Help in havelock nc

[scnewman1]

Fellow Pelicanites,

This afternoon I thought I'd drive my recently rebuilt 1982 SC Targa from my home in Stafford, VA to my duty station in Havelock, NC, (MCAS Cherry Point). There is about 600 miles on the rebuild, and the car has been performing wonderfully. The car drove great for the full five hour trip. Around New Bern I stopped for gas, and the car restarted just fine. I got onto base and drove to the BOQ and parked. I spent about 15 minutes unloading the car, then went back out to put the roof back in. I got the roof in the car and then, while sitting in the drivers side seat, noticed that there was a faint glow from the dash lights, as if I'd left the parking lights on. I checked the parking lights, and they were off. I thought perhaps there was a chance some light was coming through from the hood light, since it was up. Then I turned the key to put the windows up. I did not start the car, only put it on aux to put the windows up. I then heard a sound like a baseball card in the spokes of a tire. I put the windows up and turned the key off. It was then I started to see smoke coming out of the windshield defrost vents!

Seeing nothing going on under the dash I went to the smugglers box, thinking it may be the compressor. It was cool to the touch and no smoke. By now the smoke was getting a little thick. I next went to the fuse box. I found that smoke was coming from the number VII relay, or so I thougth. I pulled that and smoke started coming out from the holes where it plugs in. I then started feeling the fuses and found that numbers 15 and 16 were hot. I pulled them and the smoke stopped.

I then checked the owners manual to see what fuses I had pulled. It looks like I've pulled the fuel pump. As a test I tried to turn the car over. It turned over but wouldn't start -- I figured that was because the fuel pump fuse was out. So I swapped out another 25 amp fuse. The car starts, but runs rough. It surges and chokes, like she is starving for fuel.

What have I done? I am brand new to the Havelock area and my mechanic is in Virginia. Does anyone know a good Porsche guy near Havelock, NC? Any advice?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Steve

[Oh Haha]

early am bump.
Good luck with getting this resolved and thanks for your service.

[scnewman1]

Well I got the car running again, although I have determined there is a short in the system. As it turns out the fuse in question was number 18, the interior lights switch (it was dark last night when I pulled the fuses, so I was off by one on the numbers). In the light of day I could see that the fuse I pulled out of the 18 slot was a 25 amp fuse. The manual calls for a 5 amp fuse. So I'm guessing the fact that it was over-fused meant that, when the short occurred it didn't blow as it was designed to do. I think the smoke and heat from the overheated fuse must have affected the large fuel pump relay which is almost directly above it. I pulled that relay and the horn relay and swapped it. The car fired right up.

With the 5 amp fuse in the 18 fuse is in the dash lights all remain on, even with the light switch off. All of them are on, including the "brights" indicator. When I pull the fuse they turn off. When I insert the 5 amp there is a little spark and a "sizzle" noise, but no smoke (now). I've pulled the fuse in order to avoid any further damage. After a short conversation with a knowledgeable source I thought the problem may be the hood lamp wire, but I can't see any obvious shorts in that line.

Now to figure out how to fix the short... any advise will be appreciated. Thanks for the bump, and thanks to the Hurricane PCA Chapter President and Tech director who got me hooked up with some good local information! Things are moving in the right direction.

[mtb001]

similar issue, found the wires were pinching/shorting on the trunk hinge when it comes down, eventually wearing through the insulation and shorting. I ended up having to rewire interior lights, glove box, trunk light, radio.

[scnewman1]

Sorry to ask such an obvious question, but when you say "trunk" do you mean the engine compartment light? I looked under the hood and traced the hood light wire back as far as I could but did not see any obvious wear on the wiring.

[mtb001]

no, in the front of the car, the wiring harness runs up under the hinge, to the left of the master cylinder when sitting in drivers seat.

[ipacketeer]

If you had the air conditioner on, it may be your evaporator motor smoking.

[boyt911sc]

Originally Posted by ipacketeer

If you had the air conditioner on, it may be your evaporator motor smoking.

I think it is too late to give advise after 3 years.

Tony

[ipacketeer]

Sorry about that, must be experiencing a senior moment.