Electrical Fire

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D366Y
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Electrical Fire

Post by D366Y »

Ok so today's newest issue!
I dropped the dash in the GL over the weekend to repair the speaker in the dash that had stopped working. Turns out it was the speaker wires so I ran new wires to the radio in the glovebox and problem solved. The mounts I'd expoy-ed on there had come off and I couldn't be bothered to try doing anything else to stick them back on so just put it back in place, and used the very powerful magnet on the bottom to hold it in place by sticking it on top of the original radio underneath

Put it all back together and radio working as should, very happy with myself.

Went to start the car and as soon as I turned the key smoke started to pour forth from the dash and the washer bottle pump was going nuts.
In panic I turned the key off, removed all the fuses and disconnected the battery

Have just dropped the dash again to have a look and for some unknown reason the wire for the washer bottle pump appears to have fired itself - anyone got any idea why it may have elected to go full kamikaze?
Or what I should generally be looking for to make sure I can actually drive the bloody thing?
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Major_Tom
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by Major_Tom »

Blimey, glad it wasnt worse. Can't help with the fault though as electrics to me are an alien world of dark magic.
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by Peter-S »

D366Y wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 9:58 am Ok so today's newest issue!
I dropped the dash in the GL over the weekend to repair the speaker in the dash that had stopped working. Turns out it was the speaker wires so I ran new wires to the radio in the glovebox and problem solved. The mounts I'd expoy-ed on there had come off and I couldn't be bothered to try doing anything else to stick them back on so just put it back in place, and used the very powerful magnet on the bottom to hold it in place by sticking it on top of the original radio underneath

Put it all back together and radio working as should, very happy with myself.

Went to start the car and as soon as I turned the key smoke started to pour forth from the dash and the washer bottle pump was going nuts.
In panic I turned the key off, removed all the fuses and disconnected the battery

Have just dropped the dash again to have a look and for some unknown reason the wire for the washer bottle pump appears to have fired itself - anyone got any idea why it may have elected to go full kamikaze?
Or what I should generally be looking for to make sure I can actually drive the bloody thing?
Hi Dan

Old cars eh!

In my experience wires that fry themselves are usually a positive that has earthed somewhere so looked for a trapped wire on the feed circuit.
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by Mr B »

Major_Tom wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:47 am Blimey, glad it wasnt worse. Can't help with the fault though as electrics to me are an alien world of dark magic.
:agree: Electrics are alien to me as well, should it have not blown a fuse before it got to the stage of fire/burning?

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D366Y
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Currently full up and no more space but I still want a 2.8...
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by D366Y »

Mr B wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:04 pm
Major_Tom wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:47 am Blimey, glad it wasnt worse. Can't help with the fault though as electrics to me are an alien world of dark magic.
:agree: Electrics are alien to me as well, should it have not blown a fuse before it got to the stage of fire/burning?

Wayne
That's exactly what I thought fuses were for as well! Bloody random though, I took the connector off the stalk earlier and it's only that wire that has melted, and it runs straight into the loom so no idea what has gone wrong there - will have a butchers later on
Peter-S wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:50 am
Hi Dan

Old cars eh!

In my experience wires that fry themselves are usually a positive that has earthed somewhere so looked for a trapped wire on the feed circuit.
Thanks for this Peter, will have a look and see what I can see!
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by Jasonmarie »

Have not got a clue Dan but glad you acted quick , hope it’s a simple fix fella .
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by Bug »

Surely if it was the washer bottle pump it would have put itself out eventually? ;)
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by D366Y »

Bug wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 7:13 pm Surely if it was the washer bottle pump it would have put itself out eventually? ;)
Not when the wash bottle was empty! :lol:
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D366Y
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1993 Fiesta 1.1

Currently full up and no more space but I still want a 2.8...
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Electrical Fire

Post by D366Y »

After completing my investigations I believe that the pump was the problem... The wiring at both ends rus straight into the loom, which is totally undamaged

However, a very rusty and 40+year old part shorting within itself seems to have been the issue.
I have put it back together and started the car without the pump on and no issues...
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D366Y
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Currently full up and no more space but I still want a 2.8...
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Electrical Fire

Post by D366Y »

Ok well turns out that wasn't the problem then!?!?!

Went to start the car again today and it started hissing pretty quickly
Had to rush out to just changed cars at the time, but have just been out again to have a look and have discovered that the clock had stopped, put the key in and turned to position 2 and everything kicked in (including the clock) all sounding like it was ready to go and no issues. I then opened the car door and the clock stopped!

Something must be going seriously funny with fuse 1, no fucking clue what has started this though
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by Mr B »

D366Y wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:02 pm Ok well turns out that wasn't the problem then!?!?!

