Thread: I must be insane

I'm laughing with you, not at you

Still haven't put this thing back together .... I'll be damned if I'll let this wiring beat me





I put two layers of that whiz bang heat insulation foil on the front floors and tranny tunnel. Fuse B4 should be the cigarette lighter, it's not blown, none of them are, and it has power at it. So no cigarette lighter (or phone charger as we call it these days) and no radio accessories.



I'm sure everyone like me has found the fuses under the drivers seat (from the rear footwell.... these have nothing to do with our problems ).


Ok, under the passenger front seat ( right hand drive ) reach over the crossmember from the back seat footwell ....



pop this off the top of the small plastic housing you can feel....



2nd fuse from the right is the cigarette lighter, I bet you find it blown. Yes the main fuse box is RIGHT BESIDE the bloody cigarette lighter, yet somehow they loop the wiring all the way back here to fuse it .... work that one out. Should this car have a cigarette lighter at the back of the center console for the backseat? I reckon the wiring is there for one (the console is broken there ... let me guess.... ashtray and cigarette lighter is missing ?).

Ok, I have a cigarette lighter, still no accessory power.... I also stumbled across this (I sure didn't find it from looking ).



Up beside the steering column we have this



Slide off what looks like a wiring plug ........... Damn it all, how many bloody places have they hidden fuses on this bloody car? No, there not blown, so nothing to do with the accessories power .... .Does anyone know of any other hidden fuse locations ???



Look at the bloody mess I found under the steering column ....





I unwrapped the insulation tape from around 1/2 dozen wires and found this **** there



****ty wiring crimps aren't a decent connection either. I cut all this out and soldered the wiring and covered with heat shrink.

Still no accessories power .... must be more dodgy wiring repairs I havne't found somewhere that I've "bumped" pulling it apart...... I haven't found it yet though.

seeya,
Shane L.
PS: Oh yeah... I remember reading once that rubbing petroleum jelly into old plastic works ....



I'll be damned .... I wonder how long that lasts for, and if it'll attract dust once even though I've wiped any excess oil off.

Crikey mate there have been some proper bodges on your car.. Soldered wires left unsleeved, asking for disaster!

And I like the petroleum jelly hint.. I'll go and try it now!

Originally Posted by discojools

Crikey mate there have been some proper bodges on your car.. Soldered wires left unsleeved, asking for disaster!

And I like the petroleum jelly hint.. I'll go and try it now!

Soldered ?? There the flash ones the "almost crimped" and "twisted together" ones are the best :roflmao: You know, almost every car I've ever owned I've found this sort of crap on. The trick is to unwind any insulation tape and "added" wiring that isn't factory ..... if it's ok you can just tape it back up. You know, it's almost NEVER ok..... ... This is the sort of stuff that'll leave you stranded somewhere. I bet your car is the same if you drop the plastic off and unwrap all the non-factory insulation tape. It'll be the brake controllers, car phones, alarms, stereos .... etc... fitted and removed as they broke (or the car was sold on) over the years.

Yeah that petroleum jelly .... weird right ?. It does make it 80% better... obviously anything damaged, stays scratched and damaged though.

seeya,
Shane L.

Yes - the Vaseline on vinyl is an old trick. The vinyl seems to need 'feeding' to remain supple.

it is best applied sparingly to warm vinyl trim as in leaving the car in the sun with the windows up. Wipe off any excess with a dry cloth.

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Do you guys know why I like that roadkill show on youtube ..... Do you know how I know it's not scripted ..... 'cos I've made most mistakes those guys do.

Haha I love that show. So many good (but really, really crap) cars!

Cheers

Dan

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Ok, I have a cigarette lighter, still no accessory power.... I also stumbled across this (I sure didn't find it from looking ).



Up beside the steering column we have this



Slide off what looks like a wiring plug ........... Damn it all, how many bloody places have they hidden fuses on this bloody car? No, there not blown, so nothing to do with the accessories power .... .Does anyone know of any other hidden fuse locations ???



Look at the bloody mess I found under the steering column ....





I unwrapped the insulation tape from around 1/2 dozen wires and found this **** there



****ty wiring crimps aren't a decent connection either. I cut all this out and soldered the wiring and covered with heat shrink.

Still no accessories power .... must be more dodgy wiring repairs I havne't found somewhere that I've "bumped" pulling it apart...... I haven't found it yet though.

seeya,
Shane L.
PS: Oh yeah... I remember reading once that rubbing petroleum jelly into old plastic works ....



I'll be damned .... I wonder how long that lasts for, and if it'll attract dust once even though I've wiped any excess oil off.

Absolutely everything you have discovered, I experienced within the first couple weeks of ownership, actually I posted stuff here not long after joining up - and you're mess looks just like mine did.

The funniest thing is that your under-dash looks like it's had an aftermarket alarm removed from the exact same splice spot as mine.. I also had a cruise control unit, non-functioning temp alarm, dodgy stereo and a few other 'strange' wiring mods from jaycar thrown in for good measure.

Took me the best part of a week to remove all of it, and once i'd returned it to factory, the reverse switch on the ZF gearbox went on me - and I had fun rewiring that!

Petroleum jelly works great on the dash. Just wipe it over regularly and all will be good.