Just got my car back from the body shop (new paint...weee) and now i'm having some electrical troubles.

Also, right before I took it to the shop, the battery came undone and spilled all over, rusting a few things. I wasn't driving it at the time so I didn't find out till later. I just got that all cleaned up today.

After I got the car back, I noticed that I have no interior clock, interior lights, radio, cigarette lighter (where my radio is wired) or hazard lights.

The fuse for the hazard lights is blown, and the connection goes directly to ground.

Doesn't look like any battery acid affected any wiring, so my guess is that something the body shop took apart to paint got screwed up.

Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this problem? I know it must be a wire either wired wrong or broken and going directly to ground. How do you track something like that down ?

Thanks for the help,

Rhett

 

btw, this is a 84 SE

 

get a haynes manual and follow wiring colors around. sorry thats all i have. sounds like a headache.

 

Double check all of the fuses. All of the items that are not working are the same fuse or close. Even if the fuse looks good replace it and see if that works.
Question, did they have the stereo surround off? You know the plastic console around the radio and climate control?
hanman

 

Yeah the fuse is definetly blown.......it just blows that 15 amp hazard fuse as soon as I put one in.........thats the problem.

I don't think they would have taken that center console panel off........i don't know why they would. Only thing that makes sense is the tail lights they removed.......but I don't know, i'll have to call and ask.

Rhett

 

Well the hazard fuse and the radio fuse I thought were on different circuits. Which position of fuse are you pulling from? I guess I'm just interested to see if the short is between two different circuits.

 

Did the shop open the dash up at all?
(trying to narrow it down)

 

haha rhett.. now you know how i feel.

what color did you paint your seven? black again

 

Yeah its black again. Got rid of that black/grey/white crusty clear coat/peeling pen stripe look.

I don't think they opened up the dash. Only thing that makes sense is the rear tail lights.......my new theory is that perhaps they screwed up the hatch light, but I haven't had time to investigate that yet.

And to clarify......my cd player is hooked up to the cigarette lighter line because the radio line died long ago for unknown reasons.

Rhett.

 

Rhett,
Take a look at that cig. line. That was why I was asking if they took the console off. It is very easy to get a short in that line. Ask me how I know.
By the way, don't ever hook your radio to that line, not enough juice. Ask me how I know.
I would rewire the radio immediately, and then double check the connection on the cigarette lighter. There is a gasket on the back of it to prevent it from grounding to metal and shorting out. Make sure it is hooked up right.
hanman