Glen:
To safely diagnose the site of your short circuit you might
try the following:
1. Turn off all switches.
2. Don't directly connect up the battery. Instead,
put a 12v test light in series between the battery post
and the battery cable. If you don't have a test
light, you can make one with a tail lamp bulb and a lamp
socket from an auto parts store. Even if there is a short
somewhere, the light bulb will limit the current to safe levels.
3. If you have a good solid short somewhere the light will
be bright. Now the plan is to disconnect things until the
light goes out. A good, easy place to start would be to
disconnect each fuse in turn. Try to be systematic in what
you disconnect.
That will help pinpoint where your short(s) are located.
I certainly would want to have a full wiring diagram before
starting out. A trip to the local copy shop might also
be in order: use one of the enlarging copiers so you don't
go blind looking at the wiring diagram.
Good luck!
John Hunt
Portland, Or.
In a message dated 98-04-10 14:53:37 EDT, HGlenBetts writes:
It's a 76 MG-B, last year I replaced the entire wiring harness and did
many
other things to get it running for the first time in 10 years.( found
it in a
barn and towed it home)
The other day I installed a new battery and started it up. ran pretty
good (
still on blocks, finishing up the rostyles). Shut it down then started
cleaning dash and gauge faces when the frightening odor of burning wire
hit
the air. Popped the hood and yanked a few wires. The ignition was not
all the
way off. also noted that the light switch ws set at parking lamp.
The wire that toasted was Red/Green, from fuze box to light switch. The
entire wire is toasted,end to end, and burned through others. I will be
stripping the harness, visually checking for other damage and
installing a new
light switch.
Does anyone have any trouble shooting advice to find root cause??
How about some diagnostics to verify if I've caught all the damage to
other
wiring??
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