis my hummy.

[Flubbie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Time consuming yes, difficult no. He just needs to start at the beginning taking voltage reading at each & every junction block. As soon as he hits lower voltage/resistance he's isolated the problem. Then look further in that area & repair/replace whatever necessary. Could be on the 12V side, ground side or just a bad connection in a connector.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well he started to look to the start key but he saw even more strange things. When take out the ignition key the car worked fine. When putting it back there was also no problem. However when waiting a while (5min.) the engine was again not running.

PJ

[LasVegas]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Flubbie:
Well he started to look to the start key but he saw even more strange things. When take out the ignition key the car worked fine. When putting it back there was also no problem. However when waiting a while (5min.) the engine was again not running.

PJ </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Really don't understand what you're saying here. Can you elaborate more please.

[Flubbie]

Sorry for that.

Well the dealer did something on the contact switch to disable it and then then engine was starting perfect. When putting it back to the original then the engine started again very fine like there was notting wrong.
But after waiting for about 5min then we still had the same problem were the engine was not starting.

Yes I know this seems very odd but I'm pulling out my hear on this.

PJ

[LasVegas]

Okay. There are 17 major wiring diagrams for the H2 but the first 2 or 3 covers everything from the main buss through starting and more. He should be able to pin it down there. Has he changed the electronic ignition switch?? They are a common problem and many times intermittent. That's where I would start if it were me. If you know anything about wiring I can send you the diagrams if you want them.

[Flubbie]

Yes if you can provide me with this diagrams. I'm going to call him and give him a link to this URL so that he can check it also.

thx in advance

[LasVegas]

Do you have an email address I can send them to.

[Flubbie]

Yes you can send it to
Peter-Jan.Deweirdt@advantra.com

thx

[LasVegas]

About 5 minutes. It will be a zip file

[LasVegas]

Sent

[Flubbie]

thx. Now let's hope that he's findig quickly the problem so that I can cruise again with my hummy

PJ

[LasVegas]

He needs to start by replacing the ign switch (keyed) & the electronic ign. relay. At least that would eliminate that issue. Lots of luck.

[Hummertech]

Las Vegas is right, and that may be your only problem. Ignition switches do fail quite often on these trucks. They will send proper voltage on some circuits, but intermittenly lower voltage on other circuits. If all of your problmes are not cured by that. I would check 2 other easy things. 1. make sure your battery cables are not corroded. A lot of people will change a bad battery and leave a lot of corrosion on the cable. That can cause intermittent problems. 2. Check all of your grounds. Especially if there is any area the vehicle has been tampered with, wrecked, etc..

[Hart1]

How is your truck doing? Any updates?

[Flubbie]

Hi,

I called my dealer yesterday and he told me that he found the problem. There was something into the ignition key that was broken (it gave a bad contact). When I'm going after my truck I will try to bring it with me and post a picture on the forum about it.

The second problem that he found was that there was also a bad contact in the fuse box. I'm not sure what box it was but I will also take a picture of it.

And a third problem that he told me about is (and I tought it was normal) that is: Normally a key can be put on the 2sides in the ignition slot and you should be able to start the engine. With my car I can only do it with one side.
Does that also seem to be a problem? Or is that not so bad?

PJ

[Flubbie]

Hi guys.
I wanted to give you a update on my problem. And indeed it's a big problem.

They found what the problem was and they have ordered the part. The part number is 12450251 (don't know were they got that from) Now the best thing is coming:

UPS lost the package in Amsterdam so they had to order a second one. Right now I'm still waiting for the package. It would be arriving tomorrow if I can beleive the tracking number.

My question right now to you guys is:
Do you know by any change were I can buy parts in US.
Here in Belgium we are missing a lot of parts and we would like to find somewere a good way to retreive them QUICK and EASY.

Any recomends?

[Flubbie]

Guys,

Good news, I got my "little tank" back. All the waiting was due to a reorganisation in Amsterdam by UPS. The lost my package and had problems ordering a second one.

So at least they got it on friday and so we are back on track.

I would like to thank you guys again for the help you gave to us. I realy appriciate it.

Thx guys http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif