engine and drivetrain Electrical Burnout

[heinrich]

I'm posting this on behalf of another local '02 owner who had a bad day recently. Here's his description of the problem:

"This afternoon we were driving home to * from * when I

noticed that the instrument panel charge light ("L") had come on.

Since we were 30 minutes from home I decided to drive on and

troubleshoot things on getting home. Ten minutes later the light went

off, and five minutes later the oil light came on and the engine shut

down shortly thereafter. We pulled over and as soon as we stopped we

saw smoke coming from under the hood. The positive lead from the

battery as well as positive wires throughout the wiring harness had

evidently gone incandescent and melted their insulation. I

disconnected both battery leads.

"I would appreciate any advice as to how to go about troubleshooting

the source of the problem and rebuilding the wiring harness."

Any advice greatly appreciated. I'll pass along any ideas to him.

Thanks,

[jgerry2002]

Get the front part of a harness from close the same year car. Splice and solder the sections and individual wires you need.

If the positive grounded out against the frame, you'll have quite the mess to deal with.

I had to replace everything from the main solder joint (below the fuse box) and every hot wire forward to alternator. In the process of melting, the arc took out other wiring in the car like temp senders that ran through the same section of wiring.

If the insulation looks the slightest bit melted or it is very stiff, the wiring should be replaced. I had section that appeared to be ok, but were actually partially melted inside.

It probably took me about 12-15 hours worth of rebuild time. Also the voltage regulator was toast. I had to replace that as well. I also took the time to replace all the butchered and missing connectors as well.

Hopefully the electrical melting your friend has is not as bad as my tii.

Basically the years of the main hot to the alternator bouncing off the frame rail wore away the insulation.

On another note, that solder joint will probably be the point between good and bad wiring.

[Jack]

Being just about done with a total re-wire, I agree that the easiest way is to find a good wiring harness, if one exists after 35 yrs, and use what is good. I used Painless Performance parts and also their wire. The wire is very good quality and is available from Summit. If you get the old harness, take the time to carefully remove the factory plastic connectors.

[KFunk]

i also had some wires melt, and did a partial re-wire of the car, mostly just the engine.

id suggest ripping out the obviously bad wires, while hopefully remembering what they might do. also replace the battery cables, and check battery to make sure its good. then check all the connections to the basics; starter, ignition coil, distributor. if there's any unknown wires, figure out what they do. then see if you can get it to start. if you can't why not?

wire smoking? figure out why its smoking.

if accessories aren't working, figure out how to connect them.

for pics of my progress, go here and go thru the folders up to 3, the most recent.

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kfunk/wiring/

it really helps you get to know the car better.