WIRING LOOM for CLIPPER. HELP NEEDED!!

[humaakht]

hi guys,

After spending a fortune getting my beloved clipper (91 model, 1. through its MOT, When i tried to start the car last week disaster struck as the ignition key wouldnt turn and smoke started coming up from under the dash

Had it towed to my local mechanic who replaced the ignition switch and barrel. However when the new key was put into the new ignition barrel the alarm/immobilser wouldnt disengage (sounded like a sinking ship when both battrey terminals were coupled) so had to take disconnect the battery and tow to the auto-electricians.

Auto electrician ripped out the alarm/immobiliser for me and informed me he wasnt willing to take the job on because these cars are a 'pain in the arse', the job was just 'too big' and he was just too busy. The car now starts but within a few minutes smoke would again start to come out from under dash board.

He told me he it would cost me a fortune and just to get rid of the car by puttin it on e-bay or selling it to another customer of his who had put in an offer of £300 which i politely declined (i paid £3000 for this in 2 years ago, has 92k on the clock and is a mint car)

He says the problem is that the loom going from the ignition to the fuse box is probably damaged/burnt and is unsure of the reason why. I am an absolute novice (but have been able to replace the carburettor, starter motor and do general servicing on the car) and am willing to get my hands dirty if anybody on this forum can help me.

He told me i need to remove the dashboard to get to the loom and that in itself would take about 7 hours.  He said with time and patience i might be able to the job myself.

I have thought about selling the car with no reserve on e-bay but somehing inside me wont let me give up on it.....despite the fact iv had numerous problems and shelled out a further £2000 to get the car in roadworthy condition.

If anybody on this forum is willing to help i would be very grateful

[rubjonny]

a MK2 scirocco dash loom will be mostly the same, just the clock plugs that wont fit your old clocks, or any late MK1 loom, preferably get a cab one and it'll swap straight in no fuss.  Trouble with MK1 looms is they're all integrated together so as the elecy said a pain in the arse to replace a specific part.

Dash removal is pretty easy though, may even get away with just removing the dash under trays on both sides.  Once you get those off pull the plug off the ignition switch and follow the wiring as far as you can, if you cant see it all then dash out it has to be.  Follow it all the waty back to the fusebox and check out all the other looms that run close to it, my guess is one of the wires in the ign switch loom melted and has damaged other wires close by.

where abouts are you?

[humaakht]

thanks mate. I'm in burnley (next to blackburn)

you can actually just about see the burnt part of the loom if you get a flat blade screwdriver and look carefully inside the ignition switch. A further problem i noted is my electric hood has now stopped working too although the lights and windows still work.

I think i had better take the whole dash off. Is it a very time consuming job or pretty straight forward enough. I'm thinking maybe i should just replace the entire loom

[rubjonny]

yeah it sounds like a good idea since other stuff has packed in as well!

[humaakht]

i know its a silly question....but do you need good electrical knowledge to replace the loom yourself?

[rubjonny]

It depends what you're doing really.  If you find another one the same then its plug & play.  If you're repairing your loom then as long as you're carefull you can chop out the melty parts and splice in undamaged wiring reasonably easily. Ideally you want a bit of skill with a soldering iron to do it properly but if you havent tried it before grab some scrap bits of wire and have a go till you get the hang of it

If you get one from another car then things can get tricky, but as long as you get one from a MK1 Golf or cabby with the later fusebox like yours it should be close enough.  Only thing I'd say is check things like the headlight switch match before you tear right into it, I found a Scirocco switch didn't fit my 83 cab headlight switch plug!

Main thing is to take it slow and label stuff up as you go.  Mostly throughout the years the wire colours didnt change, and if you match up the fusebox plugs you can check which wires are missing, if any are different colours extra wires are present that arnt in your car etc.  Match things up with my fusebox FAQ and you'll be able to figure out whats impotant, plus if you get stuck put a post up on here and someone will be able to help.

Oh and every now & again you'll sit back look at the growing rats nest of wires surrounding you and think 'wtf am I doing!'  Just go make a cuppa and come back to it