Hartge h26 project.....the long road:) Oct 2014 begins:)

[e30austin]

I bet it's the wires going to the reverse light. Pop the rubber shifter boot out and inspect the wires where they meet the body.

[2002jm]

update

There are no bmw connectors over near the AC, heat, radio area. There are two bmw large white connectors on the steering column and two really large ones up on the left side of the fire wall. I think someone did some 'cutting' to put in the radio and used a radio shack connector, so I can not disconnect it. Would have to start cutting wires:).
Did find one grey/red wire smashed up against the steering column???:)..might be the problem, will check it later.
jm

[2002jm]

sounds good

Will look for the connector. I did see three grey/reds patched together into one grey red that went to the cig. lighter light. They were sort of taped, but I did not see anything that they were touching.
Will keep you posted:). On the bright side, I am finding out where everything goes. There is one switch, or rocker that is where the ac would be. A black and red wire come out of it up to an amp. box near the coolant tank...big wires!! Not even sure what it does, but when pushed a light goes on in the switch????
jm

[bradnic]

definitely try disconnecting the connectors to isolate the short. that will tell you where to look. the electrical manuals tell you the physical location. you can also guess based on what they're connected to.

C204 is near the HVAC panel somewhere. If you can disconnect that one and the short disappears then you know the short is near the cigar lighter or a/c control lights. Note that both the grey/red power wire and the brown/white ground wires are on the same connector. there's a connector just like that behind the radio, but that might be C302.

C103 is near the steering column somewhere. I'd stay away from that one until you've ruled everything else out.

[2002jm]

Thanks

Thanks for the picture, much easier to use:). Will continue looking for a wire that is damaged or touching......might be the radio area, because it is a mess with a sony after market radio and open wires everywhere that were just cut and taped.:(
thanks again,
jm

[bradnic]

btw, some times a good idea is to work your way top down. if you can find C103 and temporarily disconnect it you can rule out shorts between it and the fuse block.

personally I seriously doubt you have a problem there - more likely it's one of the wires near the bulbs themselves that got cut. If your radio harness has been f'd with I'd look for the grey/red wire near there first.

[bradnic]

Appreciate all the help, my poor car looks like it was blown up today....not much left in the interior:). Oh, well, I can get this fixed, and fix all the wiring problems under there at the same time!!!
thanks,
jm

exactly. hell you can rewrap the harnesses if you have a month to take everything apart and reassemble :-)

If you've got sparks it's probably one of the brown/red wires that has their insulation pinched.

I meant grey/red!! sorry about that. they're hard to miss as they're all over the dash, anywhere you have an interior bulb.

here's an 85 325e dash lights page, showing fuse 23. I'd be shocked if your euro 323i is much different than this. leaving it big so you can zoom around


Any wire labeled "GY/RD" is grey/red. the number in front is wire gauge in mm. ALL your grey/red wires are shorted to ground, because they're all wired together and at least ONE of them has cut insulation on it that is either touching the chassis somewhere or one of the ground wires.



you need to find the damaged wire.

[2002jm]

thanks for all the help

Appreciate all the help, my poor car looks like it was blown up today....not much left in the interior:). Oh, well, I can get this fixed, and fix all the wiring problems under there at the same time!!!
thanks,
jm

[ST1G]

Glad folks posted the electrical diagrams - they're essential for tracing stuff. Look for the interior lighting page. I'll post some screenshots shortly.

I've got a Bentley too, those are very helpful for this stuff.

[bradnic]

Glad folks posted the electrical diagrams - they're essential for tracing stuff. Look for the interior lighting page. I'll post some screenshots shortly.

[2002jm]

sent you a pm

I might be able to run over Saturday and help out, I'm skilled at electrical.

that would be great....I am not skilled at all, know the basics, but testing is not a strong skill:)
jm

[ST1G]

I might be able to run over Saturday and help out, I'm skilled at electrical.

[2002jm]

This might help you.

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/i...iring_Diagrams

Thanks, Have a lot more checking to do....:):(. and I was thinking about getting the gauges done today:)
jm

[e30m3s54turbo]

This might help you.

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Wiring_Diagrams

[2002jm]

have one

Thanks to someone on this forum, I have one. I have checked it over and now have to run cont. tests on all the wires....that is going to take awhile, but I can not see anything that is touching....but it much be considering what is happening to the fuse.
jm