Total electrical failure – could this happen to you.....?
Discussion
I'm posting this in the hope it may save someone else from having the same problem.
A couple of weeks ago I had a complete electrical failure on my 2000 Chim 450. 10:30 at night, 100 miles from home & lights, engine, the whole shooting match went off without warning. Got home at 6:00 the next morning on an AA relay truck. Not the best night I have spent, and the first time the Chim has let me down......
Check battery, good continuity to earth. 12.8v measured at the alternator, so main red battery lead to starter & 100A fuse are both OK. All the other electrics are dead, so time to pull the battery.....
On my car there are two wires from the +ve battery terminal. There's the fat red one which runs to the starter, but there's also a smaller doubled-up brown wire which I now know is the main power feed from the battery to the fuseboard at the very front of the footwell. Turns out there is an 80A fuse in this wire (circled in yellow on the pic and hidden behind the battery box) and the end of the fuseholder nearest the battery is well & truly melted. Eventually the fuse broke & cut off the power to the entire car. Probably a good job it did.....fibreglass cars burn quite enthusiastically I am told.
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So why did the fuseholder overheat & melt? It's in such a state it's hard to tell, but clearly the heat source was at the fuseholder terminal so there must have been a poor contact at that point. Maybe the nut holding the ring terminal was loose, or the ring terminal was poorly attached to the wire, or the wire itself corroded? Whatever, you can see the result here.....
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My advice? Get down in the footwell & have a good look at this wire, especially where the terminals are attached. Any doubts, replace. Access is b**** awful, but if this wire breaks or the fuse blows, everything stops. Trust me, I know!
Fortunately the damage was confined to what you can see in the photos and replacement of this and the associated wires was all that was needed for a full return to health. Interestingly, since replacing the wire the windows are faster, the cooling fans run faster, the warning lights are brighter and the boot now unlocks first time, every time. So there had been some signs, but it had been deteriorating gradually and I hadn't noticed.
This episode has clarified for me a couple of points regarding the electrical supply which I hadn't appreciated and which aren't clear from the owners handbook or the "Bible". First, the 80 A fuse in the passenger footwell carries the main power feed to the car and if this fails, you lose all the electrics including the hazard warning lights. (This is not good when you are stuck on an unlit country road at pub closing time...). Secondly, the 100A fuse on the chassis rail is in the alternator charging circuit, not the power supply to the car, so if this fails the car should continue to run but the battery will not be charged (can someone with more knowledge please confirm?).
Learn from your own mistakes, but better to learn from others'. Hope this helps.
A couple of weeks ago I had a complete electrical failure on my 2000 Chim 450. 10:30 at night, 100 miles from home & lights, engine, the whole shooting match went off without warning. Got home at 6:00 the next morning on an AA relay truck. Not the best night I have spent, and the first time the Chim has let me down......
Check battery, good continuity to earth. 12.8v measured at the alternator, so main red battery lead to starter & 100A fuse are both OK. All the other electrics are dead, so time to pull the battery.....
On my car there are two wires from the +ve battery terminal. There's the fat red one which runs to the starter, but there's also a smaller doubled-up brown wire which I now know is the main power feed from the battery to the fuseboard at the very front of the footwell. Turns out there is an 80A fuse in this wire (circled in yellow on the pic and hidden behind the battery box) and the end of the fuseholder nearest the battery is well & truly melted. Eventually the fuse broke & cut off the power to the entire car. Probably a good job it did.....fibreglass cars burn quite enthusiastically I am told.
[/URL][/URL]So why did the fuseholder overheat & melt? It's in such a state it's hard to tell, but clearly the heat source was at the fuseholder terminal so there must have been a poor contact at that point. Maybe the nut holding the ring terminal was loose, or the ring terminal was poorly attached to the wire, or the wire itself corroded? Whatever, you can see the result here.....
[/URL]My advice? Get down in the footwell & have a good look at this wire, especially where the terminals are attached. Any doubts, replace. Access is b**** awful, but if this wire breaks or the fuse blows, everything stops. Trust me, I know!
Fortunately the damage was confined to what you can see in the photos and replacement of this and the associated wires was all that was needed for a full return to health. Interestingly, since replacing the wire the windows are faster, the cooling fans run faster, the warning lights are brighter and the boot now unlocks first time, every time. So there had been some signs, but it had been deteriorating gradually and I hadn't noticed.
This episode has clarified for me a couple of points regarding the electrical supply which I hadn't appreciated and which aren't clear from the owners handbook or the "Bible". First, the 80 A fuse in the passenger footwell carries the main power feed to the car and if this fails, you lose all the electrics including the hazard warning lights. (This is not good when you are stuck on an unlit country road at pub closing time...). Secondly, the 100A fuse on the chassis rail is in the alternator charging circuit, not the power supply to the car, so if this fails the car should continue to run but the battery will not be charged (can someone with more knowledge please confirm?).
Learn from your own mistakes, but better to learn from others'. Hope this helps.
kennybgr8 said:
Hi guys are the 80 and 100 fuses readily available off the shelf,,,
Thanks
Got mine from Euro Car Parts. Not on the shelf at my local branch, but they had them by 3:00 pm the same day. http://www.eurocarparts.com/strip-fusesThanks
I think QBee's right about the midi fuses and I'll swap mine out next time I'm in there. Euro don't seem to list these, but they are available here: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/fuses/fuses.php. I've used these guys for bike rewiring stuff and I've found them pretty good. They stock the fuseholders as well.
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