Black box damage?

[Jeags]

Hi all,

Just been thinking about when I bought my 8. Didn't get a comp test, but started hot and cold great and pulled good. It was sat on the drive for a couple of months whilst I finished my insurance on my old car (was a 1st year driver then), and got a policy with Hastings smartmiles for £1400 with a black box (pretty much the only insurer which would cover me in my second year). I wanted to drive the car asap, so I bought the policy and before it even began, the black box was installed a couple of days before the policy started by RS Connect. He arrived and started fitting the box (I think it was in/near the fuse box in the passenger foot well as he definitely had the cover off). Before I gave him the keys, I told him if he needs to start the car he can do, but to let it fully warm up before turning off. And he "forgot" that info, started, stopped it after 3-5 seconds and couldn't get it started again. After doing the deflood procedure a couple of times, she started again, he said the box was fitted and swiftly left. Since then, I had a starting issue (was mostly cold start at the beginning, but towards the end hot starts were slow as well).

My question is, is it possible for something like a black box to disturb a sensor or something and make the car struggle?

I got a comp test about a month after, and it wasn't good news, however I was confused as it started hot and cold great when I bought it, drove it home 40 miles that night, turned her off, and started again after about 5 mins and went for a quick run the same night and it was great.

Was I just unlucky? (or stupid for not getting one with a comp test?) Or could a black box have impacted this theoretically? I can't find out much how they install the box, but it looked like it was soldered in somewhere near the passenger fuse box.

Cheers.

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[PaulAV]

Doubt the black box would mess with the starting, could be the battery needs a good charge if the cars not been used much.

[Jeags]

It's not impossible for any aftermarket electrical installation to interfere with the cars systems, the more intrusive the installation, the more likely that it could.

However, I don't think those black boxes connect to much more that just 12V power, assuming you're just talking about the units that reduce your insurance premium.

In which case, it's unlikely, unless the installation was extremely poor and other adjacent wiring was damaged, in which case all bets are off....

[Jeags]

Ah, right I see. Did look very intrusive when he was doing it as he had a lot of the plastic off around the fuse box and was soldering. Was just a thought. Hopefully will be able to get mine rebuilt soon. It's in the garage now about to be inspected for damage so .

Cheers again.

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[Jeags]

Doubt the black box would mess with the starting, could be the battery needs a good charge if the cars not been used much.

Did charge the battery and it was a new Exide battery so I doubt that was the issue. Cheers.

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[bigpete8]

Have you looked at starter speed to make sure it hasn't dropped off. - cheap ODB will tell you this.

[Jeags]

Have you looked at starter speed to make sure it hasn't dropped off. - cheap ODB will tell you this.

Yeah, even bought a new uprated one to replace the old one. When the comp test was done, he said it was turning over well.

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