Stew F Posted 12March, 2017 Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 Guys' I'm in need of some help here. Auto electrical isn't really my forte. After reinstalling my LHS fender and headlight, I now have a problem with my left side indicator. Initially it worked, but the side marker wasn't blinking. I found that the lamp was blown, so I put a new one in. It didn't work initially, then I jiggled the wires and it worked momentarily, then the fuse for the ventilation (lol) fan blew. Now, every time I replace that fuse and switch the ignition on, it blows. The rear indicator works, as does the green light on the dash, but not the front or side ones. I've checked & replaced the lamps, but she no work. I can't find any dead shorts, broken insulation, etc. There's voltage at the fuse when the indicator is on. So, a few questions to the electrical guru's. In the image below, is the part circled in red the earthing terminals? What do the circled numbers represent? The only thing I can think of is I have connected the brown & black/white trace wire in the headlight bucket to the opposite terminals, which I'm going to look at now. It also doesn't say what colour the jumper wire from the Trun Signal Front Left to the Parking Light Left is, but I'm assuming Brown, because it connects to a junction of 2 brown wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 12March, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 So I've been able to determine the following.I had the brown and black/white trace wires swapped inside the headlight bucket. Changed them over, but no difference.The fuse that's blowing is definitely the blower fan & rear window demister. I did remove the demister switch knob the other week. Maybe a fault in that switch. Not an issue ATM. This happens as soon as I turn the ignition on, whether the indicator is on or off.There is voltage at the LH front turn signal fuse when the turn signal is activated. There is continuity from the earth wire in the front indicator to headlight & side marker. There is continuity from the power terminal in the front turn signal to the side marker bulb holder, but there is no voltage at either the front or side lights.RHS works fine by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter M Posted 12March, 2017 Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 Stew,The numbers in the circles at the bottom of the diagram indicate the earth locations. You will notice that circuits that are located in the same area of the car earth to the same point. There should be details about the location of each earth point on one of the circuit diagrams.I think you are right in suggesting that you have just connected a brown to a parallel connector on the hot side and created an easily rectified short. Just go steady and check each circuit in turn.Just to be clear, brown is always earth on these cars and the hot powered side of the load is always some other colour so browns only belong with other browns.Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 12March, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 Thanks @Peter M. I'm just trying to trace the source of the power from the fuse box to the lamps. I'm pretty sure now that the problem is there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 12March, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 Success. I thought I'd check everything again, starting at the fuse. It tested OK, but then something caught my eye. I pulled the fuse out and it fell apart. Put a new one in and presto, indicators. Hmmm. Now, to get the horn working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 12March, 2017 Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 Now, to get the horn working. Check the fuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 12March, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 I finally managed to get everything working. The horns now "work", although I'm not going to be in a hurry to use it. They're a bit girly. I had to bend the horn contact slightly so that it made better contact with the slip ring. It was working in some parts of the wheel rotation, but not others. The blower fan works again. No more blowing fuses, only air. Indicators work. It was just a series of faulty connections. A systematic approach to troubleshooting has reaped rewards. I'm now qualified to give people advice.Tomorrow I'll finish it all off and go for a quick shakedown run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamr Posted 12March, 2017 Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 Stew .... Regards the horn working intermittently....I have the same problem on my 924T but have found out what the problem isIn these older cars the steering shaft is the ground .... over time the tolerances withing the shafts bearing wear away and leaves minute gaps which plays havoc with the ground circuit .... that is why when you turn the wheel while pressing the horn it will work in some places but not others .....The fix is to wind a wire a couple of times around the steering shaft and then hose clamp the exposed wire end to it. The wind around the shaft is to ensure it doesn't stretch while turning ..... then ground that wire up near the pedals .... this ensures a constant earth through the steering shafts itself and ..... voila! .... no more horn issue.Hope this helps ....(btw .... in my head it makes perfect sense .. if I haven't explained it properly, let me know and I'll try again) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 12March, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 Stew .... Regards the horn working intermittently....I have the same problem on my 924T but have found out what the problem isIn these older cars the steering shaft is the ground .... over time the tolerances withing the shafts bearing wear away and leaves minute gaps which plays havoc with the ground circuit .... that is why when you turn the wheel while pressing the horn it will work in some places but not others .....The fix is to wind a wire a couple of times around the steering shaft and then hose clamp the exposed wire end to it. The wind around the shaft is to ensure it doesn't stretch while turning ..... then ground that wire up near the pedals .... this ensures a constant earth through the steering shafts itself and ..... voila! .... no more horn issue.Hope this helps ....(btw .... in my head it makes perfect sense .. if I haven't explained it properly, let me know and I'll try again)the problem with mine was that I put my aftermarket wheel on and I had to use the slip ring from the originl wheel. The face where ththe slip ring sits isn't perfectly flat, and it was only making contact i one small area. I put some shims under it, and bent the contact strip so it now makes contact all the way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamr Posted 12March, 2017 Report Share Posted 12March, 2017 Well hopefully the info above can help someone else that has an intermittent problem.It seems that your problem is / was well above my pay grade .... Glad that you managed to identify it though .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 13March, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 13March, 2017 That's what its all about - information sharing. Yep, I can start charging auto electrical rates now.Can't wait til I fix that leaky tap. I'll get plumbers rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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