My check engine light doesnt light up ??

[10yre30r]

My a/c wasnt blowing and my gas and temp guage wasnt working so i replaced the fuse and it continued to blow the fuse almost immediately. So i put on a larger capacity fuse and sure enough it blew out also. NOw my check engine light doesnt even blink or anything in the pre-start position or when its on. Im clueless here. Is there a fuse for the check engine light ? The car idles very low for some reason. Im guessing its because of the check engine light. Any help would be appreciated.

[10yre30r]

I own 2 e30 325is and ive basically drove the same car for 10 yrs. I have done alot of work on this car myself through the years. This is something that stumps me. Ive never liked doing electrical work i really prefer something more mechanical. I hope i can get a little advice from you guys who understand the electronics. The car still starts fine but does idle really low like 400-500 rpm.

[10yre30r]

The check engine light im talking about is the one that blinks and gives the fault codes.

[selturk]

check the fusible link. if it's blown the CEL won't work.

[10yre30r]

The fusible link ? Where is that found ?

[selturk]

quote from bimmerforums :)

"The fusible link is a flat spot in the small wire that runs from the battery positive terminal."

"The fuse is easy to replace, you just cut the old one out and crimp in the new one. It is located on the small wire which runs parallel to the main battery cable. You have to remove the passenger side carpeting and a small plastic channel which covers the cables. The link is covered in heat-shrink tubing."

[10yre30r]

Ok , im going to my garage now to check it out. Thanks selturk.

[10yre30r]

Ok i checked the small wire that and found a little casing that had a fuse in it. The fuse was not faulty. Should check continuity? I did take the fuse out and the car started fine but the CEL light didnt turn on or anything.

[10yre30r]

OH....wait a minute. Ok , i saw the heat shrink tubing but i didnt go that far in . The little case i saw was immediately right off the battery post . Honestly i dont think it was the fusible link. Im going back out to the garage to check it out. Ill be back/

[Adrian_Visser]

Are you fucking serious? If the fusible link was blown the car wouldn't run the DME would get no power. OP putting a higher rated fuse in there was a dumb idea the fuse that was originally used was the correct amp rating to protect the wiring in the system, putting a higher amperage one in risks burning up wires and possibly starting a fire. In fact you probably burnt out the check engine light bulb in the cluster. You have a short somewhere in one of the circuits that this fuse supplies find it and use the right fuse!

[10yre30r]

Ok, i found it. Is there a way to determine if its any good ? Its a black flat piece exactly where you said it would be.

[10yre30r]

Ok , Adrian im gonna just hunt down the short. I knew putting the higher amp fuse was a bad idea. I probably did blow out the bulb in the cluster. I just hate doing this electric crap.
Thanks a lot. You guys are really life savers. Im probably gonna hit this project this saturday and take my time . My strength is more mechanical not electrical but ill have to bite the bullet on this and do it.

[Jean]

When you turn the key to 2nd position, does the check engine light bulb come on with all the other bulbs in the cluster? If it does not, then it might be blown.

The check engine light bulb is the easy one, it's in the cluster but it's leads / wiring is external so it's not very difficult to figure out. It get's power from a switched source and the DME grounds it to flash the bulb. Pull the cluster and check/replace the bulb, you don't have to open the cluster to do this.

[10yre30r]

Hey, Jean. When i turn the ignition to 2nd position the CEL doesnt turn on. But the other ones do . Im gonna do exactly as you said . I appreciate the help a whole lot. My challenge will be trying to find out why my fuse keeps blowing out . Like Adrian said its probably a short ill have to hunt it down.

[10yre30r]

Ok i just got finished reading on how to test for shorts from this http://shark.armchair.mb.ca/~dave/BMW/e30/e30_88.pdf
Which i found on this forum. Its very informative !!! This is good news.

Oh..by the way when i put in the correct amp fuse today just to trouble shoot it the check engine light came on....:) Of course once i put the car in gear and drove down the street the fuse blew again and nothing...no gas/temp/ blower/check engine light. But im making some progress.

MY cigarette lighter positive wire is completely fried exposing the wire and melted in other areas. Just letting you all know. I also tested the continuity while the car was on at #10 fuse slot and it was 13.4v. Does this seem pretty high? Shouldnt it be at about 12v?