Another Wiring Drama

PCC · #1 (**permalink**) 02-25-2007, 03:31 AM

After calling on Nick (DemiCobra) I thought how well is this car going.

Hmmmmmmmmmm...............

Picked my daughter up later in the day and I sensed something not quite right. Got home and the bloody thing is overheating!!!!

Fan not working

Decided to forget about it and have a few more lubricating beers - suddenly turned warmer in QLD (not just the car!).

Today I thought that's it, time to lye upside down in the cockpit and find the problem.

Fan definitely not working, but fuses seem okay. Hook up the fan to the Jeep battery and hey presto we have movement. Hmmm, what else - the relay maybe.

Now where is that relay? - no manual, no colour coded wires - excellent!!!!

I do have a manual switch so click click and in the end I find the relay - under the dash behind the glove box - impossible to see even upside down with my feet through the hoop

Come on guys - GET THAT WIRING SORTED AND ACCESSIBLE FOR US TYPE'S who buy from you!!!

Anyway, shuffle shuffle and hey presto the fan works, but (always a but) the live feed is bloody hot due to a loose connection.

New relay is the order of the day and repositioned to an user friendly location!

Question after all this I notice the relay has different crimped connections and the existing wires don't seem to want to leave their home. Is there an alternative type of relay where the wires can be either screwed in or some other method to crimping special connectors to the relay itself?

Wondorous cars, these

Philm · #2 (**permalink**) 02-25-2007, 04:00 AM

PCC,
I have all of my relays mounted on these blocks

http://www.narva.com.au/Switches_19.html

When you need to change them you just unplug them, they can also clip together so that you can keep all relays in one spot. I have a panel with all relays circuit breakers in the kick panel on the passenger side (thanks Mando), with undoing 2 screws the panel is removed and all components are there.

Phil

trularin · #3 (**permalink**) 02-25-2007, 07:20 AM

Socketed type like on GM trucks. The relay is plugged into a socket that has the wires mounted on crimps that lock in the base. Sounds like you have a version of this.

Studies show that this type of relay lasts the longest in high vibration and adverse conditions. Usually needs a hold down if in a fuse & relay cluster.

There are the industrial types that mount on a rail, trouble is those may fall out of the rail if you hit bumps.

Hope this helps.

PCC · #4 (**permalink**) 02-25-2007, 04:09 PM

Phil,

Good idea. I intend relocating all my relays to the back of my passenger kickboard as per your suggestion.

Once I can tidy all my wiring around the battery (located in the footwell) the happier I'll be.

The kickboard is screwed down so there should be less vibration.

Trularin - yes most of mine are socketed types, but some have simply loosened (vibrated) from their mountings.

Access is my biggest issue in regard to such things - a bit of planning at build stage would have made all the difference

400TT · #5 (**permalink**) 02-25-2007, 05:37 PM

There are builders and there are builders. Takes a lot of forethought and planning to make the vehicles easy to work on and reliable. We tend to hang onto our cars for a long time, so put the effort into the build in the first place as we've got to live with & maintain them for a long time.

Yeah, those mounting blocks are the way to go, I got mine with an extra socket, so I can carry around a spare relay. One of our club members had the thermo relay fail at the last drag meet.