ElectricDogs Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 This is my 1998 2.8i, so understood if it's difficult to help, but thought it worth asking. Can anyone help me identify this rather sad looking connector? It has a brown/white and two brown wires, located to the left of the fuse box. I went there trying to diagnose why my air-con blower has packed up (all speeds) but I don't think this has anything to do with the air-con (and fuse 18 and 19 both fine). Part of the brown/white wire is exposed at the connector and there is 12v when the ignition is on. I have checked both the 300tdi and td5 electrical manuals and the likeliest candidate seems to be a header for the heated rear screen (which is working), but I would very much appreciate the input from those here who know far more than I about these matters! ....and any advice on diagnosing my aircon blower problem would be an added bonus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Have a look at landrover-connectors on Ebay or hopefully PaulMc will see this & be able to advise, he is pretty good with these connectors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMc Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Are you sure that it's a connector? It may be the resistor for your blower motor. The only wiring details for the SA 2.8 Defender, are to do with the additional wiring for the BMW engine, the rest of the vehicle is supposed to be the same as the 300Tdi on pre-1998 models, and the TD5 on 1999 models onwards. Could you post a few more pictures of it, from different angles, showing any moulded-in writing, part numbers, logos, etc... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricDogs Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Hi Paul, thank you very much for getting back to me. I will post some more photos later this morning. I am pretty sure it's not the resistor, isn't that mounted on the evaporator in the passenger footwell? That said, replacing the resistor is also on my list as the fan had been operating on full speed only up to the point where it stopped working altogether. The 1998 2.8i seems to be a hybrid 300tdi and TD5, at least when it comes to aircon. I believe the aircon unit itself was sourced and installed locally in South Africa and it's certainly very different to the 300tdi version, which had two cooling fans over the condenser, mine has a single unit in front of the radiator, like in the td5. I believe the 2.8i used the 'standard' td5 aircon post 1999, which of course isn't a lot of help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricDogs Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 More photos. The only wording I can see is in the second photo and it would seem to indicate that it's not a connector (UEI = Universal Electronics?) but I am none the wiser. What I do know is that something is wrong, so any thoughts you might have that could point me in the right direction would be great.....("go see an auto electrician" would be one!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 If you google JIUNN UEI (https://www.google.com/search?q=jiunn+uei) it brings up some fuse holders that look similar. It could be as simple as a corroded connection that's generating the heat. Does it open up like the ones shown in google images? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricDogs Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 I actually did "google" it earlier, but using duckduckgo which came up with nothing. Using real google I see what you see ..and you are right, it's a fuse. It doesn't open, it seems the fuse holder part has melted itself shut. This begs the question, is this a standard part? It doesn't look like any fuse holder I have seen on a Defender. I have no idea when this happened, I don't remember smelling anything and given the way it had welded itself to the back of the carpet there would have been quite a stink. Given that everything apart from my aircon is working, I am tempted to ignore it although investing in a fire extinguisher might not be the worst idea..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Brown as a main colour is usually battery live , have you tested it for power with a meter ? I do know an excellent Auto Electric/electronics guy here in Suffolk if you want to do that . .........keep a spanner in the battery box to disconnect the earth if needed ☺️ Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Brown/White is definitely associated with heated rear windscreen, the 300TDI wiring diagrams show this fuse holder. Either way, it needs replacing before it catches fire, it is already very heat damaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) That is the ignition switched power supply connector for the aircon loom . Don't read too much into the connector itself, it may not be original - I deal with a lot of SA cars and repairing electricals isn't a national strong suit and little care is usually given to doing things properly. Edited October 12, 2020 by Eightpot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricDogs Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Thanks everyone for the helpful replies. I was exploring the theory that it might be a fuse put in to protect an inverter (pretty common in SA vehicles) installed under the cubby box given the female IEC plug installed there - see photo. I will remove the cubby and check it out. @eightpot, your connector looks similar but mine only has the brown wires, not the red ones. I do have a clear connector like that in the same area but haven't paid attention to the wire colours