I think I've been describing the Roadster as "my most reliable
vehicle" a little too much for my own good. Many of you followed my
ballast resistor escapade of a couple of weeks ago that turned out to be a
blown fuse. Tonight I leave work late, get almost to the freeway entrance
and she goes dead. Check the fuse box and the 10amp Flasher/Ignition fuse
is blown. Same one that started me down the wrong path the last time.
Replace the fuse and make it onto the freeway where it goes dead after
about a 1/4 mile. Throw in another one and it fries after about 30
seconds. Pop the head and look for loose or frayed wires and see nothing.
Pop in a 15 amp fuse just for giggles and we cook that one in about 5
seconds. Crawled under the dash looking for anything suspicious but can't
find anything out of the ordinary. There are a couple of wires that
terminate into nothing, but they don't seem to be exposing any metal.
Basically jiggled stuff around for a few minutes and then sat there
contemplating my navel as it begin to get dark and I felt the semi's
shaking to death speeding by. Decided what the hell, I need to get home so
I threw in a 20 amp fuse (I'm sure that is a major no-no), watched it for
30 seconds to make sure it didn't torch, and took off hoping to get home
before I cooked the entire electrical system. Made it home and replaced
the 20 amp with the proper 10 amp and now of course everything seems to be
fine.
So what the hell do I do now besides stock up heavily on 10amp fuses.
I may have to buy stock in Buss. If you recall, this is the same fuse that
when blown allows me to turn the engine over and it catches fire, but then
dies as soon as you let off on the key. My neighbor tried to tell me how
to trace the circuit to find a short, but it sounded ugly and extremely
time consuming and fraught with not finding anything. Anybody find this to
be a common problem that usually has a similar root cause? Since this is
the flasher circuit, should I pull the side markers (mines a 69) and take a
look at the connections? Should I just say screw it and have the AAA card
ready and waiting at all times? All of my under dash wiring looks pretty
clean and undisturbed, so I really don't even know where to start.
Electrical is definitely not my speciality, though I'm beginning to wonder
if I have one. I am good at washing, waxing, and having fun driving, so
maybe I should leave the rest to professionals. I really would like to
learn how to take care of stuff like this however, for it's not like the
engine is out to lunch and needs to be rebuilt. Any and all advice gladly
accepted.
P.S. I also have the 66amp GM one wire alt hooked up with the hot wire
ONLY connected. Unplugged the voltage regulator, and left the second plug
harness that used to attach to the stock alternator dangling. They aren't
touching metal anywhere, but I haven't taped them over or anything either.
I know the fuseable link suggestions will come up, but I can't imagine that
has anything to do with my current predicament. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Next project - finish off the Pacifico supply and call it a day.
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