Hi all, So after joining only a week ago, I already have a problem! I spent today looking through the PO's bodges to the wiring at the back as my near side rear light wasn't working, nor my near side rear indicator. I removed a hashed trailer wire hook up and sealed all the exposed wires. The hazard lights didn't work so I put a fuse into the fuse box as there wasn't one there before. They then worked. I fixed the indicator as it was just a loose connection but couldn't sort the lights. Tidied it all up and jumped in for a drive (rear light still faulty). As soon as the engine was turned on smoke started coming out of the dash vents and filled the can pretty quickly. Turned the engine and ignition off and looked for the source. Found that fuse 2 was broken/melted and fuse 1 was missing. Not sure where to start now in terms of finding a solution as putting a new fuse would most likely just blow again and I'm not up for my van burning after less than a week of ownership! Any ideas?!!!!
This is where remote advise can get very tricky, that amount of smoke suggests a wire has burnt off its casing somewhere and you need to find it. You could now have several wires melted together. I've no idea how electrically competent you are but if you've just done some work and its caused this then undo it and start again from scratch! There must be a short somewhere obviously but it's all a guess from here. Keep us updated!
you have a short in the indicator circuit somewhere - follow the wiring from start to finish on that side .
I think tomorrow calls for some more investigation. First stop will be maplins for a multimeter then time to look behind the dash. What fuses do I need for position 1&2?
8 amp the white ones I would remove the dash screws and lean the dash forward to get a better view of every thing Find the melted wire and trace it along its length Common things to look at are the headlight and hazard switch shorting to the dash as they sometimes twist and the wiper motors sometimes stick so check that its off Any wiring that doesn't look like it should be there remove . Check any wires have not fallen of the back of the fuse box as the crimps become loose over time Wiring diagrams can be found hear if you have problems reading the newer style diagram use the old ones as there is not much diffrence. http://www.vintagebus.com/wiring/index.html Some good info in the How to section http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=11474.0 http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=5352.0
Cheers guys for your help so far.... Been out this morning and found the problem wire. It is the grey one going to my offside side light and it had burned all the way from the back of the fuse box to the bulb. Here are some pictures: Obviously I need to replace all this wiring but I'm still not quite sure how this would have happened. Am I looking for a short on this circuit or could it be anywhere :arrggh:?
The short would have to have been on the side light circuit. It looks to me that the fault would have been in that spiders web of wiring connectors behind the head lamp
Is there any sign of the cables chafing the body where they pass through the grommet at the back of the headlamp?
No the grommet seems fine with no chafing. Would it be somewhere along that wire or could the short have come from one of the wires at the rear of the van that use the same fuse? Also looking at my last pic, can you see near where the wire joins the sidelight bulb, the wire seems to have been worn away and is exposed. Could that be my weak point?
That sidelight lamp would appear to have soldered connections....interesting. It would suggest that the connections to it have been reversed where they go into the loose connectors. Whatever else happens the body of the lamp should go to -ve (ground) and the single contact go to the +ve supply. Wrong way round whether or not it goes into a lampholder and its a dead short of course.
There's no need to look at the rear sidelight circuits as the fault is deffo from that front side light. Get rid of those rubbish connections and get a proper side light lamp holder.
Just checked and you are correct with the sidelight being soldered with the + and - the wrong way around. The headlight is missing the proper bulb holder on the bodged side. Can these parts be sourced quite easily?
you were lucky there that it has not done more damage i would have a good look at the rest of the wiring. The the headlight bits are avalable http://www.coolairvw.co.uk/Category/0/Shop_by_Vehicle~Baywindow_Products~Baywindow_Electrical_Products~Lights~Headlights/2/12/0/Shop_by_Vehicle~Baywindow_Products~Baywindow_Electrical_Products~Lights~Headlights/~ALL/Category.html the headlight bulb connector etc are also hear about 3/4 page down http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/lighting/headlamps.php Cable hear http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/cable/standardcable.php
Get a similar size & colour cable, pull the old wire out its entire length, don't be tempted to leave it there. Run the new wire in & check the adjacent cables, the cable should be protected by a white fuse some one has probably fitted a red one, which is why it all melted when there was a short. Get rid of those crappy connections in the light bowls, fit new Hella connectors & run new cables back to behind the dashboard, that way you've rewired the front lights & got rid of any future problems there.
Had a good root around the electrics behind the dash this afternoon and removed a number of loose/unnecessary wires. The headunit had a mass of bodged wiring that I removed, I'll do my own when I fit a new one. There were 3 (yes 3) aerial wires! I removed a hash of wires for the front fogs which weren't working....I will wire these properly later. I've ordered a new headlight bulb holder, wires and fuses ready to fix the sidelight wiring and the bodged wiring behind the headlight. Thanks for all your help, hopefully there will be no more shorts in the system..... This is turning into more of a project than I expected!!!
1st , buy and fit a quick release terminal to your batt .! it may save your bus one day , same part fitted, saved my bus from total burn out , and dont travel with your engine hatch locked . 2nd, ensure all your fuses are sound , check everything on that circuit is working , then, remove the fuse and recheck all on circuit , if owt works something is wired incorrectedly, also, pull all the fuses and detatch your batt. earth lead only , hold lead approx. 3-5mm from clean part of vehicle frame , if you observe a spark you have a prob somewhere, ensure all elec take off"s at dash rear , headlamp is a common place for additional live wiring,, are individually totally insulated from one another,put many "in line" fuses in system as additional back up! buses can /do bust into flames with monotenous regularity , >soz for crap spelling ,hope this advice(from experience!) is of use to you>good luck mate
Sometimes despite these being fairly starightforward vehicles to work on I very occasionally get an auto electrician in. They do it very quickly and its pretty cost effective if you point out whats wrong. I had a real horrible intermittent fault with a T25. Bloke came out took an hour an half fitted everything in for £40 - would have taken me all day what he found and done and I'm pretty good with electrical stuff!! Just sometimes though else wheres the fun...!
