My HJ47 took itself off on a little adventure while I was at work yesterday. The starter engaged of its own accord and it drove itself over to the neighbors front yard and lodged itself in his Mandarin Tree. No real damage other than a broken spotlight and a burnt out starter cable.
Diagnosis wise.. it appears the starter relay in the passenger footwell which was not original (and was a cheaper brand relay) and which was cable tied upside down had taken in some water at some point, along with some dust that it had tracked in at the same time, it was a very wet day yesterday and my passenger footwell has a small leak so possibly just a tiny bit more water was enough to bridge the gap with the mud.. There was a small amount mess inside it when I opened it, I'm very surprised it was enough to activate the starter but the evidence that the starter did in fact engage is incontrovertible. I've left the battery disconnected until I really confirm it. Very lucky, I was sleeping in this vehicle just a week ago on a trip.
Fire and police attended. It took me 35mins to get home and the Firies were kind enough to wait and help me push it back over to its rightful parking spot.
The puffs of smoke you see are unburnt diesel, the engine is not running. Which is another issue altogether (no EDIC fitted, just a stop cable).
Diagnosis wise.. it appears the starter relay in the passenger footwell which was not original (and was a cheaper brand relay) and which was cable tied upside down had taken in some water at some point, along with some dust that it had tracked in at the same time, it was a very wet day yesterday and my passenger footwell has a small leak so possibly just a tiny bit more water was enough to bridge the gap with the mud.. There was a small amount mess inside it when I opened it, I'm very surprised it was enough to activate the starter but the evidence that the starter did in fact engage is incontrovertible. I've left the battery disconnected until I really confirm it. Very lucky, I was sleeping in this vehicle just a week ago on a trip.
Fire and police attended. It took me 35mins to get home and the Firies were kind enough to wait and help me push it back over to its rightful parking spot.
The puffs of smoke you see are unburnt diesel, the engine is not running. Which is another issue altogether (no EDIC fitted, just a stop cable).
Last edited:
.
