Chucks928

I,m repairing and replacing bad wiring on my CE panel and the associated looms.....I,m pretty much done but have one wire that has me stumped! Its a blue/black wire going to position J5 which is loom J, terminal 5 on the CE panel.. I,m not seeing anywhere on the schematics where this wire comes from and it has been toasted badly and needs to be replaced. Its melted right up to the main loom under the dash and I dont want to tear out this whole loom trying to follow it! Can anyone give me an idea where it goes and what its hooked to? Maybe I,m totally overlooking it on the schematics,but I,ve looked 3 times and see nothing. J5...the mystery wire... also,its a 1982 US Ljet. Thanks ahead of time!! Chuck

Chucks928

Its J5...loom J terminal 5 that has me stumped...........the Blue/Black striped wire is toasted but there is also a black wire in the same terminal which is in good shape. Any thoughts on that Bl/Black wire is appreciated.

kawi825

I can't look at anything right now but my dimmer has black , black/blue going to it. Lower left under dash. Did you by chance have any dimmer issues? Possibly made it down to the CE

GerritD

Wire is from interior lights. You probably have a short circuit in the interior lighting...or a bulb is pulling too much current. Normally the fuse of 8 A should blow, unless there is a wrong fuse.

Chucks928

Ok, looking at the schematic in my WSM....it shows J8 making that connection which would be wrong. On my CE panel and on the 8 pin,that connection is marked as J5. I totally missed something which I should have noticed....The wire connecting fuse 4 to J5 on the back of the CE panel was also totally melted and was the first thing I repaired. That fuse is listed as "ashtray light/ switch lights" in the manual. The 8 amp fuse was also blown. Looks like 1 of these 2 may be the issue?! The blue/ black wire heads into the main loom and should end at either of these? I,m hoping I can just run a new wire from the problem to the CE panel separate from the loom when ready.

rjtw

Just for others who may follow along in the future, what you need to find the colored wires is the "current flow diagram" (from which Gerrit reproduced above). I'm not sure that there is a public source for the '82 but the '83/'84 version exists, and there is a great similarity for the '80-'84 USA Ljet cars which can give you a good starting point. Links and "how-to" here: https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...r-dummies.html

Edit: I double checked, here is the '82 USA current flow diagram if you need the whole thing: https://www.manualslib.com/products/...m-2639559.html

Chucks928

rj.....good point for sure. I,ve been using these schematics to trace multiple issues on this car since I bought it. There can be errors,as I found with this issue. My set of schematic prints for my 1982 show a slightly different layout compared to Gerrits, but I think they end up accomplishing the same thing. And mine shows the blue/black wire running to the relay and the black to the dimmer but I think its actually the opposite. I,ll be pulling the dimmer and ashtray light tomorrow to see whats up.

Landseer

Pull the console side covers too. Very common to find mousenest and skinned wires in that area under radio.
You will need to physically trace the burnt wire from end to end, unwrapping harness covers if necessary.
They almost always burn all along the length and melt/crossfeed to other harness wires.

Wisconsin Joe

Without digging into any schematics, Blue/Black wires are almost always dash/pod/center console illumination.

What of your lights for that work or don't work?

Chucks928

Joe, if memory serves me well, I believe that all of my pod lights work, I had the pod out last year to clean it up and replace all of the bulbs and I,m sure they all were working. I dont remember if the dimmer was working but I have been very meticulous in taking notes and dont see any notes regarding that. I think that the console may have been missing lights and the PO had installed an aftermarket radio that was not really done well,so I,m thinking the problem lies in there somewhere. This project started as a cleanup and repair of the CE panel and some bad wires that were found on those looms. That black/blue one was the worse,totally melted right up to the main loom and even the associated wire on the back of the CE panel was melted ( going to fuse # 4). In the WSM it was labelled as J8 but its actually J5 on the panel.

drscottsmith

There is a lightbulb in the clock and one in the ashtray that are vulnerable to being bent and shorted if not careful when removing/reinstalling the console. You can get to those to check by just removing the side panel on pass side to investigate.

Chucks928

Thanks guys.....the weather cleared for a bit this evening so I pulled off the passenger side panel. I do see some remnants of mouse debris and 1 black wire just about worn through and 3 brown wires disconnected.I see 1 empty terminal on the clock,1 empty terminal on the ashtray and 1 of those disconnected brown wires appears to be a female connector with a male terminal on it for one of those other brown wires. Looks like time to get in there and do some clean up. That black/blue wire may be running to the dimmer. From the J5 connection it was totally melted as far as I could see,but the wire itself was still somewhat solid. I did have gauge lights but they were very dull, way duller than I thought they should be and that wire may be why. Can that dimmer actually go bad? its pretty basic in its design.

Landseer

Yes, dimmer wheel mechanism can have problems, and can be bypassed. But as distasteful as it seem, I'd first slit or unwrap the harness covers to physically trace wire from end to end. These tiny wires are marginal in practical sense. Damn things melt together deep in the bundles randomly along entire length and often crossfeed. Mice and radio hacks in that console are amongst top root causes. Dimmer doesnt usually cause it.

I use the wire condition at the CE plugs and behind the panel as a key indicator of what needs to be chased electrically on these cars.

Another major headache is when roof light gets pushed too deep and shorts up inside headliner. Solution almost always involves pulling up a lot of passenger side interior and carpet up for access.

kawi825

If you take a look at my 0836 Zinmmetaliic thread, I recently had my dimmer crap out due to some idiot (me) installing incorrect LED lamps in the pod, this pulled through the dimmer and almost caught on fire. I removed/bypassed the dimmer with good spade terminals and all's well. This is a very common procedure as most think the three gauge lights are too dim anyway.

I see you're also a WNY'er? I'm rolling through Buff on the way to Erie for work today

Chucks928

Thanks guys....looks like I have a short term plan. In my pic, that wire was in that shape all the way to the main loom so I,m going to start there. Then bypass the dimmer and figure out those disconnected brown wires in the console. Kawi...I,m outside Rochester. Not too far, but the opposite way from Erie! Thanks anyways! Chuck