i FFFFFFFed up REEEAAALLY bad, need help...electrical

[jimtweet]

o man where to start, so i removed my gauges and dash, to recover my dash and area around my gauges. I removed one wire at a time, taped and labeld correctly (so i thought),

re-installed everything correctly (so i thought again), turned the key, and HOLY **** SMOKE AND what i thought was a fire..smoke everywhere, thank god i did not push the gauges in fully

i ripped the wires out of the back of the oil temp gauge as fast as i could

i am guessing i crossed a wire somewhere.

My question is, first of all, it melted about three wires to the metal, about 4-5 inches of wire...Am i safe to cut out the melted part and soder in new wire? or am i going to need a whole new harness....

i cant believe this happened, i am not going to be able to sleep now, Fing bonehead move

[LM3929]

Just cut the wire and re solder the connectors or check to see if anyone has the correct colored wire withends.

I had several wires like that.

Be sure to check as much as the wire as possible for more opps


Lorne M.

Ps what year is your car?

[Packet82]

uh oh, there goes the magic smoke.

Sounds like you shorted out a wire. Before you hook anything back up, trace all the wires looking for cuts in the wire's jacket or exposed wiring. If the section that you cut out isn't the part that shorts, it'll happen again.

[McLaren-TAG]

Meh, it happens. I wonder what the measure twice cut once saying for woodworking is when it's translated to electrical work.

Yes you can cut the melted sections off and splice the new ends. I'd first and foremost would INSPECT everything, it's likely that you only hosed up the wiring for one gauge and therefore kept the damage to a minimum. But I wouldn't simply splice new ends until I inspected (visually) as much of the harnesses as I could and then start again. connect everything back up and then hope you got it right the second time around.

Sorry to say, don't be surprised if you find yourself chasing gremlins for the remainder of the winter.

[jimtweet]

Originally Posted by McLaren-TAG

Meh, it happens. I wonder what the measure twice cut once saying for woodworking is when it's translated to electrical work.

Yes you can cut the melted sections off and splice the new ends. I'd first and foremost would INSPECT everything, it's likely that you only hosed up the wiring for one gauge and therefore kept the damage to a minimum. But I wouldn't simply splice new ends until I inspected (visually) as much of the harnesses as I could and then start again. connect everything back up and then hope you got it right the second time around.

Sorry to say, don't be surprised if you find yourself chasing gremlins for the remainder of the winter.

i cant express how much i hate electrical stuff and wires, i think the biggest problem is i always second guess myself with electrical stuff and get nervous for no reason...it took me 2 years to trace down a problem on my 66 mustang, which ended up being a bad ground...

i will removed the harness and cut as much as possible, i cant believe i did this,

its a 1980 for those that have asked

[bfunke]

That's why modern cars have different unique connectors to each component. Having all the connectors the same like our old P-cars have is a human-factorama in mishap terms. I was with the USAF F-117 program early on and the company built it using mostly off the shelf components from various other aircraft. The early production models had the exact same configuration of cannon plug for the flight control computer for each of the flight axis. You can imagine the surprise the test pilot got at takeoff. Miswiring caused a very expensive jet to crash. The fix was to change connectors.

[jimtweet]

can anyone post a pic of the back of the gauges or post a wiring diagram? or help me locate one online

[tazzieman]

Not sure if this works as well on German electrics as British ones?

[LM3929]

PM me your address and I will send you a extra copy of the Haynes wiring diagram that I have ( I had to make a larger print copy) it is for an 81 but should be similar.

Pelican Parts - Porsche 911 Parts Listings & Diagrams


Lorne M.

[Joe Bob]

Next time disconnect the FARGIN' BATTERY!

[Hugh R]

If you solder in new lengths of wire add a few inches to give you room to work. One of my biggest complaints about my car versus the old British trash I'm used to, is the wires to reconnect stuff under the dash have no extra give to work with. Sorry to hear this. Best of luck.

[timmy2]

Get an ohmmeter, disconnect your battery, check every wire on your fusebox to ground and to each other. Wires in the harness can heat up and fuse together causing additional problems.
I pulled a single melted wire out of my main cabin harness that had melted into 4-5 other wires and needed to be repaired in multiple locations from the fusebox to the lighter/heater area. This was courtesy of the PO....
I'm an electrician by profession SO PLEASE HEED THIS WARNING: if you don't check everything you are asking for trouble.
Unwrapping the harness and re-wrapping is a real pain but the security of knowing it is safe is worth the 8-16 hours you're going to have to work on it.(4-8 hrs for a pro)

Good luck and be safe!

[kwikt 911]

Originally Posted by tazzieman

Not sure if this works as well on German electrics as British ones?

Love it

[DanielDudley]

Yeah, You need to trace the wires out through the harness. They can melt all along the shorted wires, and can cause all kinds of problems, both now and much later, if they have melted through into other wires.

Trust us on this. As a former Fiat mechanic, I have seen my share of fried wires. You just need to unwrap the harness and trace one wire at a time. Painful, but not too hard to do.

[nesslar]

" I wonder what the measure twice cut once saying for woodworking is when it's translated to electrical work."
You answered your own question, of course! Inspect, visually, (smell for burnt points even), etc. Disconnect the battery neg. lead., move wires around and check, check, check; loose connections, blown fuses, empty smoke bombs, whatever. Then go to work. Don't worry about the canned smoke, it blows.....

[wayner]

When you are ready to try your electrical system again, use a 12volt hobby battery in place of a car battery if you are a little unsure if you got everything right. Low amps wont cause as much damage. Once tested, then put in the big battery

[nesslar]

I like what DanielDudley said; main point is his final one, "not too hard to do." Takes some time, but so what.......piece of mind, and correct. If all your wires and connections are good, you are home free.
"..am guessing i crossed a wire somewhere." Ya think? Seriously, good luck with it all, I hope your gauges are OK, too. Check and re-check labling as well, right? Yup....Check your fuses for proper sizing/amperage as well...........could be some old pennies stuck in there.

[nesslar]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Next time disconnect the FARGIN' BATTERY!

Cool, but would that have made any diff.? Wouldn't it fry upon connection then ignition?!?

[Joe Bob]

Would have been a faster result....continuos current until the live wire that was hooked to ground got yanked....

[nesslar]

? Whatever....faster than 'tricity? His problem area was 'dead' until turning the key....