3littlefigs

Be careful when shipping your car to Australia. It cost us a furtune to get it here, but now it could cost a small fortune to get it repaired.

Basically somewhere between saying good bye to it in England and picking it up in Sydney top take it to an RTA test an electrical charge was sent through the computers and blew a whole load of systems. - We are looking at over $10k repairs!! I suspect it was a mechanic who had to change the battery that went flat, but then again it could have been the agent in Sydney port who handles the customs etc. I now have the problem of pinning the blame on someone at a tribunal. Are there any mechanics out there who know about these things. The Nissan garage who I took it to for an inspection totell me why all the warning lights were on said that the negative terminal on the battery (the one that was replaced by a mechanic in Sydney) was loose which could have sent an electrical shock through the system. On speaking to one of the parties i am taking to tribunal he said the ship could have got struck by lightning which could have done the damage. If this could happen then I may find it difficult to argue human failure. I would have thought that the car would have been insulated given it has rubber tyres! Can anyone provide any advice.

To anyone importing a car - try and get one party to be fully responsible for the delivery of your vehicle. - I had 3 parties involved hence the problem I have now pin-pointing responsibility!

many thanks

rightruccus

Depends how they secure the car in the hold. Maybe chain link straps from towing eyes to deck?
A bit more info on the symptoms of the car might help. You say, there's warning lights, but does it start? run?
I don't know what happens when you import a car but i'd be surprised if they didn't disconnect the battery terminal when on ship, as this minimises chance of fire or short circuit.
I would also expect that if the ignition is switched off when disconnecting/ reconnecting, then no harm done. If the ignition was on when re-connecting the terminal then that can induce a spike and hence corrupt an ecu.

NedKelly

It sounds like the mechanic may have tried to connect up the battery the wrong way around which would have done the damage. Lightening doesn't damage cars .

3littlefigs

The car was tied down front and back in a dedicated container. The battery was not touched prior to the voyage as the exporter in the UK knows only too well that you cannot mess around with electrics of modern cars. The warning lights that appeared are ABS, EPS, Traction Control, 4WD and airbags. - All the nice to have stuff of modern cars. The car still works normally except for these things.

rightruccus

Difficult to say without seeing or knowing what model of car, but if there's been a spike in the electrical system, you would expect the engine ecu to have failed as well i.e. the car wouldn't run.

10K sounds a lot to repair and sounds like the dealer you've had the quote from isn't 100% certain on how to repair either (i'm not saying that is the case), so cure will be through process of elimination, which means you'll probably bear the brunt of this investigation.

How many other ecu's are there that control those faults outlined? Are they individual or does, for example, one ecu control the ABS and traction control whilst another controls the airbag system?

Has the dealer done a system check (OBDII port? if it has one) to confirm faults? It may be something as simple as a fusible link, circuit breaker or fuse issue.

Sorry i can't be of any more help, it's difficult without knowing what the report is that determined a 10k bill. Also i still suspect that if the car failed to start i.e. flat battery, it's still possible that the spike happened when a replacement battery was fitted and the ignition was left switched on from before by mistake. IMO you would be looking at the person that changed the battery.

andrew63

My guess, someone tried to jump start the car and either had the leads the wrong way round and/or revved their vehicle engine sending a huge charge over too.
Lightening damage - no chance.
$10k - sounds too much.
One damaged ecu- most likley.

Andrew