Carina E 1.6 Electrical Problem

[Nickford]

Hi - I was wondering if anybody could help me with a small electrical issue my Carina E estate has developed.

It broke down the other day, and lost all electrical power - including hazards - the lot. After much testing and reading of manuals I found that a blue wire coming off the positive Battery terminal has been bodged together and had broken.

Does anybody know what this wire is??? There is no mention of it in any manuals. Anyway, I bought some of the same gauge wire and bridged the broken gap by securely twisting the new and old wires together, and then gave it a good cover in electrical tape.

I then started the car and let it tick over for ten minutes and all seemed fine. A few hours later I started it again, jumped in and gave it a good rev, then it cut out again and smoke appeared from under the bonnet. I quickly ut the fire out (only damage to the plastics - nothing serious).

The question/s is/are this: waht is the blue wire? and was it my wiring that caused the fire (should I have souldered the new wire section in) or could some sort of short caused the fire when I reved the car??

Any ideas would be great as I'm going to have to get it fixed this weekend.

Thanks

[BALIKBAYAN]

Hi,

Glad that everything is ok. I would guess that you caused the fire because you wrote that you only twisted the cables together. When you put two cables together you have to use a kind of clamp with screws or shrimp them together with some pressure. If you only twist them together they are very likely to twist up again and then reduce the area for the current. That reduced area will make the cable hot or very hot and a fire can start.

I hope that I explained so you understand. And I hope you excuse my bad english.

Magnus.

[Nickford]

Hi,

Glad that everything is ok. I would guess that you caused the fire because you wrote that you only twisted the cables together. When you put two cables together you have to use a kind of clamp with screws or shrimp them together with some pressure. If you only twist them together they are very likely to twist up again and then reduce the area for the current. That reduced area will make the cable hot or very hot and a fire can start.

I hope that I explained so you understand. And I hope you excuse my bad english.

Magnus.

Magnus,

Thankyou very much. I thought this might be the case. I'll get a clamp and see if that works. Your english is great. Thanks again for taking the time to help, its very much appreciated.

Cheers

Nick