Earth faults
Posted: 18 Jul 2009 08:34 pm
I've just come across something that I havn't seen before, but seems I'm not the only one.
My dashboard and electrics have been doing weird things of late, which has been down to the multiplug connectors on the bulkhead and the fact I've found a leak at the bottom of the screen. However, the new part to this is that I've been getting a weak earth for a lot of things inside the car (my choke light has been weak, along with a few other things). I didn't take a huge amount of notice tbh, until Thursday night, at 1:30am when I had a severe wibbling of the rev counter, and then the ambient temp gauge. A bit later the RHS indicator indicator (i.e. the dash light only) came on, along with the main beam indicator, and a magic smell of burning plastic filled the car.
It turns out that I've had such a weak earth point (there is a 4 pin earth under the multiplugs) that all the interior of the car had been earthing through the dash cluster. Firstly by the rev counter, then, when that burnt through, through the ambient temp gauge tracks. I've replaced the blue plastic pcb, and though no more of it, until I went through my stock of dashboards. Out of the 4 I found, there was another that had been burnt in exactly the same places (didn't have the amb temp gauge fitted either). I know the screens leaking here is vaguely common, so it seems this problem is too. Well worth the 5 mins it takes to abuse that earth plug with a load of contact cleaner.
My dashboard and electrics have been doing weird things of late, which has been down to the multiplug connectors on the bulkhead and the fact I've found a leak at the bottom of the screen. However, the new part to this is that I've been getting a weak earth for a lot of things inside the car (my choke light has been weak, along with a few other things). I didn't take a huge amount of notice tbh, until Thursday night, at 1:30am when I had a severe wibbling of the rev counter, and then the ambient temp gauge. A bit later the RHS indicator indicator (i.e. the dash light only) came on, along with the main beam indicator, and a magic smell of burning plastic filled the car.
It turns out that I've had such a weak earth point (there is a 4 pin earth under the multiplugs) that all the interior of the car had been earthing through the dash cluster. Firstly by the rev counter, then, when that burnt through, through the ambient temp gauge tracks. I've replaced the blue plastic pcb, and though no more of it, until I went through my stock of dashboards. Out of the 4 I found, there was another that had been burnt in exactly the same places (didn't have the amb temp gauge fitted either). I know the screens leaking here is vaguely common, so it seems this problem is too. Well worth the 5 mins it takes to abuse that earth plug with a load of contact cleaner.
