Electrical Nightmares

[Millay]

Hi all,

Is it usuall to see smoke comming from the fuse box when main beam is on?

Ok ok i know this is a problem, but only the start of a long list. I will start from the beginning.

9 months ago, I purchased a jago for £300 it worked fine roadworthy and in pretty good nick.. Jeft it for 9 months and since found corroded terminals and a stuck clutchfixed those no problem. I am now finding that, If I switch on my headlights I only get parking lights (front & rear) Full beam but no main beam (front & rear). No what scares me is either side of the tow bar are some extra rear brake and indicator lights. these are independantly switched but the main lights switch has to be in the on persition for them to operate. But when these are on if I switch on an indicator, the indicator flashes VERY fast and the secondary rear lights flicker with the indicators (cant check main beam!) if I switch the secondary rear lights, the indicators go really really sloooooowly! So first question whats causing that? is it a bad earth as i suspect?

Second question te he, pls bear with me!

My windscreen wipers do not automatically park themselves and I have to make sure I switch them of at exactly the right time to park them, is this a relay problem or one of the jagos "charms"?

Finally the most worrying is, if I switch on main beam, I start getting smoke comming out of the fuse box under the bonnet, it appears to come from a corroded terminal, could corrosion be causing this (looks like a battery has leaked on it that kinda corrosion) or am I looking at faulty wiring?

Im pretty nifty with a multimeter and wiring but new to this mechanics/motor repair stuff. So woul dapreciate any help. Could somebody tell me what to lok for in the headlight relay/switching gear under the bonnet.

I have so far managed to fix all problems myself at the grand cost of £1.50 savindg myself £100s of garage bills, and im really enjoying it at the same time!

Thanks for bearing with me, if you need any more information or dont understand me (which wouldnt surprise me) please let me know!

Cheers
Andy

[techsec]

Hi
Ok lets see what we can do for you.
Firstly unless really needed remove the extra lights from either side of the tow bar I can not really see what they are there for. I presume the rear light clusters have fog lights built in.
The fact they alter the indicator flash rate means they are either (or possibly a mixture of these) not earthing correctly, the flasher relay is not of the correct rating (only designed to run 2 x 21watts plus 5watts this being the standard indicator loading), or could even be putting a slight short into the circuit.

The windscreen wipers are either ones from a BL vehicles such as a Mini if so it is more likely than not the parking switch on the motor. This is usually a white or semi translucent plastic box which clips onto the wiper motor casing (through a slot) and the wiring plug goes into this.
The easy solution is to get a new one of these switches and fit it. If it still plays up then the wiring from the Escort loom to the BL motor is incorrect.
If this is the case I can supply a diagram about this.

The other system used on the earlier models was from the 105E or Mk1 Escort These are rod operated and the system sits in the centre of the scuttle behind the dash board whereas most of the BL ones had the motor on the passenger side of the vehicle and the wipers boxes are operated by a cable inside tubing.

Our replacement Sandero is doing exactly the same,(the Mini type system) its just a case of having the time to check it out as it is used every day.

Smoking from the fuse box is often down to either an overload (if extra wires have been added to the box to supply other addition items (especially if they are high load items)a short or as you are indicating corroded terminals. Another thing that can happen is the "ceramic" fuses (they are now made of plastic) can melt back as the corrosion is enough to cause heat without actually blowing the fuse. This then stops the circuits powered by that fuse to stop working.
Use dry abrasive "wet/dry" paper and clean all the terminals on the fuse box. This should solve the problem. If not then check the rating of the headlight bulbs (should be 55w dip 60 watt main beam, some people put 100 watt bulbs in which the aged Escort system is not readily able to cope with). If they are the correct rating then check the loom for damaged cable.
The main bulk of the above is wiring work so if you are good with a multi meter you should have very few problems chasing the cables.

If I remember correctly (from my days at a Ford garage) the Escort wiring does not have a relay for the standard headlight circuit, only for the optional "driving" lights some models had, so the switch has to take all of the load.

If you require any further info you can contact me direct on my e-mail address
[e-mail]

[gordy1]

Had similar probs with my new sauri project. Things not working as they should, smoke coming from under the dash board. I took all the extras out including the wiring & just left the basic loom in atached to the important bits, lights, indicaters, engine componants. Having extra wires put in that change colour, are taped together & even twisted together is no joke. Check remainding wires for cuts bad joins & clean up terminals. Start fresh with all extras you require giving them a fused relay as some things take a hefty load & no Ford did't use any for the lights/indicaters so niether have I.
Takes a long time but i'm happy with the results.
Goodluck mate.

[Norfolkngood]

The problem with the wipers may be the parking switch as already suggested, also you should have a switched live feed to the parking switch. This is so that when the wipers are turned off there is still power going to the motor until the parking switch stops the wipers at the desired plase. Switch is worked off a cam on the BMC wiper assembly that simply pushes a nylon button which in turn breaks the power. As a matter of interest you can get different cams from other vehicle wipers like Alegro(yuk) and austin 1100's etc. These will alter the angle at which the wipers wipe or otherwise the distance the blades travel.

[techsec]

The wiper sweep is usually changed by fitting one of the two wiper wheel boxes. One has 32 teeth and the other has 40.

To find out more check out the FAQ page on the technical web site
http://joctecweb.future.easyspace.com