What to do ????

[dinga]

I had the usual firewall problems with the AU11 ute.....

Starting to slow down with work (own a Lawn Mowing Business) so I decided to finally fix the problem.

Firewall was cracked, so took the day off and took the car to a reputable Panel Shop on Monday to have reinforcement plate welded to firewall on engine bay side. Shop did a great job on the welding (or so I thought). Clutch pedal was like new when I drove it home.

Yesterday (Tuesday) drove to my first job of the day, finished the job and went to start the chariot. Engine was turning over, but not starting. Thought it may of been a blown fuse or something. Made sure the fuses were in place then tried to start the car but had nothing, zip, nada...... Had power for all the accessories etc but nothing was happening with the motor.

Called an auto elect who came out, had a look at it for 10 minutes and gave me the good news. Looked as though the Smartlock had shat itself. Couldn't fix it himself, but luckily the was another auto elect around the corner.

Dragged the car to new elect who diagnosed that the smartlock was definately fried.

I then told him about the welding going on in the engine bay. His first reation was, "ah crap". Anyway, he fitted the new smartlock yesterday ($310 for part + labour) then tried to reconfigure it as per usual practice. It didn't want to play the game.

Left it overnight, and have now got even better news. Looks as though the ECU has also been fried. $$$$$$$$$ Auto elect has offered to write a report about the issues. I have taken him up on this.

This is to much of a coincedence not to be related to the welding at the panel shop. I have already told them about the Smartlock but not the ECU.

So far this has cost be $300 at panel shop, $800 lost wages, minimum $500 for fried electronics.....

I have every intention of fronting the panel shop as soon as I pick the ute up. But they are only going to say that all precautions were taken.

Although it is very hard (near bloody impossible) to prove that the welding probaby spiked the elctronics in the car, what do you guys think I should do? Is there any other avenue (MTA, Consumer Affairs, etc) that I can take when they do not come to the party?


Thanks
Darren....

[XR6-VCT-2000]

consumer affairs maybe ... sounds like maybe the welding has fried all the electrical goodies . I know for a fact ( from mig welding in the past , and ruining stuff myself from forgeting to disconnect certian things ) , that any electrical goodies connected to the body for its (-) minus/earth source should be disconnected before welding. When that earth lead from the welder is connected to the chassis , soon as the welding tip is toutched on the chassis too (actually welding) the amps/current pass right through the whole chassis to the tip of the welding rod to complete the circuit, welders use alot of amps too ! . Sorry to hear about ya bad luck anyway , good luck with it all .

[eXi7w0unD]

well if he didnt disconnect certain electronics before welding BUST HIM GOOD!

[TwistedEL]

If he put enough amps into the ECU / BEM to fry them I doubt the car would have started at all.

Perhaps smartlock was not stuffed to start with. Did the central locking work before the change?

[dinga]

Originally Posted by TwistedEL

If he put enough amps into the ECU / BEM to fry them I doubt the car would have started at all.

Perhaps smartlock was not stuffed to start with. Did the central locking work before the change?

The smartlock has always been fine. It worked on Monday night when I locked it, Tuesday morning when I unlocked it, then that was it. After I tried to start it, I tried to lock it but no go....

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by dinga

The smartlock has always been fine. It worked on Monday night when I locked it, Tuesday morning when I unlocked it, then that was it. After I tried to start it, I tried to lock it but no go....

If the car started once after welding but not again after that, then there is even a chance maybe if that everything wasn't disconnected propperly , a few of the electrical goodies could of gathered a static charge from the welder - which 'could/maybe' of allowed the car to start but fry the part as it was starting, then the static passed from that part to another could of fryed the next part too ( like the smartlock ) ... or vise versa .. its a longshot , either way its going to be hard to prove that the mechanic caused more damage while fixing ya car. Imo I would of maybe seen an auto electrician to fix small things like the crack in the firewall ( most autoelecs can weld np and are happy to fix small stuff like that ! ), they know more about the problems that can be caused too if everything is not disconnected propperly before welding, specially on all these newer cars with an BEM / ECU .. gl

[HLC]

go rip the welder a new one.

[TwistedEL]

Wait for the auto electricians report. He's the professional and will be able to tell you the likely cause.