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

[2002jm]

project on hold #23 fuse problem

I was putting the gauge cluster in and noticed I did not have power to the interior lights. A quick check showed the #23 fuse was blown...not a major problem:)...well replacing the fuse resulted in major sparks at #23, so there is a major ground problem or a hot wire touching somewhere......have taken have the car apart looking for touching wires.....
Of course all the power I need to finish up the gauges is not available:)
I put a help me please post under the tech section...
Hope to get this fixed, since I can not put the car back together...you should see it with the seat out and wires everywhere:)
Out to the garage for more fun!
jm

[ST1G]

You'll get it figured out. Might take tearing the car apart though. Not fun. I'll see what I can find.

[bradnic]

Yup - It's not a big deal. Just takes patience. There's a major ground post under the dash on the drivers side that sometimes gets corroded or loose. If you've got sparks it's probably one of the grey/red wires that has their insulation pinched. you'll need to track them down one at a time. I'd start near the console first. Pull the battery, replace the fuse and use an ohm meter. Touch any of the grey/red wires and the chassis. It will probably show zero ohms. start disconnecting pulling bulbs on those wires until the short disappears. That's the wire that has cut insulation on it.

You may need to pull the dash depending on where the cut is..

EDIT: corrected wire colors

[2002jm]

thanks for the help

ok, I will start with the grounds, but it sure seems strange that I went from everything working to major sparks. I am pretty sure something is touching: grounding out, because I have sparks at the neg. battery cable too, when I replace the fuse and put the cable on, it sparks, blue:). note that I put a 20 amp fuse in and it still blew up:) So something is not right.
thanks, will keep working, just took the radio out, no change, but I just took the harness off.....will work on grounds next.
jm

[bradnic]

it absolutely is grounding out - no question about that. you need to find out where a grey/red wire has damaged insulation and is either touching the chassis directly or one of the ground wires. just make sure you have no power applied when you're testing.

EDIT: corrected wire colors

[2002jm]

still working

I can not find any brown red wires? My car is a 323i euro, so maybe the wire colors are different. I did find the grounds and they 'look' fine, but I will start testing. I tried to disconnect every plug that is attached to the #23, but I must not have undone them all, still blowing fuses:(.
Will keep checking....

[ST1G]

You need to start by finding an electrical diagram for your specific car. It shouldn't be any different from a euro car of the same year.

[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

[e30m3s54turbo]

This might help you.

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

[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

[ST1G]

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

[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

[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.

[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.

[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