I've got a bit of a problem going on here. I'm busy putting my EF back together. I have put enough of it back that I should be able to start and run the engine, but when I connect the battery up, the park lamps, taillights and interior courtesy lights all flash with the Smartlock jewel lamp (and there is a very very noisey relay click).

Recently I've striped the vehicle and been rebuilding, main changes include:
*replacing all wiring looms from EF GLi to NF Fairlane.
*auto to manual conversion.
*power windows.
*passenger side airbag dash.
*power antenna.
*automatic climate control.
*Fairlane instrument cluster.
*AU VCT engine installation (but VCT module is not connected yet).

I've replaced all the wiring with complete NF Fairlane wiring looms. With the only modifications:
ECU resistor trick for the manual conversion (as I have an auto ECU) following Voxaces? guide.
Being that Fairlanes are sedans and my vehicle is wagon, I've also had to integrate the interior NF loom into the original EF GLi wagon loom at the back of the vehicle. I'm pretty certain that I've got all the wires correct, but I'm thinking that I might cut them again and see if I can get the engine running first.

It seems wierd to me that it is the park lamps, taillights and interior curtosey lights flashing - not the indicators. There's a noisey relay click with these flashes, which at first I thought meant that I may have somehow got the indicator and driving lights wiring confused, so I removed the flasher unit, but the high beams, taillights and interior lights still flash, and the relay click is coming from the BEM (or possibly the instrument cluster, but pretty sure the noise is from the BEM).

I have attempted leaving the key in the ignition in the on position for over an hour, a few times now, and that didn't change anything.
Twice now (on two completely seperate occasions) I have managed to get the starter motor to engage for a split second, but I have been unable to do this again.

Any ideas or thoughts?

I just really want to get it running and leave some black lines on the old mans driveway...

Last edited by twr7cx on Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:26 pm, edited 3 times in total.

You mean the actual neutral switch on the gearbox? Remove it or just disconnect the wiring?

Ok, I just went and had another play. What I have found is that when I have the gearlever in a certain position many wonderful things happen:
*the LCD on the instrument cluster lights up and starts displaying information.
*the gear position on the instrument cluster (remembering it now has a Fairlane instrument cluster which has the gearposition down the center) illuminates the 'N' (for neutral).
*the starter motor engages.

The problem is that the position is bloody hard to find (I've only managed to get it a few times, struggling to find it again), it's sort of half in a gear, half not.

Possibly a faulty neutral switch on the gearbox? Is there a way around this (i.e. disconect the switch, or bridge it?)?

If you followed the AUTO TO MANUAL CONVERSION GUIDE on this site, it has you doing a few things that weren't in the factory install. In this instance, the NEUTRAL SWITCH.

In the original factory standard manual cars you could start them in gear as the neutral switch is ONLY rigged up to the ECU so that the ECU can change the fuel maps and the idle control solenoid so as to prevent stalling when you have the car in neutral etc etc. It is pin 64 on the EF (coil pack) ECU or pin 30 on the EL ecu. This pin has a closed circuit when in Neutral and open (ie - no voltage gets through) when in gear.

If you followed the conversion guide, you would not have the neutral switch connected to either of these pins, but have spliced it into the starter circuit.

Just pull the connectors off the switch at the gearbox, or unplug "the resistor trick" entirely, along with the neutral and reversing switches from the gearbox. The car should start without "the resistor trick" being present.

I had a resistor wired wrongly and had the netural switch earthed to the reversing switch somehow. I got relays open and closing rapidly and when I tried to start it the starter would engage but the fuses would blow (park and reversing lamps started blowing too needless to say...)


I'd guess there's a wire or two connected wrongly, shorting out or (not so likely) dry joints.

You see --- The PIN 64 in EF (NF I guess too) in the AUTO car expects inputs of different voltages for different gears. What could be happening is that when you have the gear selector on the manual at a certain position it is making contact over the switch, with resistance (ie - Not a 100% clean connection).

If (by any chance) you have managed to connect the NEUTRAL SWITCH to pin 64 somehow this would be fooling the NF ECU into thinking it was in a certain gear, and this would be displayed on the instrument cluster.... 12v would be completely in neutral on your manual gearbox, but this is outside the range for the auto ecu to work out.

By having the switch half on, or providing resistance, the ECU would think it is getting information that the car is in a gear...

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Worth a little bit of typing, hope it proves useful.

For this I would almost guarantee there is an earth connection you forgot to connect somewhere.

I had the dash out of my mum's XF to replace the heater core, I slapped it together quickly as the car was needed that night and I missed an earth. as I was driving down the street the wipers, and horn just started going of their own accord. I reconnected the earth and it was fine.

Electricity will do all sorts of strange things to find a path to ground.

s**t, your a genuis (and I am a retarded tosser)! I just remembered that I forgot to connect the earth lead above the dash board when I was putting it back in! I sat the pannel (not sure what you would call it, but it's the one with two allen key machine screws on either end, the grills for the factory tweeters and the sun load sensor for the automatic climate control) on top of it and then forgot!

Will have to get a chance to get out in the garage and connect it and see if that makes a difference...

I havn't had a chance to get back into the garage and check the earth that I mentioned in the above post, but this morning I did do a bit of playing around, and have discovered a few things.

1. It is not the high beams flashing, it is actually the parklights (I forgot that with the Twinlights the park lights are in the high beams, and being broad daylight wasn't easy to notice the difference in brightness).

2. I disconnected the wires off the neutral switch on the gearbox, and bridged them. This did not have the same effect as what was happening yesterday when I got the gear selector in a certain spot (i.e. the instrument cluster LCD etc. did not light up etc, nor did the N on the instrument cluster).

3. I disconnected the resistor trick loom and that seems to have had no noticable effect.

4. However, after all the above, I did manage to start the car and run the engine. However, I had to wait 40 odd minutes for the Smartlock to stop immobolosing the vehicle, and as soon as I turned the engine off the vehicle immobolised again.

Bah, its easy to forget things. You wont next time though
You should be able to lay some black lines in your old man's driveway in no time.

Earth connected and problem seems to be solved now. Ta.

Excellent. Love it when its an easy fix.

YAY for that... Now, if only I'd left one of those off and that was the answer to my air bag light issue



All good, glad someone around here knows what they're talking about!

I have an airbag light issue going on too, but at least now I should be able to get the car driving soon. Still need to wait and see if the resistor trick is going to work when the car is driving.