No front heater or starter motor

[Simmy]

Hi all been a long time since I last posted.
I have a problem with my 2.5 rd 1996 pop top.
All was working great one day,went to start the next day and it would not start and the front heater would bot come on. The starter motor is fine as I took it off and checked all contacts then I bypassed it from ignition and it starts up. The fan I have ch2cked it by removing the resistor and all was ok,ran 12v from battery to fan and works ok. All fuses are working ok and I have checked all relays and same there. When I put ignition to position 2 the starter hums. This is without being bypassed. I checked some wiring behind glovebox and side of wing and then it got louder as I moved things about. Is there a shared earth or linked wire for the starter and heater around there. I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure this out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. P.s I checked 100a fuse and was ok.

[g8dhe]

There shouldn't be anything involving both air con. fan and starter at all.

Which type of air con controls do you have, old slider controls or the electronic controls?

When you say the starter hums ? That isn't a normal report at all I've ever heard of, there is a relay that connects the power to the starter solenoid which if it clicks but doesn't turn the starter over then that suggests burnt out contactors, which provided its not a Northern Japan Cold start type can be replaced easily enough.

[Simmy]

Hi and thanks for your reply.
I have the sliding controls. The hum is like faint and like power is being sent to it,when I flash the spade contact the bongo starts right up.
The 3 relays in the left wing all click so I am unsure what else it could be. The aircon light comes on with the switch and the rear heater work.

[Simmy]

I forgot to add that I took the starter to a specialist and he also bench tested and worked great

[Simmy]

Could the ignition switch be the problem if both don't work? Would anything else not work if this was the case? I am not the best with electrics but I can get help from an electrician.

[g8dhe]

You really need a voltmeter or test lamp, if you say you bypassed the Ignition at it fired up then that does suggest an Ignition switch problem but to check you really need some basic test equipment.

[Simmy]

Thanks Geoff, my dad is an electrician and has a volt meter.
Do you know where I would start? I haven't a clue I have had a look at the wiring diagrams and can't understand them completely .
Would it be the plug that connects to the ignition or the ignition itself?
Sorry for all the questions its getting frustrating now.
Danny

[Simmy]

Just to give more information to bypass the starter I ran a wire from the yellow wire in the ignition to the spade connector on the starter then the key turned as normal to turn on and off

[g8dhe]

In that case it sounds more like your starter relay isn't working, you have checked that your in Park/Neutral with the gear selector it could be the inhibit switch on the gearbox that stops you starting in gear or that the fuse has blown that feeds it, which is why your really need to test at various points;
The fuse is;

A1-03 is the inhibit switch on the gearbox
and the relay is A1-04 - The front one of the three on the offside wing down the side.

[Simmy]

That's great thank you.
I will check the inhibitor switch on the selector tomorrow. I have checked that fuse and had continuity and also all 3 relays on the wing clicked when turning ignition, I also swapped the 6 in front of the battery about and all were ok

[Simmy]

Hi all I have had a look at the underside of the selector and followed the bike brake type cable up to the ignition. This was not attached to anything. There has never been a steering lock which I thought was strange but didn't really affect the driving and the van run ok in the past. The bit in the ignition that the cable should sit in is missing. Would this cause the starting issues and if this piece has always been missing what was the cable attached to ?

[g8dhe]

There are two cables;
The brake interlock which means you foot must be on the brake pedal to move the Selector in given positions. Nothing to do with steering.
The gearbox selection cable which runs to the gearbox, and it is this which might need adjustment for the inhibitor switch.
http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html

[Simmy]

Hi that's great thanks for all your help. I have now given in and dropped it off at a bongo specialist which is adrian at japan direct in bury. Hopefully he will fix it for me. Once the problem is fixed I will repost with the solution. Thanks once again for all your help

[Simmy]

All fixed now. It was a relay that was acting like it was working and clicking but had burnt out. I had swapped the relays about so i don't know why it didn't show earlier. Thanks again for everyone's help its much appreciated

[Bob]

Well done, and thanks for the update.