need electrics checked

cyclonebri1

mikey72 wrote: »

Maybe a story about "a car destroyed to a wiring issue way back in 1987"
"Car gutted, interior gone, engine gearbox melted to road, all tyres and alloys gone,"
wasn't the best way to reassure them that the car won't catch fire, which is what they said in post #8.

Yes but the point I was making was about personnal safety, that car burnt for 1/2hr without the tank going up, time to have walked home, just trying to reassure the OP that it's unlikely to explode.

Incidentally the cause of the fire was found, Goldspanners, I had only had the car a week. It had had the radio cassettes removed before sale. They had cut of the inline fuse that supplied the radio, which shorted to the chassis and then probably ignited rubbish or sweet papers that had fell from the ash tray, (come to think of it, it start to sound like the op's issue:o:o)

cyclonebri1

delambo wrote: »

I am a qualified auto electrician and a firefighter. I have also owned 2 cars which have had wiring loom fires so I can speak with real conviction on this topic!!! I might add before I get comments about "cant be a good auto electrician if his loom catches fire" (or similar) - does a doctor never get sick? One fire was caused by a faulty light switch - it had no lead up to warn me it was faulty just one day went up, the other was caused by a wire which had had oil leaking on it before I owned it. Over time the insulation had broken down and after driving through a puddle it caused the wire to arc.

Firstly as has been mentioned previously electrical fires are slow developing, they do not suddenly burst into flames or explode, but they are quick to rip through the loom causing more damage and ultimately write the car off.

The first warning signs that you will be presented with will be a rancid burning smell - the smell of burning plastic. It will start faint and grow with time. Do not ignore it!! The easy way to limit the damage of an electrical fire is to disconnect the battery. If the wires have just started to melt then you have plenty of time to to do this, if there is visible smoke then you probably don't have the time - in which case get as far away as quickly as you can. In order to quickly disconnect the battery check to see what spanner size in needed at the first opportunity after buying a car. Buy a cheep spanner from a market or pound shop and tape it with good quality tape to the battery itself, that way it is where you need it when you need it.

Carry a fire extinguisher and keep it near the drivers seat. Only use it if you need to do so to save life. Remember your car and its contents are all replaceable - you are not!

As for the people that are trying to diagnose it for you, take it all with a pinch of salt. I know they are just trying to help but it is impossible to correctly diagnose any fault without at least seeing the car and its fault. If you follow any advise here and start changing stuff that might not need replacing it might cost more than paying a decent auto electrician a couple of hours to find the fault and replace just that part!

To find a good electrician go by recommendation - there are loads of bad electricians out there, I have gone in after plenty of them. Take a recommendation form a friend - not a stranger. Ask if they have a wiring diagram for your car, of they say they do not need one then avoid them like the plague - you can only fix simple faults without a wiring diagram.

I used to fit both battery kill switches and quick rease, ie, tool free battery terminals to my trackday cars, ok overkill for a £400 runaround but I too have seen the results;)

housesitter

Cyclone, I have circuit breakers fitted to all my cars, including my beater. Fastest way to turn the battery off to work on it. 100A rated, circa 5quid when I last bought a batch.

Check the grounds/earths.
All this electric noise is quite possibly down to bad earthing.
Some cars have bare metal straps between the engine and chassis and in the path of potential corrosion.
Electricity takes the path of least resistance and may very well find going via other circuits preferable to the chassis ground.

First thing I always look at when faced with electric problems on any car. Check all earths are correct and not corroded.
I've picked up more than one cheap motor because of it

cyclonebri1

housesitter wrote: »

Cyclone, I have circuit breakers fitted to all my cars, including my beater. Fastest way to turn the battery off to work on it. 100A rated, circa 5quid when I last bought a batch.

Check the grounds/earths.
All this electric noise is quite possibly down to bad earthing.
Some cars have bare metal straps between the engine and chassis and in the path of potential corrosion.
Electricity takes the path of least resistance and may very well find going via other circuits preferable to the chassis ground.

First thing I always look at when faced with electric problems on any car. Check all earths are correct and not corroded.
I've picked up more than one cheap motor because of it

Sound thinking:j

goldspanners

housesitter wrote: »

First thing I always look at when faced with electric problems on any car. Check all earths are correct and not corroded.
I've picked up more than one cheap motor because of it

quickest way to test this would be to put a jump lead from the battery negative on to bare metal part of chassis. do make sure its definatly the negative first though!

hartcjhart

OP what area are you in (not too specific)

FirstTimer4Me

hartcjhart wrote: »

OP what area are you in (not too specific)

i'm in birmingham

hartcjhart

try these i had to use them a while back for a problem

ask how much first

http://www.leaderautomotive.co.uk/

FirstTimer4Me

hartcjhart wrote: »

try these i had to use them a while back for a problem

ask how much first

http://www.leaderautomotive.co.uk/

fantastic thanks you i'll call them tomorrow for a quote.

can i ask another question here? i had a quote from a local garage is it worth paying £150.00 for a service parts & labour included considering i only paid £400 for the car?

hartcjhart

I would say no
that is far too much for a service,parts should only be about £20-£30
and roughly an hours labour£30-£40