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blown fuses
dodge - July 12th, 2004 at 09:53 PM

hey dudes,

the fuse for my windscreen wipers keeps blowing! (well i think its the windscreen wiper fuse)
it blew the other day and I put a new one in tonight (didn't have the chance til then) and it blew again the moment i turned the car on.
would there be a reason for this, like an underlying problem or something? or will i have to live with no windscreen wipers? :cry

also, my dash lights wouldn't work all of a sudden tonight..... would that have something to do with the fuses situation?

sorry, you'll hafta bear with me, i'm limited in my "technical" knowledge of cars at the moment.....

dodge

pod - July 12th, 2004 at 09:59 PM

check all the wiring as there must be a bare wire or a terminal etc earthing out to blow the fuse

dodge - July 12th, 2004 at 10:04 PM

ok thanx




ps. i'm needing bourbon too ;)

68AutoBug - July 13th, 2004 at 01:16 AM

What model Beetle do You have Dodge??

The plastic cover over the fuses will tell You which fuse is blowing...

If Your Wipers blow the fuse You may have a faulty wiper motor or switch or a loose wire somewhere....

You may have to drive without wipers until the problem is found...

Give Us more info please....

Were the wipers still switched on when You turned the ignition on???? and the fuse blew ???

Lee -- 68AutoBug --

dodge - July 13th, 2004 at 10:20 AM

hi Lee

i have a kombi actually. its a 1973 bay window kombi.

i don't have a plastic cover over the fuses anymore. It was missing when I purchased the car.

Yes, I think that the wipers were on when the car was started as I (and my sister drove it straight after me) was trying to get them to work. I probably accidentally left it on instead of turning them off. Once the car started, the windscreen wipers moved ( so i knew i had replaced the right fuse at least) . They went to the middle of the windscreen and then stopped and then they wouldn't work again.....
I got home fairly late, so i haven't had the chance to see if the fuse blew again, but i'm pretty sure it did. I'll have a look for any loose wires...

I only just had the car at an auto electricians last week because every time I put the brake on, my indicators would stop working, so i'm a little surprised this is happening. I thought they would have picked this up....

dodge

Bizarre - July 13th, 2004 at 12:06 PM

Have a look at the "other "side of the terminal block. A washer or something may have fallen onto it when the elec's were working on it.

Purple Martin - July 14th, 2004 at 11:16 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by dodge
Once the car started, the windscreen wipers moved ( so i knew i had replaced the right fuse at least) . They went to the middle of the windscreen and then stopped and then they wouldn't work again.....

That sounds like there could be a short-circuit in the wiper motor mechanism. Are your wipers the sort that normally return themselves to the down position when you turn of the ignition while they are still up and moving? If so, there is a special contact and wire inside the motor that keeps power on once they are up above a certain level - there could be a short-circuit somewhere in that bit.

68AutoBug - July 14th, 2004 at 11:33 AM

If the self parking wipers aren't parked...
they will try to park every time You turn the ignition on...
just wondering whether the auto elect left a wire in the wrong place and the wiper mechanism has jammed...
or left a wire off something and it shorts out when the wiper mechanism hits the wire and earths it out...
Its harder to guess when someone has been tampering with things.... the auto elect could have moved anything etc...

Lee -=-