After a thorough inspection of the offending part of the loom loom.jpg and where it disappears up into the the boot I found nothing and the car is starting and running perfectly once again. A mystery wrapped up in an enigma. Of course it doesn't mean that it can be left like this as the next time th...

I guess if I seperated the loom into the individual wires and wiggled (there must be a better word to use) each one individually that would be a starting point. Failing that I think I might get one of the avionics guys at work to have a look, I'm owed a favour or two :D I think I have a total of a d...

Car started fine this morning, took it out several times today and experienced no issues whatsoever. I'm still going to have an auto electrician give the loom the once over just for my peace of mind.

Thanks for all your help and advice everyone.

Hi Paul, I took a look at the two black connectors, both marked "Ford". I took them apart but everything looked clean and dry but I sprayed a bit of contact cleaner in there just be be sure. It does seem to be something in the loom itself I think, as concentrating on these didn't solve the intermitt...

Hi Andy,

I think you're dead right. At this stage I think maybe a mobile auto electrician is the way forward.
At least I've learnt a considerable amount about the car these last few days and it's all helped to eliminate quite a few suspects already for when the electrician takes a look.

Back indoors again. I grabbed hold of the loom in the boot, pushed it back and forth and once again the lights came on the dash. This time though the car started, so while the going was good I got the multimeter on it. Both the bulkhead and the battery showed 14.5v. It must now be something in the b...

More jiggling of the loom in the boot and the dash lit up. Battery showed 12.2v and the positive bulk head the same, but the car refused to start. All I got was a single audible "click" from under the bonnet and now dead again. I'm now thinking starter solenoid? Maybe?

Paul, I've not got the engine running again since I got it back home so unfortunately I can't yet tell what the battery is reading. Ignition off though it's reading 12.65v Ignition on (but not running) 12.65v False Bulkhead positive 3.40v (all nuts and washers removed and wire brushed and connectors...

Ok Gents, here we go... Went back to the car this morning, everything still cream crackered. Hooked up the little charger pack under the bonnet to enable me to get into the boot. While the pack was still connected, I turned the ignition on and hey presto! all the electrics come back to life. But I d...

Thanks for all the advice chaps. I didn't get chance to look at the car yesterday as it's parked up 20 miles away but I'm heading over to it this morning to start checking all the earthing points (thanks for the info Andy). I don't seem to be able to find anywhere other than online to get a load tes...

Hi Paul, Initially I had no way of getting into the boot, either with the fob or the release button on the dash and the lock was seized just to put the cherry on the cake. As soon as I connected the charger pack to the positive connector under the bonnet though the boot popped open. As I'm typing th...

Cheers Andy. I'll see if I can track down the one under the bonnet and go from there.

Well I ran a few checks over the car tonight. I started by using one of those phone size chargers hooked up under the bonnet to give enough power to open the boot. I then started to check the battery, which was showing between 12.3v and 12.4v, this didn't change when the key was turned in the igniti...

Type 019 Varta Silver Dynamic Car Battery 12V 100Ah (Short Code: H3) (Varta DIN: 600 131 080 or 600 402 083)

Would this be a suitable replacement?

Thanks Mike. When the gearbox went I'd convinced myself that it was going to be an easy (read, not expensive) fix and it wasn't of course. So I'm hoping that this time.....