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Allow me to set the stage.....
+1 second: Driving home at about 20 mph and smoke starts pouring out of my dash!
+2 seconds: I crap my pants!
+3 seconds: I'm pulling over!
+4 seconds: Power steering AND brakes go out!
+4.5 seconds: Car completely dies!
+8 seconds: Car comes to a stop. Smoke everywhere and a strong smell of plastic is present.
+10 seconds: Thinking of bailing out and making a run for it!!!
+15 seconds: Smoke starts to clear.
+20 seconds - 2 minutes: Me sitting there in shock and amazement....pissed.
Turning the key does absolutely nothing. No lights no nothing. So I get the car towed to the house, eat dinner and head outside to tear apart the dash. (Mind you this is my wife and I's only car.... and I have to be at work at 6am.) Disconnect the battery and remove the 2 panels under the steering wheel. After about 2 minutes of poking around.... I find this:
:eek: :eek: :eek:
The middle is wrapped in electrical tape and the two ends are suppose to be yellow butt connectors. I clipped the wire on the right and that small wire by the zip tie. The left side was completely melted and separated from the rest of the wire. Wanna take a guess what that wire is and what it goes to? It's a +12V wire that a "professional" spliced into while installing my alarm system. :mad: :mad: :mad: All my wiring under there, perfect. The pros wiring, damn near ruins my car. This is EXACTLY why I try to do all work on my car myself.
My speculation? The wire was rubbing against some metal under the steering wheel for awhile. Eventually wore through the plastic and was touching metal to metal on and off for... I think a LONG time... causing this whole issue. But I guess one day it decided to get worse and become a straight up short. Why a fuse didn't blow, I have no idea. Not good at all and I will be looking into that. Anyway, it would take me years to re-run that entire +12V wire end to end, so I grab some extra wire and spliced it again myself. Don't worry. I did a bomb job. Took plenty of time. Reconnect the battery and... she starts right up! But wait! I have NEVER seen the voltage gauge up that high before! Like freakin 16-17 volts! LOL! Take er' for a victory lap around the block with the A/C on, headlights on, windshield wipers on and stereo bumpin.... never drops below 13 volts.....wow.... I can't believe it. After all these years.... so it would appear my age old voltage problem is fixed. I'm speechless... [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]
[ June 15, 2005, 10:38 PM: Message edited by: 96firebird311 ]
+1 second: Driving home at about 20 mph and smoke starts pouring out of my dash!
+2 seconds: I crap my pants!
+3 seconds: I'm pulling over!
+4 seconds: Power steering AND brakes go out!
+4.5 seconds: Car completely dies!
+8 seconds: Car comes to a stop. Smoke everywhere and a strong smell of plastic is present.
+10 seconds: Thinking of bailing out and making a run for it!!!
+15 seconds: Smoke starts to clear.
+20 seconds - 2 minutes: Me sitting there in shock and amazement....pissed.
Turning the key does absolutely nothing. No lights no nothing. So I get the car towed to the house, eat dinner and head outside to tear apart the dash. (Mind you this is my wife and I's only car.... and I have to be at work at 6am.) Disconnect the battery and remove the 2 panels under the steering wheel. After about 2 minutes of poking around.... I find this:
:eek: :eek: :eek:
The middle is wrapped in electrical tape and the two ends are suppose to be yellow butt connectors. I clipped the wire on the right and that small wire by the zip tie. The left side was completely melted and separated from the rest of the wire. Wanna take a guess what that wire is and what it goes to? It's a +12V wire that a "professional" spliced into while installing my alarm system. :mad: :mad: :mad: All my wiring under there, perfect. The pros wiring, damn near ruins my car. This is EXACTLY why I try to do all work on my car myself.
My speculation? The wire was rubbing against some metal under the steering wheel for awhile. Eventually wore through the plastic and was touching metal to metal on and off for... I think a LONG time... causing this whole issue. But I guess one day it decided to get worse and become a straight up short. Why a fuse didn't blow, I have no idea. Not good at all and I will be looking into that. Anyway, it would take me years to re-run that entire +12V wire end to end, so I grab some extra wire and spliced it again myself. Don't worry. I did a bomb job. Took plenty of time. Reconnect the battery and... she starts right up! But wait! I have NEVER seen the voltage gauge up that high before! Like freakin 16-17 volts! LOL! Take er' for a victory lap around the block with the A/C on, headlights on, windshield wipers on and stereo bumpin.... never drops below 13 volts.....wow.... I can't believe it. After all these years.... so it would appear my age old voltage problem is fixed. I'm speechless... [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]
[ June 15, 2005, 10:38 PM: Message edited by: 96firebird311 ]
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