Message text written by "Alan"
>My 76 TR6 has ac and the volt meter always dipped down when the air and
lights were run together. I had never run both for more than an hour.
On the way home from TRF summer party I ran them both for over two hours
when smoke came out of the steering column.
The light switch on the column burned out fusing it in the low position but
only operable when pulled back in high beam.
I replaced the switch and now the lights work.
I pulled the radiator shield off and noticed that the blue and red wire
burned its way out of the wire harness (controls dip beam lights) I cut it
out
and replaced the wire.
Question, if anyone knows:
Is it normal for the extra load of ac, condenser fan , and head lights to
drop
volts to 13 or less. Or is that the cause of the melt down.
The car has the standard alternator. As far as I know when the dealers
added
ac they did not change the alternator. The Fan and ac power leads are
connected to the bottom fuse; on opposite sides. The fan was grounded to
the front ground tab. The headlights alone do not cause volt drop, ac
alone
w/fan will run at 13 1/2 to 3/4.
I know the alternator could be upgraded, but is there something else I
should
look at for the cause of the melt down?
This is not covered in Dans book.
Thanks in advanced
<
I vote for coincidence.
No the fan running with the head lights will not cause the wires to melt
down like that. The light and fan power are in separate wires. I would
suspect a dodgy splice connector (where the wires all plug together). A
poor connection will generate heat which will be conducted down the wire
and cause the insulation to melt. Once the insulation melts the wire can
short to chassis and this will burn up your head light switch.
Running the lights and the fan will cause the system voltage to drop since
the alternator is being taxed more heavily but 13.5 volts - although not
ideal - is suitable and will not cause the battery to discharge. You can
upgrade the alternator if you like but this is not the cause of the wiring
problem.
Good luck
Dave
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