father2nate

Here is the original thread (if needed) https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/183087-i-let-the-smoke-out-edit-finished-with-write-up-and-pictures.html


It appears that when I changed out the speedo and putting the windshield wiper/turn signal assembly back together, I did not get it seated well. This caused the upper right harness to get rubbed and short out. The short traveled to the ignition switch then to the headlight switch.

After pulling it all apart, I noticed I had 2 fried wires along with a fried ignition and headlight switch.

What I replaced:

The 2 wires that got fried.
The headlight switch and connector
The Ignition switch and connector
The upper/left connector on the wiper/turn signal assembly

What I had to remove to get to everything:

Steering wheel
Turn Signal / Wiper assembly
Gauges
DME

How I did it:

First of all, I had to get the steering lock housing off since the ignition was fried and melted the plastic around the pin to the "locked" position. I had to drill out the housing as shown in the first picture.

Once I got that off, I tracked down the fried wires. I had to remove all the tape around the wire bundles. After that, I removed the two fried wires. The plastic was melted to some adjoining wires, but did not seem to cause a problem.

Then, cut off the old connectors. (Make sure the wire colors match!) I stripped the wires, slid the proper sized "Heat Shrink" sleeves over the wires. (Be sure to keep them as far away from the place where you will be making the connection) Then, I twisted all the wires together.

After that, I twisted some solder around the wires. (See Pic) Also, be sure you use Resin Core solder. Acid core solder is not the right stuff.

I soldered all the wires together. Then, I slid the heat shrink sleeves up over the repair and used a torch to heat the sleeves in place.

I put the ignition back in place, tested everything, and viola, it worked.

After all the repairs were made, I used Friction Tape to bind the bundles together. Don't use electrical tape... It's really hard to get off if you need to do so in the future.

After that, I put everything back together and took her out for a test drive.

If you are ever in this situation, please email me, I may be able to help you out.

Pictures of the project...