I've never replaced my wiring harness, but had a simliar incident two
summers ago. Lights went out when I switched to high beams while
driving down a fun country lane at night. Noticed things were not only
dark, but QUIET! The engine had gone dead. Hit the dip switch,
everything came back to life. For me it was an easy solution, replaced
the dip switch.
The only advice I can offer on replacing the wiring harness is to
carefully label all the connections as you remove you old harness from
the car. Make lots of notes on how things appear to go together.
Compare the new harness to the old one. All common sense stuff really.
Tim Holbrook
1971 TR6
--- Riveting Images <kerry@riveting-images.com> wrote:
> Good Morning Sixers....
>
> Thought I was going to loose my car last Friday night. I was driving
> home from the
> theater at 10 PM when my radio failed after turning a corner. In the
> millisecond
> it took me to begin mentally troubleshhoting this problem, I realised
> the whole
> car had shut off and the headlights were out. Next thing, the radio
> is back on and
> I resatart the engine - all while coasting. Then I smelled burning
> insulation and
> knew I had BIG trouble under the hood. I quickly pulled over and
> popped the hood
> to discover plumes of smoke rising from the area where the brown
> wires plug into
> the positive battrery terminal. I knew I had to disconnect the
> battery but had no
> tools with me. I also did not have my fire extinguisher in the car
> yet. In
> desparertion I grabbed the negative cable and managed to twist it off
> the battery.
> I monitored the engine bay for a few minutes then opened the cockpit
> to get a
> flashlight - the cockpit was filled with smoke!
>
> Long story short. The wiring for the headlights burned all the way
> from the
> battery, across the width of the dash, and up the steering column to
> the headlight
> dip switch. I disconnected those wires and am able to drive the car,
> however, the
> degree of colateral damage is unknow and I can't risk a fire in
> another circuit,
> so it time to put in a new main harness.
>
> Any one care to share time saving tips? The BL operations time manual
> says its a 5
> hour job, so I'm planning 10+.
>
> How 'bout sources? I'm guessing TRF's harnesses come from British
> Wire in
> Illinois.
>
> Needles to say, my car will be sporting its fir extinguisher again
> real soon and a
> battery cut-off switch may be in its immediate future. I'm just
> thanbk-ful Anne
> wasn't driving the car at the time as she would not have known to
> disconnect the
> battery and eliminte the source. A new wiring harness is a small
> price to pay.
>
> Kerry
> Editor, 6-PACK
>
> P.S. The Spring issue is going out any day now, if it didn't last
Friday.
Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
http://auctions.yahoo.com/
|