Need help identifying this wire

[Judgeman6691]

Howdy folks,
Still trying to get the car up and running but there seems to be a significant electrical issue. One of the main things that I can see out of place is this wire which seems like it's supposed to be ground to something but I'm not sure where. I was having issues with the fuel pump not initiating when the key is in the accessory position but after I started fiddling with this wire and grounding it, the fuel pump makes the priming noise it's supposed to make but I also get the automatic door locks starting to trigger on as well. Sometimes when this wire is ground, I get no starter when turning the key at the ignition but once I remove it from being ground, the starter initiates. It looks like my uncle, who owned the car before me, potentially had this wire spliced or repaired as there is a heat shrink connector attached to the wire and the outer edge of the loophole seems to be a bit loose and possibly mended with some blue wire wrapping. Any suggestions given are greatly appreciated!

[tb10]

It looks like it could be a poorly fitted alarm with immobiliser or perhaps a power feed to an auxiliary item such as a sub woofer?

Welcome to LEC btw.

Regards

EDIT as Jonathan said, why are you grounding this as the fuse and wire being red suggests it needs a 12v

[Saltire]

Well . . . First off, that’s not an original figment wire; it’s a later addition, probably connected with a retrofit alarm/immobiliser.

Secondly, it has what looks to me like an inline fuseholder. I’m not sure why you’d have that on a wire that you were going to earth anyway; it seems superfluous. And by the way, that crimp connector on the end is HORRIBLE!

Do you have an NA/SE, or an S2?

Where does the other end of the red wire terminate?

What makes you think this wire should be earthed?

Worth putting your location in your profile; there may be a nearby owner who could take a look. At the top of the page, go into User Control Panel/Profile tab/Edit Signsture.

[GeoffSmith]

I presume by "…heat shrink connector attached to the wire and the outer edge of the loophole seems to be a bit loose and possibly mended with some blue wire wrapping…" you mean this:


As Jonathan says, that is a poorly crimped connector that started out life looking something like this:

[dapinky]

I presume by "…heat shrink connector attached to the wire and the outer edge of the loophole seems to be a bit loose and possibly mended with some blue wire wrapping…"

I read it slightly differently, as 2 issues...... the 'heat shrink' I took to be the yellowish bit of sleeving down by his hand, and the the really quite poor crimp fitting.

[esprit888]

As mentioned, NOT original wiring, its the positive power supply to something aftermarket (hence the red wire and fuse holder) could be alarm but could also be amplifier, sub, dash cam, phone charger etc. By 'with the key in the accessory position, do you mean send potion with all dash lights on? or first position with power only to the radio? The fuel pump should only prime when it the second (power on) position though i seem to recall that the Elan had its radio power connected to this position as well. Need to trace where the other end terminates, if it ends connected to nothing then remove it all, nothing worse than 'spare' wires hanging around with the potential to ground 12 volts, if grounding this wire initiates the fuel pump to run then you really need to check where it goes.

[Judgeman6691]

Thank you all for your help! I have traced the wiring back and it goes to there glove box and wiring under the passenger side dash where a poorly installed aftermarket security system and proximity sensor was installed. The splicing of the wiring behind the glovebox is horrendous! I have disconnected most of the alarm hardware however the wiring is still connected to a lot of the main wiring bundles in the car. I tried starting the car after I disconnected the wiring however, the fuel pump is not priming. Any other tips before I break down and take it to a shop?

I live in Texas (updated my profile info, thanks for the tip) and I do not know of a specialty Lotus dealer here (Anyone know of someone in the area?). The nearest Lotus dealer is in Austin and they were not helpful at all when I called to inquire about the correct battery as they didn't have any manuals or digital information on Elans. I have a local European car shop here in San Antonio that specializes in Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes repair ( he previously helped me bench test the fuel pump assembly); anything super crazy in the wiring that would warrant a specialist that knows about these cars or do you think experience dealing with Jag wiring is sufficient enough? I have created a spare copy of the shop manuals and intended to give him those when I took it over. What do you all think?

[TorqueHorse]

Hey Judgeman,
Well, you are in good company that everyone seems to suffer from aftermarket wiring bodges. I wish I could recommend someone in the area, but I don't know of anyplace that I trust yet. Funny enough, mine was imported from San Antonio through Motor Imports inc. but it doesn't look like it is around anymore. The upside is that the elan is very much a GM car of the era with some of the other electronics (as your wiper saga might attest) so someone that can do isuzu or geo of the era might be good too. If I ever get mine running, I'd be happy to swing by sometime to compare against/trouble shoot. Hopefully you'll be past this hurdle by then though
Keep us posted if you do find someone in the area that knows what they are doing on these cars