jbrill

hey guys, first off, i did a search but didn't come up with much other than it could be frayed wires where the headlight pops up.

anyways, my low beam on my drivers side keeps going out due to a blown fuse. then when i flick the high beams on it briefly lights up and then blows the high beam fuse. this only happens on the drivers side and the grounds and wires look ok. i did notice water surrounding my fuse box the other day because the drainage had become clogged with debris. i don't think this could cause any damage to my circuitry in the fuse box though, as it is sealed well.

what else could be the problem?
by the way, this is on a ROW 1990 s2

jbrill

anyone?

Luis de Prat

Hi, I just went through this on the driver side and it's happening again on the passenger side.

Believe me, it is cracked wiring. They crack inside the harness and cause a short but you can't see them through the sheath.

The typical place where they crack is right where the factory wire tie holds the harness to the headlight bucket frame.

Get some small spade connectors to splice the wires with. Make sure they're encased in plastic or get little covers for them. Cut the wire tie and feel the harness. Right where it flops easily is where the wires will be cracked. Cut open the harness sheath and separate the cracked wires. You will probably find a big lump of wiring, but it's possible that not all 3 wires will be cracked -high beam, low beam and ground.

Splice the wires with the spade connectors, cover it up as best you can with the harness sheath and seal it with electrical tape. Replace the 7.5 Amp fuse again, and you should be back in business!

I'm doing this later today on my passenger side and will post pics.

Clark W

+1 on above. Same thing happened on my s2 about six years ago. Split right where the bundle enters the headlight bucket, passenger side. When I rewired my headlights for high power bulbs I incorporated a big stress relief loop in the cable bundle to prevent it from happening again.

Good luck.

Luis de Prat

Thanks for your input. It helps taking on electrical issues with some insight!

jbrill

thanks guys, i will check this out and report back!

jbrill

problem solved! it was the wires! thanks for the tip guys!

Luis de Prat

Which side? How badly cracked were they? Did you have to splice?

I just repaired the passenger side. The cracks were pretty small and only in the sheathing but I imagine the bend in the harness caused the wires inside to short out and blow the fuse.

jbrill

my wires were quite cracked in one particular spot, i wonder if i i just missed some cracks, lower down... i cut out the cracked wires and then soldered them back together and cover with heat shrink