Electrical short apparently gone, but I didn't fix it. Thoughts?
#1
Electrical short apparently gone, but I didn't fix it. Thoughts?
So I was having a problem where the accessory 20a fuse on the Holley HP ECU was blowing, cutting fuel and ignition. I was also seeing some odd oil gauge readings on the old cluster. Since I wired the holley gauge up, the old gauge stayed pegged, however now it was actually moving. Not accurately as it wasn't connected to the sender anymore but it was moving as if there was...a short...imagine that. I had recently had an issue where part of the chassis harness hit the header and melted the black plastic loom, and upon quick inspection, I dismissed this as a close call with no damage. -also, two years ago when I installed the Holley, I had left many cut, but loose wires that were to much of a pain to trim out of the main harness. Upon this recent fuse issue, I decided that it was likely that the problem was in there somewhere. I cut all my neatly packed zipties, removed much of the black wire looming and began inspecting. The entire driver side firewall under the hood looked like multi color spaghetti. I found no distinct melting damage to any wires, nor did I find any exposed wires from when I trimmed the harness down two years ago. All loose wires were still capped off and not exposed.
I haven't prettied any of it up, and it's still a mess, but now I'm not seeing any electrical issues. Fuse was blowing within seconds of cranking it up, and it's now run and idled twice for about 15 minutes. Oil gauge has resumed it's "pegged" position like it was before this electrical issue showed up.
.....so it's likely whatever was causing it was a random wire somewhere, however I never found it. It still MUST be in there. Was it a one in a million dumb luck that it caused an issue, or am I just getting lucky NOW...and ten miles from home it's gonna jiggle loose somehow and cause a problem again. Of course I can't know. ....what's the plan of attack here? Do I let it lie? Do I get back in there and look for an issue that isn't even there anymore? I'm gonna get back in there again, see if I can find anything one last time, but I absolutely hate leaving a situation un solved, even if the issue appears to be gone.
Thoughts? What would YOU do?
I haven't prettied any of it up, and it's still a mess, but now I'm not seeing any electrical issues. Fuse was blowing within seconds of cranking it up, and it's now run and idled twice for about 15 minutes. Oil gauge has resumed it's "pegged" position like it was before this electrical issue showed up.
.....so it's likely whatever was causing it was a random wire somewhere, however I never found it. It still MUST be in there. Was it a one in a million dumb luck that it caused an issue, or am I just getting lucky NOW...and ten miles from home it's gonna jiggle loose somehow and cause a problem again. Of course I can't know. ....what's the plan of attack here? Do I let it lie? Do I get back in there and look for an issue that isn't even there anymore? I'm gonna get back in there again, see if I can find anything one last time, but I absolutely hate leaving a situation un solved, even if the issue appears to be gone.
Thoughts? What would YOU do?
#3
Re: Electrical short apparently gone, but I didn't fix it. Thoughts?
It's main power comes directly from the battery. It's activated by the pink "hot" when cranking/ignition wire. Pink I think. -which of course comes from the under dash block.
I've driven it a bit since I posted....it's running fine. -but of course....never officially fixed anything so it's in the back of my mind all the time...argghhhh.
I've driven it a bit since I posted....it's running fine. -but of course....never officially fixed anything so it's in the back of my mind all the time...argghhhh.
#4
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Car: 1987 SC/1985 TA
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Re: Electrical short apparently gone, but I didn't fix it. Thoughts?
maybe run a dedicated ignition on power to the unit?
wont' fix the short if it's still there but the car will still run
wont' fix the short if it's still there but the car will still run
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