An Expensive Mistake

[rocketian]

I while ago I noticed that my interior light wasn't working - I took it apart and found the bulb holder was broken.  I thought I would improve on the old light by soldering some LEDs inside the lamp unit. 

 

Somehow I created a short and blew a couple of fuses.  The result was all the instrument lights flashed with the indicators, central locking and alarm didn't work and you couldn't turn the engine off - even with the key out it carried on.  I asked for help on this forum but no-one was able to offer anything useful. 

 

Dan had a look but the fault was too deep in for him.  I tried a couple of autoelectricians but they weren't interested in a Lotus.  So finally I took it to Paull Matty's.  They spent 6 hours tracking the fault down to a short within the alarm ECU - £396 labour.  You can't get the replacement ECU anymore from Lotus or Cobra, so I had have an entire new alarm system - new sounder, key fobs the lot.  £427 + £165 (2.5 hours) to fit it.  Total £989. 

 

I replaced the faulty light - it was a Pugeot part, cost less than £10.

 

Please don't tell my wife

[DeanB]

feelin' yo' pain Ian.

 

alcohol may offer some respite. it should bridge you over the worst at least.

[MSH]

Ouch! Splash out a few quid extra on a nice single malt. It will help dull the pain.

[Meister]

Have been there done that!! You won't be the first to make a simple job into a disaster! When I was younger I would under take all sorts of jobs that I f...ked up... and my motto now is ...if it ain't broke don't fix it!

I go nowhere near the Lotus!

These things in life are sent to test us! Still, you now have a working car that you can enjoy!

Also I promise not to tell your wife when we meet next Monday.. 

[cjwjames]

I think I did recommend Paul mattys in an earlier thread as I had a electrical problem last year that nobody but them were able to track down I didn't say they were cheap but what they don't know about lotus isn't worth knowing I would still get pissed at that sort of money

[Wildspark]

Wow! Thanks for the heads-up Ian. I put an led in my interior light, but had no idea of the potential risk!

Doesn't sound like Lotus have their protection sorted if you can cause that sort of collateral damage by blowing a fuse!