Ford Probe (1994 - 1998) - 95 2.5 Electrical / water short

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Fri 20 Nov 2009 10:06
95 2.5 Electrical / water short - thewolfe
Hi all, I have a 2.5 V6 Probe which came to a standstill last Friday. The engine cut out, wouldn't restart, the headlights went their separate ways, the main beam dashboard light came on (even though all lights were off), the left indicators came on permanently but as a sidelight (no flashing) and it was all accompanied by a strange intermittent buzzing.

The AA man got it started by adjusting the steering column angle and turning on the sidelight switch. It ran fine as long as I didn't activate the indicators, which acted as a handy 'kill-switch.' It then gave up the ghost again 25 yards from my garage.

The garage mechanic disconnected the battery and left it inside over the weekend. On Monday he went to examine what he and the AA man thought must be two wires rubbing in the steering column somewhere, reconnected the battery and hey presto, the headlights readjusted themselves and the car started first time, no problems. The diagnosis is therefore that water got in somewhere and then dried out over the weekend.

Is this a known problem with a known remedy? If so, where are the water traps and where shall I liberally apply gaffer tape and bathroom sealant to prevent this happening again?

I noticed that the fuse box in the N/S engine bay was making a buzzing at the time of the problem, so maybe this could be a lead culprit?

{shouting in header amended. Welcome to the forum, btw}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 20/11/2009 at 10:13

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Fri 20 Nov 2009 10:36
95 2.5 Electrical / water short - bell boy
i think you had a circuit fault via that buzzing relay causing what i like to refer to as a back emf where the electricity goes via something like a sidelight circuit to throw up lots of wobblies
take relays out one at a time looking for water infiltration
im not convinved the steering downshaft is the problem but i could be wrong
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Fri 20 Nov 2009 11:15
95 2.5 Electrical / water short - thewolfe
OK, thanks for that, I'll have a dig around. There's also some moisture in the O/S boot corner which I guess won't help anything!
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