I jumped in the car after work, reversed out of the parking space, then just as I was about to drive off I got the dreaded beep-beep-beep and Fuse 8 Failure flashed up on the dashboard. The radio went off and the heater display went blank. Bugger.
Fuse 8 lives in the fusebox fixed to the side of the BECM under the drivers seat, which you can access from the panel on the side of the seat. It's a 30A fuse switched by relay when the ignition is turned to the first position.
Fuse 8 on a standard vehicle powers the radio, HEVAC panel, cigarette lighter and navigation system.
Tried changing the fuse but it simply popped as soon as I switched the ignition on. I spent a week systematically taking the vehicle to bits trying to find the short.
Eventually I traced the problem to a power wire installed in the boot of the vehicle that ran from the passenger side rear light cluster to the the retro fitted AV equipment installed on the drivers side. This power feed was trapped between the metal bodywork and the boot trim and over time had worn through and shorted to the body. It must have been like this for the last 10 years+ but the unsurfaced roads where I now live has probably accelerated the wear.
I'm pretty chuffed I was able to track down the fault, even if it did mean stripping the vehicle down. There's a lesson here in logical systematic fault finding.
1 comments:
I think you just saved me some headache. I have been resurrecting a 1999 P38, and saving the electrical issues last.( I have no working radio, cig lighter, Hevac.)
Oddly, fuses seem fine. I will track wires to the Becm now... Probably an open wire somewhere. Thanks for posting your solution.
Post a Comment