E30 MOT - Gearbox question

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:36 am

My car used to be an automatic, after the last MOT I had the gearbox swapped out for a manual (hat tip to e30topless).

Now with the new MOT regs about warning lights I'm not sure what the score is re the gearbox warning light being illuminated. The ECU is looking for the auto box, but clearly it's not there.

I've just said to the mechanic to remove the warning light before they put it in to test, but I was just wondering how the MOT tester would handle that one if I didn't - anyone got any thoughts?

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:38 am

oh - is that what the light is - does it look similar to this: (!)

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:56 am

Go in the boot, remove the near side shaped carpet, there will be an ECU for the old auto gear box. Just unplug it.

You can go further, by unmounting the ECU, removing the wiring etc. But getting it from under the carpet is a sad task.

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:45 am

maggspower wrote:Go in the boot, remove the near side shaped carpet, there will be an ECU for the old auto gear box. Just unplug it.

Great - thanks.

Saved me having the clocks out...

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:45 pm

Easy - the gearbox warning light is not a testable item. No need to do anything at all.
See the latest notice to the testing stations below;

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/publications ... otices.htm

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:53 pm

hennabm wrote:Easy - the gearbox warning light is not a testable item. No need to do anything at all.
See the latest notice to the testing stations below;

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/publications ... otices.htm

It's not a testable item, but it's still a bit worrying that someone has removed the auto gearbox and left all the associated electrics still powered up!

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:02 pm

Here's a little snippet that may be of interest to some of our more pikey E30 owners: "ABS warning lamp sequence check is no longer necessary and the RfR for
ABS warning lamp not following the correct sequence of operation has been
removed."

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:35 pm

Brianmoooore wrote:Here's a little snippet that may be of interest to some of our more pikey E30 owners: "ABS warning lamp sequence check is no longer necessary and the RfR for
ABS warning lamp not following the correct sequence of operation has been
removed."

Don't even know what that means...

My ABS light is on, I had assumed it was an issue with the relay as I recently had to jump start it.

The Autobox in mine was removed because it was FUBAR. Seemed an ideal opportunity to change to manual as the rest of the car is very tidy (and OEM...).

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:37 pm

Brianmoooore wrote:
It's not a testable item, but it's still a bit worrying that someone has removed the auto gearbox and left all the associated electrics still powered up!

Brian, what's the score with removing the electrics then? Is it as 'simple' as removing the ECU and associated wiring?

Can I also ask - is it dangerous that the ECU & wiring has been left in place?

Thanks

Post Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:44 pm

Kemlo wrote:
Brianmoooore wrote:Here's a little snippet that may be of interest to some of our more pikey E30 owners: "ABS warning lamp sequence check is no longer necessary and the RfR for
ABS warning lamp not following the correct sequence of operation has been
removed."
Don't even know what that means...

My ABS light is on, I had assumed it was an issue with the relay as I recently had to jump start it.

The Autobox in mine was removed because it was FUBAR. Seemed an ideal opportunity to change to manual as the rest of the car is very tidy (and OEM...).

Up to now the MOT tester was supposed to observe that the ABS warning light came on when the ignition was switched on, and then went out when the engine was started. It looks like (although I'll have to check further) that simply removing the bulb will now avoid a test fail.
RfR = Reason for rejection = fail.
You are correct that the problem is with the voltage protection relay, assuming you have one - they weren't fitted on post approx. '88 cars. There is a fuse wire inside the relay, rated at 8A, which will have blown.
It's bad practice to leave any redundant wiring powered up, whether the wiring is in a car, building or whatever.
In a car it's not going to be particularly dangerous, but it's one more loom that can chafe and short out, that needn't have been carrying power.
The autobox wiring gets power from fuse 9, but TBH, I'm not sure if that's the only place it draws power from, since I don't have a wiring diagram for it.