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Really haven't fiddled about with electrical stuff much so wondering if anyone on here can help.
Was about to set off today and when I switched from my sidelights to the main lights, I think a fuse blew or something and smoke was pouring from the inside - and the lights wouldn't switch off until the battery died.
I needed to get the thing out the way (it was at a mate's house) so we tried jump starting it, the engine burst into life fine but the dash poured with smoke again, and the light was still stuck on without any way of turning it off.
I know this probably sounds stupid but I'm not sure what's caused it and where to start with fixing it...
Edit: fwiw, previous owner did fit halogens...
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Last Edit: May 2, 2015 23:38:39 GMT by Deleted
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ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 984
Club RR Member Number: 13
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Any electrical gurus?ferny
@ferny
Club Retro Rides Member 13
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Sounds like the switch has burnt out, but you might be alright with the wires as it still worked. If the fuse had gone then it wouldn't work.
Take the switch out, inspect and trace back all the wires. Look for melting and discolouration. Replace any which show signs.
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as above then look into a relay loom -this removes the heavy halogen load on tired old wiring and switches
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91 golf g60, 89 golf 16v , 88 polo breadvan
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Bolf
Part of things
Posts: 507 
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Which car? i'm fairly local (unit is in Lt Staughton) and I can do electricals no problem
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Which car? i'm fairly local (unit is in Lt Staughton) and I can do electricals no problem It's my Renault 5:  |
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And thanks all, I'll have a nose around now.
CDW, I didn't drive it and wasn't going to!
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Last Edit: May 3, 2015 10:09:56 GMT by Deleted
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cdwood2010
Part of things
Dangerously optimistic
Posts: 226
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As above, I would visually inspect before connecting up power again. The switch is suspect obviously but you may just have a bare wire grounding somewhere basically turning a stretch of copper into a heater.
Don't drive it in that condition, car fires can kill.
CDW.
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Hi, a trick for finding dead shorts similar to this is to disconnect the earth lead and connect a bulb between the lead and the terminal. The bulb will light up because of the short to earth, then go round disconnecting various components or moving the loom about until the bulb goes out, this will narrow the search down without doing any further damage.
Then all you have to do is get the smoke back in the wires.
Colin
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Bolf
Part of things
Posts: 507
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Yea , my money is on a melted relay or switch.
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Took the dash to bits, found the melted wire..  |
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Last Edit: May 3, 2015 12:27:31 GMT by Deleted
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Right, turns out it's actually happened at some point before I bought it. There's a tonne of new wires in it, but all the fire damage from before is all visible underneath the carpet and trim. Time to find someone breaking one and take all the wires from it?   |
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Last Edit: May 4, 2015 12:06:16 GMT by Deleted
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cdwood2010
Part of things
Dangerously optimistic
Posts: 226
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That could have been a lot worse.
Most wiring fubars are aftermarket; someone tried to add an amp, security system or some lighting and made a mess of it.
You can probably replace affected sections with new wire of the same ampage, I wouldn't replace old wire with more old wire. Soldering in some repairs is quite easy and I would be happy to show you how if you're anywhere near Northampton.
Track down any of the wiring first just to make sure you still need it, I pulled a sack full out of a 944 once that the previous owner had left behind.
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That could have been a lot worse. Most wiring fubars are aftermarket; someone tried to add an amp, security system or some lighting and made a mess of it. You can probably replace affected sections with new wire of the same ampage, I wouldn't replace old wire with more old wire. Soldering in some repairs is quite easy and I would be happy to show you how if you're anywhere near Northampton. Track down any of the wiring first just to make sure you still need it, I pulled a sack full out of a 944 once that the previous owner had left behind. Hopefully I'll be able to replace the affected sections with some new wire as you say. I've done a bit of soldering before, a long time ago though. I'm just sifting through it all now to check if there's any more than what I've found so far, currently it's behind the dash, and down by the driver's side kick panel. I'm going to get started on the passenger's side now and see if there's anything gone down there. Thanks  Edit: Passenger side is all clean with unmelted wires, so it's just the driver's side. |
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Last Edit: May 4, 2015 13:13:16 GMT by Deleted
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cdwood2010
Part of things
Dangerously optimistic
Posts: 226
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That could have been a lot worse. Most wiring fubars are aftermarket; someone tried to add an amp, security system or some lighting and made a mess of it. You can probably replace affected sections with new wire of the same ampage, I wouldn't replace old wire with more old wire. Soldering in some repairs is quite easy and I would be happy to show you how if you're anywhere near Northampton. Track down any of the wiring first just to make sure you still need it, I pulled a sack full out of a 944 once that the previous owner had left behind. Hopefully I'll be able to replace the affected sections with some new wire as you say. I've done a bit of soldering before, a long time ago though. I'm just sifting through it all now to check if there's any more than what I've found so far, currently it's behind the dash, and down by the driver's side kick panel. I'm going to get started on the passenger's side now and see if there's anything gone down there. Thanks Edit: Passenger side is all clean with unmelted wires, so it's just the driver's side. Hope you don't think I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but a friend of mine recently showed me how to solder wires together super strong. Basically bare the ends, push them into each other and twist. A bit of flux, solder up and then slip some heat shrink on. Super neat and good as new.    |
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93fxdl
Posted a lot
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Posts: 2,000
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Hi, a trick for finding dead shorts similar to this is to disconnect the earth lead and connect a bulb between the lead and the terminal. The bulb will light up because of the short to earth, then go round disconnecting various components or moving the loom about until the bulb goes out, this will narrow the search down without doing any further damage. Then all you have to do is get the smoke back in the wires. Colin A variation on this can be, use a buzzer instead of the bulb, means no matter how buried under the dash you are, you can hear the buzzer Ttfn Glenn |
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cdwood2010
Part of things
Dangerously optimistic
Posts: 226
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I like the buzzer idea, good tip. I do a lot of engine swap wire ups, and often tone out connections with a tone generator or test bulb, but the buzzer idea would be very useful.
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