[Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Posts about stereos, speakers, sat nav etc and posts about car alarms or car security.

Moderators: IMOC Moderators, IMOC Committee Members

DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

[Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

OK, so I`ve wanted to upgrade my sound system for a while... Went into Halfords the other week, ordered an amp, speakers (recommended by the guy behind the counter as being `good`), and sat nav/dvd/cd/mp3 playing headunit with rear view camera. Arranged a day for fitting with them, and was told they would be able to do it `no problem`.

Anyway, I travelled to 3s service centre from Leicester to Hampshire and back on Monday, had my coilovers fitted and she never missed a beat there and back. Drove it to the petrol station on Tuesday, no problems, and then today I drove it to Halfords for the headunit etc to be fitted... No problems.. Until...

6pm I get a phone call, `your car is ready to collect, but we cant get the reverse lights to work so the rear view camera wont kick in`. OK, I`ll see if I can figure that out later I thought... (THE REVERSE LIGHTS WERE WORKING FINE ALL WEEK BEFORE THEY TOUCHED IT)..

Next problem, I start the car up, the ABS light is permanently on. THE ABS WAS FINE UNTIL THEY HAD THE CAR TODAY.

Then, I try the speakers.. To put it bluntly, the sound quality is C.R.A.P.

THEN... To top the lot, I get halfway down the road, the alternator light comes on (red fan symbol on dash is alternator related normally isnt it?If someone could clarify for me), had to turn my lights off and quickly limp into a leisure centre car park, were some old man then shouted `you didnt have your lights on` as if I didnt know..

Phoned them up and the management and young lad who has been butchering up my motor have all gone home.

What would you do??? I am not happy... Especially having to walk half a mile home, lucky it wasnt further. :twisted:
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

Also, the guy working on the car told me he had `checked every fuse one by one`, when trying to get the reverse camera to work.. Could this of had an effect? Maybe he hasnt placed one back correctly? Or is it simply a case that the new headunit has killed off my old alternator drawing power? But it was fine all week. The battery is a near brand new bosch, that should be fine.. Its pitch black outside now and hard to investigate.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by mrfil13 »

a headunit wont draw too much for an alternator.

Sounds like the have nagged up the wiring or blown something. all you could do is either get them to reverse what they have done or do it yourself and hope fix the issues in the process.

If you have a volt meter you could connect to the battery with the car running (if it does run and see if its pushing out 12v (dead alt) or 14v.
Last edited by mrfil13 on Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

Any ideas what they may have bodged up/damaged.spliced to make my ABS and the red fan Symbol come on guys? And also the stopped the reverse lights working/

Everything was fine before I had the amp/stereo/speakers fitted today. I had a bad feeling when I left the car there that they didnt know what they were doing.
Last edited by DAN_REV1_TURBO on Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by mrfil13 »

The only thing i can think of is that they have not fastened the power to the battery properly or they have bodged the connection. To mess up the car fitting a stereo, speakers, amp you would have to have no clue at all.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

Yeah I have a voltmeter mate. Cheers for the reply. So if its giving out 12v the alternator has packed up? 14v whilst car is running the alternator is ok?
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

Seriously mate they dont have a clue. Its terrible. If they were not confident to do the job they could have just told me, I`d have bought the gear and had it fitted by an auto electrician. I`m pretty gutted and disapointed to be honest. Almost to the point where I`m contemplating my MR2`ing future.. :lol:
Last edited by DAN_REV1_TURBO on Thu Dec 02, 2010 9:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by mrfil13 »

Thats about right, 12v could be a bad connection to the alternator, either way it isnt charging and the battery could be nearly dead. Then again it would have been slow start if at all if they had drained the battery.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

Right lets think.. I had a headunit in already.. They took that out and put in a new one.. Then they would have taken speakers out and put new ones in.. All a straight swap yeah? The extra bit is a Mutant AMP, and a rear camera, the rear camera kicks in when reverse is selected... But there is now no power to my reverse lights... Not only this but the ABS symbol is on.. And the red fan symbol.. They guy said he took out and checked every fuse... Could he have put one in incorrectly? He reckons I had no reverse lights in the first place but it was DEFINITElY all fine before I went in to them.

I cant believe I went in for a stereo with a fully working car and came out with a dead one lol. Its ridiculous.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

I dont think the car will even start tomorrow when I try it, it fired up firt time as I drove away from the shop then the lights came on and it died. I stopped and turned everything off for 2 minutes, then tried again and she fired up, drove a short way and it died again. I didnt try to turn her over again after that. Freezing cold and dark. So I went home. ](*,)
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by mrfil13 »

yeah the stereo and speakers would be a straight swap pretty much, the only thing is running the cables to the amp and if few connectors for power but they are simple.

I would check the cable for the amp and the amp connections. Might not be it buts its the simplest.

How much of the reverse camera did they fit?

Again that should be a case of them finding power for it and tapping into the reverse light to kick it in, my worry would be where they get the power from for it so i would see if you can find that out. (ECU is in the boot)

Doing the check with the multimeter would allow you to see if the battery is charging, theres a cable from the fuse box in the passenger side near the boot in the engine bay, one of these wires connects to the alternator and if my memory is correct it tells the alt to kick in (i had this issue with a dodgy cable).

Alternatively do the basic checks yourself then go back to them and get them to take out the reverse camera, get a refund and if it doesnt work take them to town.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

It would be just my luck to go back 2moz and find all the new stuff nicked out of it too lol. :lol: I wouldnt even be so mad if it wasnt for the fact that I`m meant to be having my downpipe fitted tomorrow, just puts a spanner in my plans.

Any other ideas on what would have caused this or what they may have knocked or disconnected anyone...? I will have a look in the morning and see if I can fix it myself then.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by mrfil13 »

I hope not, damn halfrauds.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

What would happen if they connected up off where the ecu is in the boot? The camera is all fitted but he mentioned that because they couldnt get the reverse lights working, they didnt fully hook the camera up.. He said `when you have your reverse lights working bring it back and we will finish the job `lol :lol:
Last edited by DAN_REV1_TURBO on Thu Dec 02, 2010 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by mrfil13 »

i just hope they didnt use any of the wires from the ecu area.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

Do you know what... I think they may have done. Because my ECU is visible, I stripped my boot out, theres no carpet or anything.. Why what do you think that will do? If they just connected onto a wire to draw power I mean? Lasting damage? I really dont have a clue, which is why I took it to them. Big mistake.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

You know what though, I probably would have done a better job because I would have swapped like for like and then taken the time to use the net and ask people and figure out how to safely wire the amp and camera. These monkeys just went in gung ho bull in a china shop and now I`m walking everywhere. ](*,)
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by mrfil13 »

i think the most likely culprit will be a bad connection, only thing you can do is trace the cables and see what the damage is.
DAN_REV1_TURBO
Posts: 2726
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:47 pm
Location: Coalville, Leics

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by DAN_REV1_TURBO »

Cheers mate I`ll let u know how it goes tomorrow.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: [Mk2] [Turbo] Halfrauds killed my car!

Post by mrfil13 »

No problem and good luck.
Post Reply

Return to “ICE and Security”