Car broken into & damaged, electrical problem?

princesse_sarah_x

Hi all,

I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if they think they know what could be wrong with my car...short story it was broken into, locks are broken & windows (been fixed) this was a few months ago. Also underneath the steering wheel the plastic was ripped open & some wires were hanging out. (I have a Ford Ka 2003 reg) However a month after it happened the speakers stopped working, then the radio wouldn't turn on, a few days later the front windscreen wipers just stopped working and are stuck in the middle of the windscreen and the back ones won't work at all. My question is are these faults likely to be related, would it be somethig to do with the wires? And would anyone know roughly how much this would cost to fix?
Thank you in advance, sorry if they're stupid questions :cool:

s_b

possibly because wipers are controlled by wires going to the stalks by the steering lock
not sure about your speakers though
i would me more concerned that if the car thieves had tried to break the steering lock by pulling on the steering wheel vehemently to break the steering lock because if they did do this then bits of teeth could shear off the steering wheel and lock it in a turn position,i really think you should get a garage to look at this car soonest

princesse_sarah_x

Thank you for your reply, I took it to a garage after it happened and they said it was okay to drive but the windscreen wipes & radio happened after that, but i will get someone to look again, was just thinking in terms of cost

BeenThroughItAll

Did you have the car repaired under your insurance? If so, return it to the repairer and get them to fix it properly.

If you didn't, then you'll end up paying for it - and that's why it can be false economy to try and avoid an insurance claim.

Strider590

Why would anyone try to steal an 11 yr old Ford KA?

Scrap that........ Why would anyone try to steal a Ford KA?

I mean it sounds like they have effectively failed to hot wire it..... It's a strange world.

EdGasket

It could just be a fuse or relay. Have you checked the appropriate fuse for the wipers?

princesse_sarah_x

Thanks all for the replies!

BeenThroughItAll, no I didn't go through insurance, it was going to end up being more expensive than the car is worth so a family friend replaced my window for cheap, the other problems appeared after but I've still been driving it

Strider590, lol I have no idea, apparently it's happened alot on my street but there were much better cars parked right next to it when it happened

Edgasket, thank you I'm hoping its something like a fuse, going to get someone to check that out. Actually I did forget to mention when full bean is on, after about 20 seconds it starts to dim and turn off and on which was also what was making me think it was something to do with a fuse or wires, hoping so.

BeenThroughItAll

princesse_sarah_x wrote: »

Thanks all for the replies!

BeenThroughItAll, no I didn't go through insurance, it was going to end up being more expensive than the car is worth so a family friend replaced my window for cheap, the other problems appeared after but I've still been driving it

Sadly that decision may come back to haunt you if these electrical issues aren't simple.


I doubt that a progressive failure of speakers, radio, wipers, and now headlamps will be something as simple as a fuse. It could be more like a loom behind the dash overheating and slowly shorting through circuits. That wouldn't be quick or cheap to fix, so I hope for your sake it's something more straightforward.

arcon5

Pull the cover back off and look for any cuts, splits short etc in the wiring. Follow back and do the same

benje302

Strider590 wrote: »

Why would anyone try to steal an 11 yr old Ford KA?

Scrap that........ Why would anyone try to steal a Ford KA?

I mean it sounds like they have effectively failed to hot wire it..... It's a strange world.

Many years ago I had a 10 year old Metro stolen by a 16 year old - (caught by DNA as he cut himself and left a drop of blood !!)

I have owned a KA in the past - great little cars apart from the rust - fun to drive

Head over to the KA forum at www.fk-oc.com

Nice people with a wealth of knowledge.

Johnmcl7

Strider590 wrote: »

Why would anyone try to steal an 11 yr old Ford KA?

Scrap that........ Why would anyone try to steal a Ford KA?

I mean it sounds like they have effectively failed to hot wire it..... It's a strange world.

I had the same thought when someone chose to try and steal my old Metro (several times) amongst many other much better cars, the police said the thieves preferred that type of car as they were easy to nick and quick to move on.

John