With the tape removed, the damage becomes apparent. Something has chafed through the protective tape and cut into the white and white/green wires, causing them to arc and short. The white is the main accessory power source and the white/green is the power source for the gauge and interior lights. Losing both of these circuits would explain our random assortment of electrical failures.Once again we used some all-in-one splices to repair the damage. Since we had to cut out a good amount of damaged wire, we spliced in some replacement wire to make up the length difference. A bit of electrical tape to tidy things up, and we could (hopefully) put our electrical gremlins to bed!So what damaged the harness in the first place? A little jiggling found the culprit. This portion of the wiring harness had dropped onto the steering column mount. The mount was rusty and had cut through the tape and into the wires.To prevent this from happening again, we removed the mount and gave it a good sanding, radiusing the edges to remove any sharp points. We then used a chemical rust treatment to stop any new rust from forming and etch primed the bracket to prevent the rust from ever coming back.We then used some zip tie artistry to secure the harness to the steering column so it can’t rub the column mount. This portion of the column is a sleeve so it does not rotate when the wheel is turned. We then moved the tilt/telescope column into all positions to ensure there was no rubbing. The set of white zip ties is holding up the wiring for the power locks and received the same treatment. In this case, tying the wires to the steering column keeps them out of our feet. Admittedly there are much cleaner ways of routing all of this wiring, but they all involve disassembling the car even more. No thanks!
In the Cappuccino, there is no dimmer for the dash lights. I’m not sure if they are dimmable in other vehicles. But for the Cappuccino the dash lights are so dim to begin with they bring the readability up from “useless” to “regular 90’s car.”
I replaced the cluster lights in my e30 with leds, and they dim perfectly with the standard dimmer. It really is a great upgrade. And they will practically work forever.
5 comments
Hey, look at that! And you didn’t even need to break out a multimeter or janky test light.
Are those LED dash lights dimmable? Bright cluster lights at night and my astigmatism do not get along.
In the Cappuccino, there is no dimmer for the dash lights. I’m not sure if they are dimmable in other vehicles. But for the Cappuccino the dash lights are so dim to begin with they bring the readability up from “useless” to “regular 90’s car.”
I replaced the cluster lights in my e30 with leds, and they dim perfectly with the standard dimmer.
It really is a great upgrade. And they will practically work forever.
Great read! Must have been so satisfying solving all that mess.