Ian Pearson
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| posted on 2/1/05 at 05:44 PM |
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Short Circuit
Hi Guys,
After a 6 month ish period of inactivity, I hooked my battery back up and instantly had a smoking Sierra steering column. The cremated wire is the one
that becomes live when the ignition is in the second position. I haven't been able to find any obvious short. All was working with just the rear
plate light & side repeaters to add, and as I'm not paricularly clever when it comes to electrickery, I am completeley fooooked. Any
ideas?
Regards, Ian.
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GeoffT
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| posted on 2/1/05 at 09:58 PM |
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Hi Ian,
I'd be inclined to replace the burnt out wire (reckon it's pretty safe to assume the battery is already disconnected!), and without
reconnecting the battery connect a multimeter across the main battery terminals switched to the low ohms scale.
When you now switch the ignition to the second position you should now see your short on the meter. The reading will be very low, judging by the
amount of current you're drawing, probably less than 1 ohm. This now gives you a safe condition in which to start disconnecting things to see
when the short disappears, indicated by the needle dropping back to probably about 10-20 ohms or greater.
Where to start? Pull all your fuses first, though I doubt if it's fused circuit causing the problem, then the alternator connecter, etc,
etc.
Hopefully your fault isn't buried somewhere inside the loom, if it is the point where the burning of the damaged wire ends should give you
a clue.
Good luck!
Geoff.
[Edited on 2/1/05 by G.Tyler]
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bob
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| posted on 3/1/05 at 09:51 AM |
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Ian
I had this problem too,it turned out to be the flasher/indicator stalk was faulty.
At 1st i thought it was a wiring prob but nothing could be found(although with my electrics knowledge which can be written on a the back of a postage
stamp there was no suprise there)
My high beam flash wasnt working too,so a visit from build guru conrodkid and another stalk/control and all was well.
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VinceGledhill
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| posted on 4/1/05 at 12:58 PM |
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Electrical problems are mechanical problems.
What I mean is this.... you will find that the problem is a trapped wire somewhere. Look where it runs. You've either chaffed through the
wiring going through the bulkhead or screwed a screw into the loom somewhere.
If you follow the burnt out wire by cutting back all the insulation material then you should find the culprit.
Don't re-connect your battery until you've found it.
Regards
Vince Gledhill
Time Served Auto Electrician
Lucas Leeds 1979-1983
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Ian Pearson
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| posted on 5/1/05 at 01:40 PM |
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Thanks all.
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kaymar
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| posted on 18/1/05 at 11:07 PM |
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hi could just be the ignition switch itself seen dozens of them do this. just a thought if your not sure put a fuseable link in the circuit makes
less smoke that way
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