Electrical gremlins & issues

[Ashley79]

Hi all.

Recently bought my Williams 2 (M35 GTT) from Falkirk. Drove it back down to Essex 400+ joyful miles. MPG was great compared to my Bentley GTC. Managed to get home on a full tank. During the drive home however I noticed some electrical gremlins

passenger window won't go up and down (switch light comes on) passenger & driver switch
Clock not working
oil gague didn't move on initial click
wing mirrors not moving
passenger door won't lock on the alarm fob or car key remote but does manually on the key or inside door lock button

I have checked all fuses they are fine. I wonder if anyone else has had all or some of these issues. Would they all be connected or just 25 year old individual electrical issues.

anyone have a 'how to fix' guide or advice. I'm toffee with electrics though like really clueless.

any simpleton help/advice would be good. I don't want to start to buy switches and motors/mechanisms if I don't have to. Pointless throwing money away in hope.

[16v_paddy]

Those are individual issues from being 25 years old more than anything

Common 1 for the windows not working is faulty switches, putting 12v directly to the wiring will tell you if it's the motor or the switch at fault, sometimes the switch on the drivers side being at fault stops the passenger window working............French electrics for you :lol:

The oil level gauge works from a sensor that's next to the bottom of the dipstick tube on the engine block - quite common for the wiring to be damaged on them or damage to the sensor itself so have a look & see what's going on in that area

Another common problem for the wing mirrors not working is the knob/switch, finding a known to be working 1 is the 1st port of call, 9 times out of 10 that'll fix it but if not it might require a bit of digging around inside the door to look at the wiring & connections in there

The door not locking is a bit of a mystery to me though especially with it working manually - I'm having a wild stab in the dark here but I reckon there might be a seperate wire for each way the doors lock going to the solenoid and there's a bad connection

[Ashley79]

Nice one mate. I have had the door panels off had a look. Wiring looks clean with the odd solder mark so has had some work done. I had this on my valves and changed the switches and did work so will try with that for the window. Cheap enough. I have ordered a new door lock mechanism thing with the door pin that goes up and down maybe this isn't going up and down fully under electric power so will see how I go. Again the wing mirrors I will try source a switch. Cheers for the advice

[Budgie895]

Hi, I had the same problem, and it was the courtesy light door switch had broken, purchased a new one from RPD, fitted it and solved the problem

[Ashley79]

I have ordered a switch so will see if that does the trick.

[LeeB]

Had similar problems on my W2....for me it was just wiring. Took the loom out of the door and checked the wires, lots were broken (they get brittle with age). Soldered them all back together and everything lit up like a candle when I put it all back together. I'm not a mechanic so it's about my limit, but was chuffed to bits...it fixed the passenger elec window and mirrors in one go.

[LeeB]

PS the brittle wires were in the rubber flexi thing between the door and the A-post, and fixing the wires in the drivers door fixed the passenger window!

[Ashley79]

Ah yes I know where you mean. The switch I have already does illuminate so is getting power of some sorts. Like I said I am no sparky although I know a dud wire when I see one. I will fit the switch if it does not work I will take a pic of any wires that look dodgy. Thanks for the info Lee.

[Ashley79]

Those are individual issues from being 25 years old more than anything

Common 1 for the windows not working is faulty switches, putting 12v directly to the wiring will tell you if it's the motor or the switch at fault, sometimes the switch on the drivers side being at fault stops the passenger window working............French electrics for you :lol:

The oil level gauge works from a sensor that's next to the bottom of the dipstick tube on the engine block - quite common for the wiring to be damaged on them or damage to the sensor itself so have a look & see what's going on in that area

Another common problem for the wing mirrors not working is the knob/switch, finding a known to be working 1 is the 1st port of call, 9 times out of 10 that'll fix it but if not it might require a bit of digging around inside the door to look at the wiring & connections in there

The door not locking is a bit of a mystery to me though especially with it working manually - I'm having a wild stab in the dark here but I reckon there might be a seperate wire for each way the doors lock going to the solenoid and there's a bad connection


Quick update. I got a new working switch for the window. tried it in both the drivers side and the passengers side and.......not working. So I have a spare switch and now know that is not the issue. I am thinking it has to be the wiring for all the issues. I dont want to buy a wing mirror switch and then that doesnt work either although I guess to have some spares is not an issue.

