hi, big time noob here - 82 GSL

so my battery died due to the old and cold, and i threw a new off-brand battery in just to get her started and... i crossed the + & -.

i know i know.... it wasn't clearly marked on this BoBo battery and was reverse to the Interstate i just replace, but feel free to abuse me. well, the small looping wires burned up immediately. i rewired them (see below) and all seemed fine and the car starts and runs but...





now the clock, cigarette lighter, dome and 3 way light don't work. fuse blown and replacements blow immediately. every other fuse is fine. so there's a short somewhere, i guess.

maybe something else burned up somewhere when i crossed the + & - terminals? does this look correct? what is this small brown boxy terminal called? where is the likely area of the short or loss of ground?

apologies if this is in the archive somewhere, i couldn't find it. thanks for any suggestions or answers.

bradley

 

not sure why the pics aren't showing up so i put them in an album in my profile. thanks again.

 

Bradley,

The problem could be in a multitude of areas.

Manufacturers use small wire gauges in their harnesses and it doesn`t take much to smoke the insulation off of the wires in those harnesses. Don`t ask me how I know.

If you know how to use a volt ohm meter and a wiring diagram, you are ahead of the game.

If you don`t.........................

 

When you say rewired... do you mean just stuck some 18G wire in there? Or you found some fusible links? The first is a big no no. If I was you Id find a FC fuse block and do the conversion. Cheap and easy. You can then use this style fuse available everywhere...



Ive had problems with that circuit blowing fuses before as well. The only solution on my 79 was to pull the dash harness and engine bay harness and replace them. The other was on my 1980 after my red to black interior swap. It kept popping the fuse. I just took the dash out, checked everything, reinstalled everything, and it went away. Seems to be sensitive to something in the radio area connections.

 

hi thanks for the responses guys.

i rebuilt the burned wires with 16g wire and terminals from auto zone, not ideal but i had to get it moving again. also, i don't have any testing tools at the moment. does this look correct



the car starts again so something is correct but i cant find the short between the battery and the fusebox. everything looks fine from what i checked. i dunno, i'm trying not to do a full teardown as i park on NYC streets and i cant risk having the car not drive-able or its towing and tickets.

 

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/27836292@N00/15753791977" title="photo 1 (1) by bradley carroll, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7515/15753791977_49de731e0c_s.jpg" width="75" height="75" alt="photo 1 (1)"></a>

im also super good at posting pictures obviously. jesus

 

Upload pics directly to the forum.

 

 

Looks like a fire hazard.

 

That fix is good enough to be able to drive to the auto parts store and buy the correct ones. Either get fusable-links or the bus fuses that will slip right in. As it stands you have zero protection on the high amperage side. If something goes wrong the weakest wire is going to start glowing.

 

will do. yeah there wasn't much for insulation at autozone nor did they have whatever metric size terminal that fit these male parts.

now the car is low idling rough rough and dying at rolling stops- unrelated i'd imagine. taking it in tomorrow for a compression test and to have this electrical looked at. i'll update with results.

thanks again guys. the car: almost fully stock. hope to get her healthy again.

 

That's kind of a weird effect. The tires look stanced even though they aren't.

 

iphone camera pulls at the corners a bit. cartoon tires.

 

Reverse fish eye, lol. Seriously though, look into the 2nd gen fuse block and cartridge fuses. Easy upgrade. Your wiring will smoke and catch fire if you have a short now with no fusible links.

 

Where are you in Brooklyn? I would be glad to lend a hand if need be. I am not far from kings plaza

 

Hi guys, has any one made an upgrade rewiring a fuel pump relay for an upgrade fuel pump.