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by **MIK3Y** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 12:26 am

Get really dirty every few of days causing my alarm to break the connection and sound. :-?

Ive cleaned them a good few times so why'd they keep getting filthy?

by **Sphinx** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 2:10 am

Hi m8, have u cleaned the copper plates and the contact pins with brasso or summit? if not, do that.

Also, how dirty does the rest of the rear panel get? it could b that the boot isnt closin properly.
-clean all the rubber seals and round the tailg8 where they touch.
-check that the latch bolted 2 the same part as the contact plates is secure, if need be, adjust it so its lower there4 the boot shuts against the seal firmer.

hth

Tom

oh yeah,also check the earth point in the boot and check the conections @ the back of the contact plate is ok.

by **Stoned** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 8:18 am

I get this every fu**ing week on mine and I cant open my boot or the rear wiper does not work

I have tried just about everything and I cant get them to work consistantly.

I reckon I need some copper grease or something that is conductive that I could put on the terminals. I used Castrol grease for a while and that worked well until that got dirty too.

by **eXtreme-fiesta** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 9:22 am

have you tried a new set of plates and pins?

by **heeman10** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 9:36 am

Thank god you have this as well Stoned! I mean, I know the plates and pins are notorious for getting grubby etc, but I cleaned them off and my wiper and release still refused to work. So I took off to tailgate panel and checked all the wiring, then took the release switch out of the console etc, just checking everything over, and still nothing worked! Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't

Let me know if you find any useful grease!!

:x:x

by **MIK3Y** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 11:33 am

Common problem then?

Yeah, my rear wiper sometimes doesn't work jus after cleaning them! :-?

by **MikeyXR2i** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 5:28 pm

here is what you do, Clean them up, and very lightly coat them with clear grease. Should never need to touch em again. Also clean the bottom of the pins in the boot.

by **Stoned** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 7:53 pm

Yeah did all that, lasted about a week

by **MikeyXR2i** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 8:04 pm

thats strange stoned, never have to do mine.

by **Stoned** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 8:11 pm

Aye. The electrics on this car have an age old curse on them or something

Maybe Ill just change the contact plate and pins like someone suggested above

by **8skellerns** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 8:51 pm

The problem is caused by the crap design that ford used where everything in the boot is earthed through the boot door hinges. The live connections and the switch for the boot light are on the contact plates. If you connect a piece of wire inbetween the lid and the main body of the car, you will find that everything works fine again. My mk5 doesnt have any contact plates as everything is hard wired through the rubber boots inbetween the boot lid and the main body and the boot light is triggered by the latch itself.

by **MikeyXR2i** on Tue Jul 08, 2003 9:22 pm

no the earth is not done through the boot hinges, as i have rubber under my boot hinges to the body. There is an earth wire on the contact pins.

by **df908** on Wed Jul 09, 2003 12:41 pm

Why the hell did Ford put those crappy pin things on the boot? Surely it couldn't be cheaper than running the wires thru to the boot normally?

Having said that I haven't had any grief from mine for a long while, touch wood :bonkers:

by **eXtreme-fiesta** on Wed Jul 09, 2003 12:47 pm

shouldnt of said that nige!

last time i said something like that i had nothing but trouble the next day :cry:

by **df908** on Wed Jul 09, 2003 1:41 pm

eXtreme-fiesta :last time i said something like that i had nothing but trouble the next day

by **Liebo** on Thu Jul 10, 2003 2:05 pm

I found that it wouldnt work the the boot shut , but if i took the pins out of the tailgate, close the boot enough for them to reach and for me to get my hands in, and connected them, everything worked!

after trying a few things, i ruffed the ends up and blobbed some solder on the end. dont have a problem now.

to test your rear heated screen works in the summer, go for some nookie with your missus till it fogs up the windows and test

by **8skellerns** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 5:11 pm

MikeyXR2i :no the earth is not done through the boot hinges, as i have rubber under my boot hinges to the body. There is an earth wire on the contact pins.

Thats funny because at the Ford dealer where I work, we push the hinge pins back and forth a few times on K.a's and Fiestas and the earth is restored perfectly. Even with rubber inbetween the hinges and the main body, they can still earth through the bolts securing the hinge to the body.

by **smoov_fezzy** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 6:33 pm

oh its not just me neither...i bought a boot off matt_steves and it neva worked untill 2 days ago when i saw a little (very little like dust) bit of smoke.. then my wiper worked..is this due to the same thing??

by **smoov_fezzy** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 6:34 pm

oh.. this smoke came from behind the steering wheel

by **Daniel** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 6:40 pm

u kidding?? Sounds very dodgy to me!!!

by **smoov_fezzy** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 6:44 pm

me??? no im not kidding..it aint worked since i bought it so i thought i would have a look when i wired up my b/r but the other day as i said i turned the key ..bit of smoke. and the wiper come on..

by **Daniel** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 6:54 pm

might have just been a bit of dirt. If any sort of smoke came from my dash i would have it in pieces asap to find out if there is anything dodgy.
Could also be a loose or damaged wire with the potential of causing a fire.

by **smoov_fezzy** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 6:57 pm

yea.

ill have a look with my dad..been fine tho..my dad said earlier that when we fitted it he tried it out and there was a little puff of smoke then... but it neva worked..

by **Stoned** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 7:55 pm

Yeah especially as I have read about fires originating from the dash before on this forum!

by **Unplugged** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 9:48 pm

I usually find I get smoke from behind the wheel when a fuse goes :lol:

I think they used the contact system because of

A) Doubles as a switch for the courtasy light
B) Saves running wire from the outside of the boot
C) Stops things like Boot Release and Rear Wash being triggered once boot is open

by **MikeyXR2i** on Sun Jul 13, 2003 10:29 pm

8skellerns :
MikeyXR2i :no the earth is not done through the boot hinges, as i have rubber under my boot hinges to the body. There is an earth wire on the contact pins.

Thats funny because at the Ford dealer where I work, we push the hinge pins back and forth a few times on K.a's and Fiestas and the earth is restored perfectly. Even with rubber inbetween the hinges and the main body, they can still earth through the bolts securing the hinge to the body.

8skellerns- the bolts going through the boot panel to the body, will act as an earth, cos the car is negative earth type. But there is an earth on the pins, as ive tested with a multimeter. Can't remember which pin exactly it is, but its there.

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Rear Boot Contacts?

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