[16v_paddy]

Next thing to try is putting 12v directly to the window motor as that will tell you much more than the switch alone

The mirror switch is a bit more tricky, ideally you want to try your switch on someone elses car that you know is fully working as I have no idea how you can actually test the motor in the mirror itself

[Ashley79]

I will give that a go. Couple of locals near by who might let me swap a switch as long as I don't drive off with it ha

[SerenaShah]

Hi all.

Recently bought my Williams 2 (M35 GTT) from Falkirk. Drove it back down to Essex 400+ joyful miles. MPG was great compared to my Bentley GTC. Managed to get home on a full tank. During the drive home however I noticed some electrical gremlins

passenger window won't go up and down (switch light comes on) passenger & driver switch
Clock not working
oil gague didn't move on initial click
wing mirrors not moving
passenger door won't lock on the alarm fob or car key remote but does manually on the key or inside door lock button

I have checked all fuses they are fine. I wonder if anyone else has had all or some of these issues. Would they all be connected or just 25 year old individual electrical issues.

anyone have a 'how to fix' guide or advice. I'm toffee with electrics though like really clueless.

any simpleton help/advice would be good. I don't want to start to buy switches and motors/mechanisms if I don't have to. Pointless throwing money away in hope.
All these aren't connected, you have to solve them 1 by 1, some damaged cables and unconnected plugs.

[Ashley79]

Good to know they are all separate. Can go through one by one. Central Locking and Window firstly I think.

[Ashley79]

**UPDATE**

So thought I would take a look at this again take the door panel off get greesy, break something and still not have it fixed!!!! However I did the above (yes I did break something) and managed to get both the locking door working off the remote and.......GOT THE WINDOW WORKING!!!!

With the door lock I had to take the assembly off but thought I would do it the quick way which probably was quick. Loosened the 3 bolts on the side door wall released the locking mechanism lowered it to a place where I could remove the actuator.....this I thought would be faulty and for £6 even if it wasn't then it didn't break the bank. A 15 minute job (took me an hour...) managed to get the new one in place (note to self take photos first I always forget). the stem which holds the pin that goes up and down in the door card as I was getting it out the little clip broke well I forced it and it broke. To be fair it looks better without these in I think so might try and cap them off. Anyway did the swap out and boom....it worked (remembering to plug the power connector in of course). Lock and unlock perfect.

As the card was off I thought I would have a look at the window...I didn't hold out any chances here but I thought give some wires a wiggle put my hand up to the motor to make sure it was plugged in and had power to it. Found some wires gave them a little wiggle and push..thought I would press the window button and shit me not it went up and down....very slowly so loosened it a bit with some WD40 and it goes up and down like a dream.

Only now need to fix the wing mirrors. I did the wiggle again with the wires but it might be on the drivers door panel which I could remove but will try a switch firstly.....Anyone know of a switch for wing mirrors for sale???

[ianbirch]

Good update... well done, always nice to hear when something gets fixed.

Cheers Ian

[LeeB]

Great stuff, nice when it's not too tricky and bit of fiddling gets it sorted. I had the same joy with mine, and only had to solder a few wires that had broken (which was also why my wing mirrors were not working). Keep fiddling!

[Ashley79]

I'm pretty decent with DIY and breaking things ha. I have patience and perseverance. Why pay someone when you can do it yourself however electrics often do stump me. Pretty embarrassing considering my brother is an electrical engineer by trade 😂

I still ill need to sort the wing mirrors, clock and oil level gague. Assume 3 separate issues. As I didn't need to solder for the Windows I am hoping not having to do so for the wing mirrors. I have ordered a switch but doubt that will fix it. We shall see.

[Ashley79]

**Update part 2** So after fixing door window and central locking on passenger side I needed to look at the clock and wing mirrors then the final oil level gague. Ordered a new switch for wing mirrors. I wasn't hopeful but start there and work back. It worked. Quick swap out and install and the wing mirrors are working. However I did test both mirrors and found that it was doing random mobs as it flick the switch to the left mirror and it would turn the right mirror and vice versa. Even in the central off position the left wing mirror moved. Anyone had this issue? I mean it's fixed right and I can move them which is what I wanted. I wil give it a proper working tomorrow as the kids came home and I didn't have enough time to really fiddle around but another one ticked off.

The clock however isn't working. I have taken it off jiggled the wires etc but nothing. I am wondering if the clock had gone. There is ne on eBay but £24 I would rather buy a pizza (not true). £24 seems steep. Anyone got a cheaper one?