Can anybody out there help me?
I have a 1990 320i manual :The rev counter, temp guage and heater have all stopped working.
I looked at the fuse box and fuse number 10 (7.5amp) had blown. I replaced the fuse and it blew again. I then put a brand new earth lead on the battery.
Everything started working for a while, but then it blew again. I think this happened when i put car in reverse. I called out the AA who looked for over an hour but couldnt find anything. He said its either the gearbox earth lead or the pcb behind the steering wheel.
Has anybody out there had a similar problem. I dont want to go spending hundreds on an auto electrician
Rev counter and temp guage not working
Moderator: martauto
-
Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49360
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
First, welcombe to the zone.
See you posted three hours ago.I'm surprised no one's answered you yet.
Fairly common fault and fairly obvious cause, considering what you've said in your post, but no obvious enough for Mr AA man apparently.
Fuse 10 is for the instruments, OBC, reversing lights and service indicator.
You said that it blew when you put the car into reverse, so it's odd on there's a short somewhere between the reverse light switch and the reverse lights.
Reverse light switch is high up on the right side of the gearbox, and the wiring to it goes down from under the centre console through the big rubber grommet that the gear lever comes up through. It is then clipped to the top bar of the gear linkage and goes forwards to the switch.
The most likely place for your short circuit is on this piece of wire.
As a check, lift up the gear lever gaiter (just unclips) and you will find a white two pin plug and socket at the base of the gearlever on the right side. Unplug this connector. You will see one wire from it goes down through the gear lever grommet. Take the other half of the plug and socket, and link across the two pins in this half with a piece of wire.
With the ignition on, this should light the reverse lights. If they do, without blowing the fuse, then this confirms that the problem is in the wire to the gearbox.
See you posted three hours ago.I'm surprised no one's answered you yet.
Fairly common fault and fairly obvious cause, considering what you've said in your post, but no obvious enough for Mr AA man apparently.
Fuse 10 is for the instruments, OBC, reversing lights and service indicator.
You said that it blew when you put the car into reverse, so it's odd on there's a short somewhere between the reverse light switch and the reverse lights.
Reverse light switch is high up on the right side of the gearbox, and the wiring to it goes down from under the centre console through the big rubber grommet that the gear lever comes up through. It is then clipped to the top bar of the gear linkage and goes forwards to the switch.
The most likely place for your short circuit is on this piece of wire.
As a check, lift up the gear lever gaiter (just unclips) and you will find a white two pin plug and socket at the base of the gearlever on the right side. Unplug this connector. You will see one wire from it goes down through the gear lever grommet. Take the other half of the plug and socket, and link across the two pins in this half with a piece of wire.
With the ignition on, this should light the reverse lights. If they do, without blowing the fuse, then this confirms that the problem is in the wire to the gearbox.
-
vandenvalet
- E30 Zone Newbie
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat May 21, 2005 11:00 pm
Problem sorted exactly as you said. Thanks for the advice