Need some guidance

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PlumCrazyJay

PlumCrazyJay

70 Dart
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Jul 24, 2010
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I screwed up and need some thoughts on repair. I had my speedo cluster out, went back together, hooked up the battery cable and was checking instrument cluster lights(which was the reason for all this in the first place) and noticed smoke coming out. Quickly disconnected battery cable. Pulled speedo out and found a fried wire under the dash but not going to inst. cluster. Insulation was toast where it came out of the wiring loom to where it went back in. Question I have. Do I now remove tape from wiring loom to trace wire from origin to the end or is there a better or easier way? I also realize that I have to find the reason for the fault which I hope will be evident when all is bared. I'm not much of an automotive electrician so I feel I'm in over my head. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Ow, sorry to hear that! Yeah, if all the exposed insulation is fried, then there is reason to think it is also fried under the tape. And, if it got hot enough, it may have melted the insulation on neighboring wires in the bundle, creating further shorts.
 
What color is the wire? Did it smoke near the ends or down the wire?
 
PlumCrazyJay said:
Do I now remove tape from wiring loom to trace wire from origin to the end or is there a better or easier way? I also realize that I have to find the reason for the fault which I hope will be evident when all is bared. I'm not much of an automotive electrician so I feel I'm in over my head. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I certainly would untape / cut open the harness. One reason is the thermoplastic insulation used, often causes melted wires to short together. This makes a mess, physically and electrically. This can cause other "weird" problems which don't make sense

What color? end connector? was the wire?

Are you aware of the main red and black ammeter wires, which are always hot?

You can download free service manuals and wire diagrams at MyMopar

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31

Another good read is the MAD electrical article on ammeters, which also gives a good overview of main power distro in these girls

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31
 
Had some time to track things down. Followed the burnt black wire into the loom cutting the tape away and got to where it was crimped in with another black and also an orange wire. The other end went to the voltage limiter box on the left PCB. The wire seemed to be burnt worse in the middle and by the time it got to the connection with the other wires it was ok. Didn't see any damage to the other wires in the loom. Questions. 1. Can I just splice in a new wire and go to the voltage limiter and rewrap the loom? ( it seemed like I had got to the end of the damage and a little extra) 2.Any ideas on what happened and why? Would failure of the voltage limiter cause this? I had done some work on the PCB's if something was shorted out would this cause it? ( I have 2 PCB's coming that I hope are in better shape than mine). Thanks again any and all opinions and comments welcome.
 
You need to ID this circuit and where it comes from and where it goes. Something else may be hurt "down the line" or "up the line" as the case may be

Photos would help. From your description, I don't know what you have there

Does one of the connections to this circuit end in a connector? What does it look like and what colors? Again, photos would help.
 
It's a small black wire that went to the voltage limiter on the back of the left PCB. Does that help?
 
if you think you're in over your head - you probably are - not a good time to do the learning curve thing.. got anybody you can call to come help out? Two heads are better than one and you are "too close" so to speak as it is your car. Wiring can be treacherous.. you do not want to start the thing on fire.
PlumCrazyJay said:
I screwed up and need some thoughts on repair. I had my speedo cluster out, went back together, hooked up the battery cable and was checking instrument cluster lights(which was the reason for all this in the first place) and noticed smoke coming out. Quickly disconnected battery cable. Pulled speedo out and found a fried wire under the dash but not going to inst. cluster. Insulation was toast where it came out of the wiring loom to where it went back in. Question I have. Do I now remove tape from wiring loom to trace wire from origin to the end or is there a better or easier way? I also realize that I have to find the reason for the fault which I hope will be evident when all is bared. I'm not much of an automotive electrician so I feel I'm in over my head. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
 
Yea I have a couple used printed circuit boards (PCB)coming and a used voltage limiter from a fellow FABO member. I'm thinking if I can get it going I might have a shop in Lincoln, NE check it out. I've had them do some work for me and I trust them. I'm paranoid now about the thing catching fire. All this because I was trying to replace a couple dash lights. I found a schematic and when I get time I'm going to try to unravel the mystery of the whole thing. Thanks for everyones help.
 
Mopar harness is tricky as there are black wires under there that are HOT, as opposed to black meaning negative. if your unsure of the color, look at the well its in the firewall harness plug and look up the schematic.
 
PlumCrazyJay said:
Yea I have a couple used printed circuit boards (PCB)coming and a used voltage limiter from a fellow FABO member. I'm thinking if I can get it going I might have a shop in Lincoln, NE check it out. I've had them do some work for me and I trust them. I'm paranoid now about the thing catching fire. All this because I was trying to replace a couple dash lights. I found a schematic and when I get time I'm going to try to unravel the mystery of the whole thing. Thanks for everyones help.
Click to expand...

It is crazyy to work on wiring, or under dash with a battery connected. To be safe and protect, use an adjustable current limited bench suppy, set it to an amp or two. Most read out the current, voltage and led indicators to indicate if in regulation. $50 to buy one, it is cheaper than burned up car.
 
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