Went to start the car again today and it started hissing pretty quickly
Had to rush out to just changed cars at the time, but have just been out again to have a look and have discovered that the clock had stopped, put the key in and turned to position 2 and everything kicked in (including the clock) all sounding like it was ready to go and no issues. I then opened the car door and the clock stopped!

Something must be going seriously funny with fuse 1, no fucking clue what has started this though
Does your car have speaker's in the door panels mate?

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Currently full up and no more space but I still want a 2.8...
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by D366Y »

Mr B wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:56 pm
D366Y wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:02 pm Ok well turns out that wasn't the problem then!?!?!

Went to start the car again today and it started hissing pretty quickly
Had to rush out to just changed cars at the time, but have just been out again to have a look and have discovered that the clock had stopped, put the key in and turned to position 2 and everything kicked in (including the clock) all sounding like it was ready to go and no issues. I then opened the car door and the clock stopped!

Something must be going seriously funny with fuse 1, no fucking clue what has started this though
Does your car have speaker's in the door panels mate?

Wayne
It does not, it has two speakers jammed between the back seats and window (GL model didn't originally have rear speakers so need to get the fittings to but them in the shelves) and it has a central speaker in the top of the dash
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by Mr B »

D366Y wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 8:19 pm
Mr B wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:56 pm
D366Y wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:02 pm Ok well turns out that wasn't the problem then!?!?!

Went to start the car again today and it started hissing pretty quickly
Had to rush out to just changed cars at the time, but have just been out again to have a look and have discovered that the clock had stopped, put the key in and turned to position 2 and everything kicked in (including the clock) all sounding like it was ready to go and no issues. I then opened the car door and the clock stopped!

Something must be going seriously funny with fuse 1, no fucking clue what has started this though
Does your car have speaker's in the door panels mate?

Wayne
It does not, it has two speakers jammed between the back seats and window (GL model didn't originally have rear speakers so need to get the fittings to but them in the shelves) and it has a central speaker in the top of the dash
Only asked about the speakers as you said you opened the door and it all went crazy, the only thing electrical when you open a door is that switch for the interior light, as you have been working in and around the glove box is it possible you may have caught/trapped a wire in that area? Clutching at straws here I know. If it was me I'd go back over everything I did slowly and meticulously using a multimeter where appropriate and hopefully find the problem or as a last resort a mobile auto spark as driving her anywhere doesn't sound like a good idea.

Good luck mate

Wayne
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by galuk1 »

Ok electrics are my thing, basically the wire will get friggin hot, the sheath will smoke like a bitch and if there is anything combustible nearby it’ll go up in flames so you did well to notice it. By the sounds of it and like Peter said you have a short between live and neutral and the cars entire body is the neutral. So your short could be anywhere but you should be able to locate it pretty easily with a multimeter. However my money is on you pinching a live wire against the body work of the car when you did the speaker work. You already know which wire is the live (the one that got hot and smoky) so it should be a simple case of following it along till you find the short. If it disappears into the loom then you’ll need your multimeter on continuity to test between the live wire and the body work. The lower the number on your multimeter the closer your getting to the short.
Just a thought - when you switch the ignition on does the radio switch on too? If so try with the radio off just in case you’ve managed to connect a wire to the aerial output of the radio when you were tinkering with the speakers.
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Currently full up and no more space but I still want a 2.8...
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by D366Y »

Finally!!
After dropping the dash yet again and removing as much as I could -including the dash pods- to investigate the wiring, beyond the melty but I couldn't see anything untoward on any of the other circuits at all.

After realising that the washer bottle was on fuse one, along with the clock, interior light etc of everything else that wasn't working I went to fuse 1, turned it and hey ho everything worked again!

Annoying that I dropped the dash three times to discover it was merely a fuse issue but it's my own fault for not doing the obvious first 🙄
Cleaned up the fuse terminals and connections and good as new

Cheers for your help guys
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Re: Electrical Fire

Post by tejb1 »

D366Y wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 11:26 am Finally!!
After dropping the dash yet again and removing as much as I could -including the dash pods- to investigate the wiring, beyond the melty but I couldn't see anything untoward on any of the other circuits at all.

After realising that the washer bottle was on fuse one, along with the clock, interior light etc of everything else that wasn't working I went to fuse 1, turned it and hey ho everything worked again!

Annoying that I dropped the dash three times to discover it was merely a fuse issue but it's my own fault for not doing the obvious first 🙄
Cleaned up the fuse terminals and connections and good as new

Cheers for your help guys
I'm late to the party as ever, but I strongly suggest everyone replace all their fuses with fresh ones, if they have not done so already. And of course clean up the contacts with a bit of emery. Chances are some are the original ones which are brittle as anything, and a slight knock or judder can cause all sorts of issues. Bags of them are available online or you can buy from your local motorfactor but suggest everyone do this.
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