but will take a look. I take your point on some of the electrical repairs, although in fairness this one was owned by University of Cape Town Geology Dept who trekked all over southern Africa (306,000km ...) in it and I am guessing not all repairs were done with the luxury of a professional auto electrician in the vicinity! @Steve b - the Suffolk based auto-spark would be great. I have a recommendation for one near Wellingborough but the vehicle might combust before I get there! @Bowie69 are you referring to the fuse in the diagram below? Mine has two browns on one side along with another brown on the other side with the brown/white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 If I were you I'd break the melted bit open, just to find out what size fuse it has it in, then snip it off and fit a new fuse holder and fuse with some freshly crimped terminals. It looks like you should just have enough wire there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMc Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 daveturnbull has nailed it - it's a fuse holder. From your additional pictures, I can see that the two brown wires are crimped into the same terminal. Looking at the gauge of those wires, plus the wire colours, I would hazard a guess that this fuse holder was installed as part of the SA build. That fuse carrier needs replacing completely. Prise it open to see what the value of the fuse is, and depending on the fuse value, consider replacing it with a 'Maxi Fuse' carrier, which has larger terminals. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMc Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 2 minutes ago, daveturnbull said: If I were you I'd break the melted bit open, just to find out what size fuse it has it in, then snip it off and fit a new fuse holder and fuse with some freshly crimped terminals. It looks like you should just have enough wire there. You beat me to it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) The photo above is from my 2.8i. The red wire is on the connected plug - you don't have anything plugged into yours which is why you won't have a red wire? If your A/C is working it's because there was a short circuit which they have re-wired leaving the old connector dangling. Edit : bare in mind my earlier comment, things get badly bodged in Africa and lots of things end up in smoke. That certainly doesn't look like a factory fuse holder - why would they fit a loose one next to the fuse box.. I'd say someone has tried a creative fix for something using what they had to hand, it didn't work. I would just tape it up and leave it. And dont look behind the dash 😬 Edited October 12, 2020 by Eightpot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricDogs Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 A fellow 2.8i owner? Don't know if you heard about a little get 2.8i owner's get together outside of Cambridge this coming Sunday? PM me your mobile number if you are interested and I WhatsApp details to you... My a/c was 'sort of' working in that the blower only worked on full speed, indicating a busted resistor which I will get around to replacing. Then in the last couple of weeks it stopped working, hard to be precise given that I haven't had much need for it. So I just prised it open and what was the fuse was just a mass of molten plastic. The plastic bits that dropped out when I opened it were clear so probably 25A, although I think I need to get this properly and professionally sorted; I can replace the fuse holder but if the wiring is wrong in the first place I am likely to end up in the same place. Difficult without a wiring diagram mind you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 The company is called Auto Electrics , near Bacton 01449781028 . Ron is the main man , you are welcome to mention me if you like . I've used him for starters , alternators etc. for many years , very good . Cheers Steve b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricDogs Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Eightpot is your aircon controlled by two switches, one for the fan and one for the temperature, or does it have a single control with the temperature on an outer ring? I think the later ones had two switches and the aircon was no longer a local install but the same as the TD5.....so almost certainly different wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricDogs Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, steve b said: The company is called Auto Electrics , near Bacton 01449781028 . Ron is the main man , you are welcome to mention me if you like . I've used him for starters , alternators etc. for many years , very good . Cheers Steve b Thank you, that's not far and always happy to have an excuse to stop by Lawes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 6 minutes ago, ElectricDogs said: Eightpot is your aircon controlled by two switches, one for the fan and one for the temperature, or does it have a single control with the temperature on an outer ring? I think the later ones had two switches and the aircon was no longer a local install but the same as the TD5.....so almost certainly different wiring. Mine has dual rotary controls for fan/temp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forkrentfitter Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 junni is from taiwan, seen it on taiwanese forklift trucks i used to work on. i would replace it with a resetable circuit breaker fuse whilst you establish the true fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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