S3 Electrical Meltdown

On Saturday I took my Dad and Sister for a day green laning in the Lake
District in my S3 109. They were both new to off road driving but took to it
very well.
All had gone well until the last couple of miles of trail when smoke poured
from dash and from under the bonnet.

The fire extinguisher that I have fitted to the dash had been stolen on the
previous Tuesday and an old one that I had in the rear locker would not
discharge.

Fortunately, once the ignition was turned off things started to cool off and
after a couple of minutes there was no more smoke.

I'm no electrician (or mechanic for that matter) but it appears that the pos
cable to the output connector on the dash (what are these for?) had become
disconnected and fallen on to the neg cable. The neg cable had melted though
the loom right the way to where it was earthed on the bulkhead

We managed to separate most of the burnt cables, remove the most of the pos
cable and continue to the main road.

We spent the rest of the journey looking at each other and asking "can you
smell something"

So after all the excitement I've got a S3 that requires a new loom my
question are

1. Where can you get new one or do you have to make them up yourself

2. How much do they cost?

3. I don't want to do this job myself, How long do you think it might to
take for a land rover specialist to do the job. I think he charges about £20
per hour which is reasonable but it starts to get expensive if there's 2
days work involved.


--
Martin
1980 S3 109 Petrol

"Martin \(Wirral, UK\)" <[email protected]> writes:

> I'm no electrician (or mechanic for that matter) but it appears that the pos
> cable to the output connector on the dash (what are these for?)

They are for setting light to your dash. We dont know either. Paul had a dash
fire in Baby Blue just before we met. Made a right ol mess. Best remove
those cables entirely as they are *unfused*.

Beth

The dash survived fine, I dont think i'll replace them without a fuse.

"Beth Clarke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Martin \(Wirral, UK\)" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > I'm no electrician (or mechanic for that matter) but it appears that the
pos
> > cable to the output connector on the dash (what are these for?)
>
> They are for setting light to your dash. We dont know either. Paul had a
dash
> fire in Baby Blue just before we met. Made a right ol mess. Best remove
> those cables entirely as they are *unfused*.
>
> Beth

"Martin (Wirral, UK)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Saturday I took my Dad and Sister for a day green laning in the Lake
> District in my S3 109. They were both new to off road driving but took to
it
> very well.
> All had gone well until the last couple of miles of trail when smoke
poured
> from dash and from under the bonnet.
>
> The fire extinguisher that I have fitted to the dash had been stolen on
the
> previous Tuesday and an old one that I had in the rear locker would not
> discharge.
>
> Fortunately, once the ignition was turned off things started to cool off
and
> after a couple of minutes there was no more smoke.
>
> I'm no electrician (or mechanic for that matter) but it appears that the
pos
> cable to the output connector on the dash (what are these for?) had become
> disconnected and fallen on to the neg cable. The neg cable had melted
though
> the loom right the way to where it was earthed on the bulkhead
>
> We managed to separate most of the burnt cables, remove the most of the
pos
> cable and continue to the main road.
>
> We spent the rest of the journey looking at each other and asking "can you
> smell something"
>
> So after all the excitement I've got a S3 that requires a new loom my
> question are
>
> 1. Where can you get new one or do you have to make them up yourself
>
autosparks are quite good, and can be found at http://www.autosparks.co.uk
I had a loom from them for the S3 Lightweight that is just about finished
and ready for sale. Good quality stuff, and came with just about
everything,.

> 2. How much do they cost?

depends on which bits you need. I do notice that their prices have gone up
slightly since I bought the loom though, but I found it a lot simpler than
trying to make one

> 3. I don't want to do this job myself, How long do you think it might to
> take for a land rover specialist to do the job. I think he charges about
£20
> per hour which is reasonable but it starts to get expensive if there's 2
> days work involved.
>

nothing that half a day with the wiring diagram could not solve!

--
Simon Isaacs

Peterborough 4x4 Club Vice Chairman, Newsletter Editor and Webmaster (how
much more....)
3.5V8 100" Hybrid, now LPG converted
Part owner of 1976 S3 LWT, Fully restored, waiting on the appointment with
the nice man at the MOT station!
Suzuki SJ410 (Fiancée's) 3" lift kit fitted, body shell now restored and
mounted on chassis, waiting on a windscreen and MOT
Series 3 88" Rolling chassis...what to do next
1993 200 TDi Discovery (the Pug 106 is dead, long live the Pug)

Peterborough 4x4 Club http://www.peterborough4x4.co.uk

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 15:56:43 +0100, "Martin \(Wirral, UK\)"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>I'm no electrician (or mechanic for that matter) but it appears that the pos
>cable to the output connector on the dash (what are these for?) had become
>disconnected and fallen on to the neg cable. The neg cable had melted though
>the loom right the way to where it was earthed on the bulkhead
>
>We managed to separate most of the burnt cables, remove the most of the pos
>cable and continue to the main road.

The terminals are there as test points, they can also be used to
charge the battery. They are connected directly to the starter
solenoid terminal, totally unfused. In my opinion they dangerous. Mind
you, the amount of unfused electrics on Series vehicles is abominable.
On IIA's the headlights are totally unfused, and the interior light is
fused on its own, with a 30Amp fuse for a 21w bulb.

>We spent the rest of the journey looking at each other and asking "can you
>smell something"
>
>So after all the excitement I've got a S3 that requires a new loom my
>question are
>
>1. Where can you get new one or do you have to make them up yourself
>
>2. How much do they cost?
>
>3. I don't want to do this job myself, How long do you think it might to
>take for a land rover specialist to do the job. I think he charges about £20
>per hour which is reasonable but it starts to get expensive if there's 2
>days work involved.

There are several companies offering complete wiring looms for series
vehicles, I believe some will also modify a standard loom for your
purposes. As for cost I don't know. I have just built a complete
wiring loom for a SIIa, (highly modified with 8 fuses - everything is
fused this time) Although it's not a particularly difficult task, it
can be quite time-consuming in getting the wiring right, and putting
all the appropriate connectors on, it's not a job I would reccomend to
someone who isn't fully sure of thier electrical abilities.

S3's are reasonably simple on wiring, but TBH I've no idea how long it
would take to replace the loom, but less than 1/2day would surprise
me. Ask around.

Alex

"Martin \(Wirral, UK\)" <[email protected]> writes:

> I'm no electrician (or mechanic for that matter) but it appears that the pos
> cable to the output connector on the dash (what are these for?)

They are for setting light to your dash. We dont know either. Paul had a dash
fire in Baby Blue just before we met. Made a right ol mess. Best remove
those cables entirely as they are *unfused*.

Beth