Stroppy Cow Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Hi...had a small fire behind my dash in a 2.5td with a 200tdi now in it.... Was my fault having added a small switch to manually stop the solenoid working,Managed to bridge the connections on the switch and shorted the wire thus its burnt all the way to the loom.... Can anyone tell me where the wire goes from the ignition to under the bonnet.... then goes to its live feed so i can disconnect it and make a new feed...as im worried about bare wires in the loom etc..... many thanks if that makes any sence(the wire burnt is the small black and white one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 The solenoid ultimately takes it's feed from the white wire on the ignition switch. I think there are a couple of white wires in the loom behind the dash clocks that connect into those multi terminal bullet connectors - if there is a free slot use that and run a wire direct to the solenoid. Best to check voltage only comes on with ignition using a multimeter first though. I'm fairly confident that you'll also find a spare terminal on a white wire behind the trim in the centre of the dash, coming up from the fusebox below - if you take the plastic base liner out from the bottom of the dash tray you'll see the wires. The same feed also supplies power to some of the dash warning lights - oil pressure, brake, charge indicator - are these iluminating when you put the ignition on? That circuit is also fused, so if the fuse hasn't blown, then there it's likely that you've only destroyed the short run of wire from your switch to the solenoid. If the dash warning lights aren't coming on, you've probably got a bit more work to do.. God, after second edit this still isn't making sense.. if the dash warning lights are ok, a fuse hasn't blown, run a wire from either the white on the ignition switch or any available slot on a connector in the dash loom to the solenoid, should fire up. If the dash lights aren't coming on, slightly more to do, but you can still get the car running. Haynes wiring digram is fairly straightforward for that bit of the circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Make sure the feed stays live during cranking too, some ignition-switched lives don't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickwilliams Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 White wires aren't fused - which is why the original one burnt out. Instrument panel illumination is red with a white tracer (and yes, I am sad enough to know that without having to look it up!) Nick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroppy Cow Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Driving me mad.... Have put a new wire straight from the back off ignition to stop solenoid which is 12v live.... But this only works the ignition when a wire coming from the loom on the engine block is also connected to it....Then all is well.....and she starts.... But the bare burnt wire that was connected to the ignition that disapears into the loom is still live which is worrying and i cannot workout how to un live it...?? Hope im making sence again.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Can you confirm what model year your car is and I'll check the wiring diagram - there was a slight change on early ones. Just had a look, and if you have a white and black wire on the back of your ignition switch, it will be the early loom, and this white/black wire goes directly to the solenoid and is not connected to anything else - so you can disconnect both ends, cut the ends off and run a new wire from switch to solenoid. If there are only white wires on the back of the switch, then it is the later loom and you will need to do something slightly different - let me know what wires you see though first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroppy Cow Posted September 9, 2011 Author Share Posted September 9, 2011 Can you confirm what model year your car is and I'll check the wiring diagram - there was a slight change on early ones. Just had a look, and if you have a white and black wire on the back of your ignition switch, it will be the early loom, and this white/black wire goes directly to the solenoid and is not connected to anything else - so you can disconnect both ends, cut the ends off and run a new wire from switch to solenoid. If there are only white wires on the back of the switch, then it is the later loom and you will need to do something slightly different - let me know what wires you see though first.Gota go off on holiday now....Managed to get a sheath over as much of the wire as i could and got the landy running....Will have to take a fire extinguisher with me...!! Starts and runs fine with no smoke or burning,but the wires still live!! Will have to get into it in a weeks time,But will report in via iphone if anything exciting happens... Once again thanks for your help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 only permanent fix is either a new main loom or strip & repair your existing loom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Western's right, Burn't wires have a habit of melting themselves into other live wires, ask me how i know. My sidelight and instrumentation wire behind the dash melted into the dash lighting behind the clocks. leaving the sidelights wired to the brake lights. The only way is to take it to bits and renew as necessary. use heatshrink to sheath in the long term. Use PVC tape for short term repairs only. VWP stock most items you need but prices hae gone up due to copper price rises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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