!!Many problems after electrical short :(

[nathanVY]

hey guys when I was trying to check the error codes on my VS, was bridging the two with a paperclip it accidentally hit one of the ones on the row underneath and shorted- sounded like a fuse blew?

now we have the following problems, have checked all the fuses theyre fine and the relays seem to be ok also.

- tail lights/headlights/parkers not working (front parkers blown, globes are black)
- air con fan on ALL THE TIME full blast, can't be turned off
- air bag light on the dash
- dash, odo displays but when you turn the car on the 3 lcd screens light up but display nothing.

car still starts and drives fine. can anyone help me figure out these issues, i'm assuming it shorted and blew the components

 

[wamboin23]

tail lights and parkers are on a seperate fuse to headlights, but the switch gets its earth through the BCM, iirc, so that it can turn the lights off, when the door gets opened etc.

air con fan on all the time - if it runs even with the ignition off, i'd be looking at the fan speed resistor ( or whatever there called with climate control), common problem for them to fail, and stay on full speed.

air bag light on, could be any number of things, need to get airbag codes checked, not sure if you can do the paperclip method of them.

instrument cluster not displaying properly, could be anything really, but maybe something in the dash itself has smoked.


i'd be checking the fuses again, just as a precaution, and you might also find yourself getting wiring diagrams, and finding out what doesn't have power/earth when it should etc.

 

[nathanVY]

wamboin23 - thanks so much dude thats really helpful, I was thinking the fan speed resistor but i hadn't heard that they always stay on i thought they only worked on HI or something.

with the tail lights should I look at replacing the BCM? can you explain the circuit to me a bit more?

guess ill try another dash to get the lcds working.

Know anyway I can get the wiring diagram for the wires that I bridges accidentally? if i can follow that I can see where the excess voltage will have gone and replace components along that path. do you think any of the wiring will be damaged or just components?

 

[vn_v6]

check the compuer, sounds like u fried it?? try one from another car

 

[nathanVY]

yeah is that the ecu? on the passenger side? do you think it's possible I only fried bits of it, cos the car still runs so the fuel mixtures and stuff must be ok.

 

[wamboin23]

wamboin23 - thanks so much dude thats really helpful, I was thinking the fan speed resistor but i hadn't heard that they always stay on i thought they only worked on HI or something.

with the tail lights should I look at replacing the BCM? can you explain the circuit to me a bit more?

guess ill try another dash to get the lcds working.

Know anyway I can get the wiring diagram for the wires that I bridges accidentally? if i can follow that I can see where the excess voltage will have gone and replace components along that path. do you think any of the wiring will be damaged or just components?

the fan speed resistor in a non-climate control system is different to the fan speed resistor used in the climate control system in a calais.

i'll double check the wiring and post back here again soon.

with the dash, maybe get onto 88GreenVN, he has a level 3 test bench, and may be able to test it for you, before you fork out for another one.

which pins were they that you accidently bridged?

 

[nathanVY]

yeah ok wasnt sure they had the same parts, what needs replacing in the climate control to stop the fan going on all the time?

ill message 88GreenVN was talking to him about some lighting conversions a few days ago.

will try and explain the pins best I can:

so you have two rows, and the two pins you are supposed to bridge to get the computer to display the error codes are on the top row a couple from the right.
I bridged the FIRST one of these (the one closer to the left) to the one on the far right of the SECOND row.

do you get my drift? if you need ill post a pic and highlight the exact ones.

 

[nathanVY]

5 bridged to the other one as shown in the pic
must have bumped the keys as they were in the ignition but on the off setting.

 

[wamboin23]

thats +12v, not sure where its fused from though
edit: its fused through fuse 1, underneath steering column, which is parking lights, trip computer, and something else i've already forgotten. 15A fuse, double check it.

have you got a test light or multimeter handy to check these sort of things?

also the other pin (pin 5) is an earth.

 

[nathanVY]

that'd be right :banstick:

ok get this - might help with the investigation.

the air con fan and brake light check (dash icon) are only on when I turn the parkers/headlights switch on - the headlights do turn on, the tail lights dont.

when I turn the parkers/headlights off the fan goes off a few seconds later.


edit: just read your edit lol, will replace that fuse now and post back.