Stranded at work - the horror!

[Tokyo-Joe]

Hey guys,

I'm after some advice as I appear to be stranded at work on my first day back (doh!!).

We fitted a replacement Nardi wheel and a new stereo yesterday, I drove it 40 miles home with no issues, everything working great. Then this morning driving to work the 'broken' door speakers flicker to life on and off, crackling and spitting then working great then spitting again.

Anyway I pull into work and cut the ignition and now it's totally dead, like the battery has been taken out! I can't remote lock it or even get ignition lights and it appears I am now stranded at my office haha.

I replaced the main relay last week with no issues though when my first relay went I believe I still had power it just wouldn't turn on.

Please help! I work nearish a halfords so if it's fuses I could pop out at lunch and try things?

Thanks!
Joe

[NSXGB]

Check your battery terminals \ connections first.

[Tokyo-Joe]

That's first on my list at lunchtime to investigate though I had them pretty damn tight on there yesterday.

[NSXGB]

Not had the problem myself but the ignition switch can cause problems too. Have a look at Kaz's blog.
You may get lucky wiggling the key in the ignition!

[Tokyo-Joe]

I appear to be search dyslexic, I'm struggling to find information on this - probably as i'm in a hurry, any chance of a cheeky link to a relevant post? :D

[NSXGB]

This might help you for searching Kaz's stuff: http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/entry.php?442-NSX-Health-Check-Thread-–-search-support

[Tokyo-Joe]

Erm right then, so I just popped my head out to check on the battery terminals and yeah.. the postive was hanging off!

Sorry for the wasted thread guys, please feel free to delete this!

As the moral of the story; Always *really* tighten your battery connections!

Haha idiot..

[NSXGB]

Just as I find the igniition switch tread for you....

http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?6286-NSX-Health-Check-Service/page4&p=65820#post65820

Glad it's sorted.

[Tokyo-Joe]

Thank you for the link, i'm sure it will come in handy as it does seem quite common for this switch to go?

[britlude]

it happens!! more common with the pressed loop type battery clamps, as the battery terminal can bend, so the nut pinches the clamp legs, but the terminal ring is still loose enough to vibrate off... you'll probably need to bend the legs a bit to get a better clamp... it'll make sense when you look at it !

[Nick Graves]

Thank you for the link, i'm sure it will come in handy as it does seem quite common for this switch to go?

Yup; ign. switches, harmonic dampers & main relays.

No wonder it feels like a mid-engined Prelude!

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

That's first on my list at lunchtime to investigate though I had them pretty damn tight on there yesterday.

Erm right then, so I just popped my head out to check on the battery terminals and yeah.. the postive was hanging off!

Sorry for the wasted thread guys, please feel free to delete this!

As the moral of the story; Always *really* tighten your battery connections!

Haha idiot..
Probably it’s too late but for the future reference, please do not over tighten the battery terminal.
Lots and lots of cars (not just NSX) are running with the battery post already damaged due to the following reason.

The metal used for the battery cable terminal (alloy steel) is harder than the battery post (made of lead) and the post is actually in conical shape.
So, every time when you are tightening the terminal, it is actually chewing into the battery post.
The positive post has larger diameter than the negative/GND side so it is more likely to cause damage on the GND post than the posi. side.

Most of the people just tighten the small nut at the cable terminal until it hits the end stop.
Wrong procedure!

Because of the soft metal used on the battery post, you are just chewing into it until you can no longer tighten the nut and next time when you remove and re-install the terminal, the battery post is already squashed and you may find it almost impossible to get snug fit even you are hitting the end stop of the terminal clamp.

You should stop tightening the terminal once you start to feel some resistance at the nut.
With just one finger, try to rotate the terminal and if it is snug, you are done.

These photos will show you how it should look like.



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ctVzaParBpw/Tvuf2z14DII/AAAAAAAAATw/VxrDs8uOcj8/s640/IMG_0008.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-GE8RWLRbyG8/Tvuf3RD3kmI/AAAAAAAAAT0/gt3wpn7yp1I/s640/IMG_0011.JPG
When the battery and the cable terminal are new, you should see some gap at the edge of the clamp.
Probably, most of the people won’t see this gap on their terminal cable because the post is already damaged….

Even so, it’s not the end of the world and you can easily do a quick fix.
Not sure whether you can still get hold of the thin lead sheet that can be rolled up and attached as the fishing line weight or not but if you can get hold of it, you can use it around the damaged battery post to enlarge the diameter.
You can also do the same using the cooking aluminium foil.

Any way, best not to damage the battery post at the first place.

Kaz

[Tokyo-Joe]

Wow I certainly didn't realise that, thanks Kaz, finger tight it is then :)

[havoc]

I had exactly the same problem...only I wasn't at work, I was outside the pub in Applecross (google it...then check how far away from a likely recovery truck it is and what sort of road they've got to travel on to get there!!!).

Had a nice lunch when all of a sudden the alarm started going off. So I went out to the car, and the remote fob won't work at all. Won't unlock the car, won't turn the alarm off. I'm thinking "Oh god, not another Hamilton Palmer alarm like the S2000!!!" Key only operates the driver's door, get inside, try and start it up...and alarm aside it's dead. Totally dead. Doornail-style. No lights, no nothing. Which is weird, as the S2000 didn't do that. Starting to think really bad thoughts now about how much of our long weekend in Scotland is left and how long a journey back to the Midlands it's going to be sitting in a series of recovery trucks...

So I pop the bonnet and have a look at "this bloody alarm"...and sure enough, there's a loose +ve terminal hanging around - the bumps over the Applecross Pass have shaken it loose! :D One borrowed 10mm spanner later and she's good to go...

[Tokyo-Joe]

Ah i'm glad it's not just me :)

I've been driving in this week as a treat (who wants to work in the holidays?!) and although greasy, the roads have been absolutely fantastic on my route to work here in Hertfordshire.

[Nick Graves]

The other (cruder) method is to rotate the clamp back & forth until it 'dresses' the pole up a bit. You can usually find a 'tight' spot to clamp it to.

But yes, pinch it up, don't use a breaker bar on it!

Do watch the back end on those greasy roads; the car's pretty forgiving up to a point but we don't want you discovering NSX-specific Diesel spills...

[Tokyo-Joe]

Thanks Nick, yep i'm reasonably careful with the car in the wet / grease.

I've had 200sx, 180sx's, rx7 and jzx90 so am well used to driving carefully in less then ideal conditions :) (And by this I don't mean i'm Nigel Mansell - i'm really not! - just that i'm used to cars that are desperate to buck you off into the ditch in wet weather!)

[Nick Graves]

IKWYM; the S2000 is infamous for its apparently 'snappy' handling too!