electrics - somethings not right!

[topgear]

Evening all!
Hopefully someone of an electrical mind can help here. im having electrical probs with my vdp. last week i noticed one of my brake lights werent working at night, and on closer inspection with help it revealed that when the headlights were on, and the brake was depressed, all lights would go out on one of the rear clusters. strange i thought! Then i realised my reverse lights were also not working... so, i swapped the cluster for another spare i had, brake lights were working nornally again and the tailgate lights too, but still not reverse. On a trip of 50 miles i could smell hot plastic, turns out the brake light in that cluster was getting red hot and almost melting the plastic! bulb is correct one too, so bit strange.. i changed the other cluster for a spare one too, to see it made an difference.. and then none of the brake lights worked.. and all the bulbs were fine. Also, my rear wiper now does not appear to have enough power to operate, it stays in its home position, and its motor just gets red hot if you keep the switch on for a few seconds. Also, when applying the brake lights the warning lights on the dash dim a fair bit. so, looks like i have some sort of electrcal problem! Is it a bad earth somewhere?
Has anyone got any advice?
Cheers!
Top....

[derek mclean]

It certainly sounds like a bad connection (or several) somewhere. And when you get interference between circuits that appear to be unconnected it usually means a bad earth connection(s). But why it should cause things to overheat is a mystery.

I would start by checking all the earth connections around the rear lights and the tailgate. I think the tailgate earth comes down the nearside d-pillar.

Best way to improve connections is to add other earth wires, teeing them into existing wires, preferably by soldering, or using "scotchloks" if you are not adept with a soldering iron. Or add more wires, from rear wiper motor right down through the d-pillar to a newly-drilled hole in the floor near the existing earth. Also add extra wires from this point to other wires with more scotchloks. Earth wires are all black.

Then do the same at the other side.

If this doesn't fix all the faults, try adding extra earths for the lights, by-passing the multi-plugs, if necessary. These plugs tend to give trouble. But this may be easier said than done. The material of the bulb-holders and the connections between them and the plug does not lend itself to easy soldering, and it is prone to corrosion, even within the bulb-holders.

If you still have problems you may need to probe it with a test bulb, to find out where the bad connections are. By pin-pointing the fault you stand a better chance of fixing it. The first method above is a blunderbus approach, the second, testing it firss, has a little more finesse.

Good luck.

Derek.

[tony]

just a thought,but a bad earth yes, but i wonder if it is earthing thought the brake light bulb,so it is on all the time and then getting hot that way?

[E_T_V]

Yes that is most likely the case, that everything is being earthed through the brake lights..

Check the earths, (one on each side in the boot I believe). Re-make the connections if necessary but I'd try to solve the route cause of the problem before hacking into the original loom.

[H48HPE]

I would start by removing and cleaning then re assembling all the earth points. then protect them with petroleum jelly.

Then you should check all connections to any loads are clean and tight fitting (lose connections can generate heat.

I would pay attention to this fault because somthing is clearly not right and could be a potential fire starter.

basicly, just check and clean all connections and that switches are working ok, also have a check that all the fuses are as they should be, u never know what fuses might be where till you check worth a look even though that probably wont help this problem. make sure that there are no trapped wires anywhere or bare conductors showing through broke insulation.

its just about giving the electrics a bit of a service, poor connection cause loads of problems, stop em before they even start. remember to only attack a bit at a time and test it after its put back or you'll end up with a rite mess. do things with electricity methodicly and you wont go wrong

andy

[topgear]

thanks all of you for your advice and help. :-) I tested all the lights, but found there to be no electrical faults apart from the fact the circuit board on one of my rear lights was rusty. Ive also found my reversing lights switch (on top of the gearbox) to be faulty. However, the hot smell still remained, and yesterday i was 5 mins away from home when the whole of the car filled with white, thick and smelly smoke, coming from the back.. i switched off immediately and opened the boot, it was full of smoke, but fortunately no flames. Turns out the rear wiper motor was red hot and was melting the plastic and electrical wires around it, and starting to burn a peice of foam near to it. You may recall that my wiper was stuck and wouldnt move! However, i did not touch any switch relating to the rear wiper, so not too sure how it came to be red hot!?! I have no taken the fuse out for the rear wiper and the relay switch, so there shouldnt be any power getting to it at all from now on. I was lucky, my car could have been a gonner due to fire!

Snazzy! :-)

[topgear]

plus, how the hell can i get rid of a "burnt car" smell? its gonna take me years to shift it!

[Maestro_efi]

My brother has a connection for some stuff from the USA that you close all windows and doors and heater controls pull the tab on the can and put the can in the car two hours later hover car out and the smell should be done. it's used by a number of detailers over there (valeters to you and me. I will find out if he can get hold of some, my car could do with it as well.

Nigel Read
Bristol
F652GGJ
and eight others

[topgear]

excellent, cheer for that! In the meantime, i advice all to carry a fire extinguisher! :-)

[tony]

you would have thought by now it would be compusary to carry one and be part of the test

[topgear]

yeh, you would wouldnt you... when im Prime Minster, i'll make that my first law change for you! :-)