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none..... but remember I am electrically challenged.
Thankfully it didn't burn to the ground !
Your patron Saint of Darkness, St. LUCAS should not be present in the house.... he really only takes up residence in the house of British automobiles !
Give her another go, but have someone handy with an extinguisher and a hand on those cables.
Just another quick thought here. Before you try and re-open another jar of 'LUCAS Smoke' ( which may be mis labeled Bosch )
What did you do with the alarm under the under hood by the battery ? And all the wiring that went to the ignition ? Did that all get sorted ? Some how either that relay is hinkie or you have a lead of direct current going in the wrong direction, and is there a possibility this aftermarket alarm system may have something to do with it ?
none..... but remember I am electrically challenged.
Thankfully it didn't burn to the ground !
Your patron Saint of Darkness, St. LUCAS should not be present in the house.... he really only takes up residence in the house of British automobiles !
Give her another go, but have someone handy with an extinguisher and a hand on those cables.
Just in case
BLoody Hell, maybe it was the FORCE , from the 3 MGB's on the property, loaded with a Plethora of Lucas Doom. Somebody should make a Star Wars spoof about Lucas some day...maybe when I retire.
Turns out it was the little brown ground wire for the cooling fan relay coil. WTH! How could THAT smoke.
Did you install a relay with a fly back diode in that circuit? For some reason Porsche inverted the 85 and 86 pins in that circuit. Using a relay with a fly back diode would cause a short when the key is turned on.
Nice looking car and it sounds like you got a great deal. That euro front end really makes a difference.
I looked through the thread and didn't see any reference to timing and balance belts, maybe I missed it but it is worth repeating... unless you know that the belts have been changed recently (time and kilometers) this should be done. Interference engine + broken belt = bent valves.
Did you install a relay with a fly back diode in that circuit? For some reason Porsche inverted the 85 and 86 pins in that circuit. Using a relay with a fly back diode would cause a short when the key is turned on.
HI Marc,
Good thought, I looked at that as well, even pulled the cover off the relay, no diode. If it did have the diode, I would imagine both 12V and ground wires would have fried as they are the same gauge, this was just the ground side indicating 12V managed to get applied right at the relay, I found a wire loose at the back of the fuse block, it doesn't look like it could have reached that point but who knows. I need to find out where that wire goes, about 14ga black with red stripe, looks like it belongs on the tabs on the right side of the fuse block.
I'm very happy it is now running with no smoke under the dash, need to fix the alternator, cooling fan system, heater blower and instrument lights and then start chasing the little gremlins, the big ones are solved.
Nice looking car and it sounds like you got a great deal. That euro front end really makes a difference.
I looked through the thread and didn't see any reference to timing and balance belts, maybe I missed it but it is worth repeating... unless you know that the belts have been changed recently (time and kilometers) this should be done. Interference engine + broken belt = bent valves.
I'm originally from Nanaimo.
Thanks Grant,
I like the look of it as well, had no idea it was so rare until I started looking into the differences between RoW and US/Canada models.
I haven't any history on belts but agree, it is on the list if things to do, along with water pump and T-Stat while I'm in there. I had a belt fail on my Prelude years ago, I know all about interference engines.
Cheers
PS I'm also from Nanaimo
And Mr. GreenJeans forgot to answer yes, crank windows, no power.
I like the look of it as well, had no idea it was so rare until I started looking into the differences between RoW and US/Canada models.
And Mr. GreenJeans forgot to answer yes, crank windows, no power.
next thing you will be telling me it has 'Pasha' seats and door panels, and I'm gonna want to come up to BC and add another 944 to my group...
This car is starting to really pique my interest. Glad you got it running, but I really would tend to those belts like yesterday; there have just been SO many folks busting up their valves and heads. Would really hate to see that in the mix for you at this point in time
Was a crazy work week and finally had a few hours to work on it yesterday. After fiddling around for an hour trying to get the left headlight working, I decided a complete restoration of the fuse/relay panel was needed. It actually came out quite easily, and disassembling it was simple. I found that 2 of the little pins in the A circuit has come loose from the main bus bars, so I cleaned everything and then soldered them back onto the bus bars. Cleaned all of the spade lugs, fuse holders and everything that had oxidization, it turned out great and put it back in and now have all lights, blower etc working. I also found that there was nothing wrong with the cooling fan or thermo switch, reconnected those and it cycled just fine as the engine warmed up.
Also found a rebuilt alternator from a 85 Vanagon, same 90 amp guts but different case halves, as I couldn't find a diode plate to replace the shorted one in my original (battery drain problem) I swapped all of the new guts into the original housing and am going to put that in today...that will be the last of the big ticket electrical items, probably still be a few gremlins to figure out but it looks promising.
WOW~! And I thought that I had problems! Still too far away to tackle electrical...since the car was so old and forlorn..I didn't even try to put a battery in it to see what happens electrically...Great job!
No, it has a leak around the windshield and it has been sitting for a few years un-driven and with wet drivers carpet, it had it's own little weather system inside. It's all good now.
I actually decided to take it for it's first run yesterday as it is running and all systems seem to be working. Ran it up and down the road, put on 3KM and it drives great, very happy with it. Got it back in the driveway and was listening to the cooling fan cycle, when it just died. Cranked, no tach bounce, first thought, DME relay, the one I repaired as a temporary fix failed again, thankfully in the driveway. I'm picking up the new one today.
So progress is great and I'm happy with the car. Still have a list of things to do on it but it runs and drives fine which is a relief, probably one of the very few cars I have bought without hearing it run.
04-09-2018, 01:46 AM
