i f**ked up. Help please with electronics.

[lindskrot]

Hi everyone.

New on this forum.
Im from Sweden i have a E30 325i with M20 with ITB from RHD engineering.

after some rebuilding of the intake system i installed it a few days ago, and the car started nicely.
Day after i installed the idle control valve and tried to get a hose through the firewall to the VEMS unit. Im running standalone engine management.
After this i have electrical problems with the car.

Some lights on the instrument cluster, like the check light, oil service light and the buttons for the windows are lit up even though the ignition is off. When i turn on the ignition the lights become slightly stronger.
So im thinking there might be some earthing problem?
Even worse is that the fuse for the ignition box is blown. There is current going to the ignition with ignition off, and fuse blows as soon as i put one in.

The idle control valve is striped to the side of the engineroom and in contact with the earth wire. Can this be a source of the problem?

I tried to get a hose through the fire wall and might have damaged the cable stem going through there, even though it feels a bit unlikely?

Can some relay have broken down?

Any advice to where i should start looking would be great.


Best regards

Johan

[zaq123]

disconnect the battery and start to look for your short. If fuse gets blown, one of it's leads is shorting on the ground somewhere. You will have to looks at the diagram, figure out the color of each wire lead and inspect it. Where did you make the hole in the firewall?

[lindskrot]

disconnect the battery and start to look for your short. If fuse gets blown, one of it's leads is shorting on the ground somewhere. You will have to looks at the diagram, figure out the color of each wire lead and inspect it. Where did you make the hole in the firewall?

i did not do any new hole. Just tried to push the hose through the gromit where the cable stem runs through the firewall.
Guess i have to start there and look for damaged cables.

I still dont understand the glowing lights on the dashboard though.

[zaq123]

i did not do any new hole. Just tried to push the hose through the gromit where the cable stem runs through the firewall.
Guess i have to start there and look for damaged cables.

I still dont understand the glowing lights on the dashboard though.

First kill a battery, pit a tester into fuse socket, the one that keeps on blowing and see if you get a short on the chasis/ground somewhere. Find that color wire in 5he diagram, that would probably give you an idea why lights are on

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[lindskrot]

home again

First kill a battery, pit a tester into fuse socket, the one that keeps on blowing and see if you get a short on the chasis/ground somewhere. Find that color wire in 5he diagram, that would probably give you an idea why lights are on

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

finally im back home again after 2 weeks at sea.

Did some first checks, and the fused wire to the ignition coil goes straight from battery plus to the coil. This indicates a short in the bosch coil pack.
Running bosch wasted spark coils. It is aslo a bit corroded on the underside and looks damaged. So im guessing it is a short in the ignition pack.

Any suggestions for other coil packs that would suit my installation? otherwise i will get a similar one again.

I also disconnected the idle control valve again and that sorted the problem with glowing lights in the instrument cluster, so something is not right there. Will have to continue looking.

Thank you for the advice so far!