Trey Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Fuse number 2 keeps going out on my 1988 Reatta. The current codes are B122 and B123. Is there a way to diagnose what is causing the fuse to pop? Should I get a multimeter? The service manual is confusing me - if anyone has instructions on how to diagnose this issue, I would be very obliged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 Also, if I have to use the multimeter to diagnose the issue, where do I attach the probes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mc_Reatta Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Meter won't help that much for this problem, at least to start. You have a short to ground somewhere but the problem is this fuse powers so many circuits inside the car it could be anywhere. Powers the interior lights, door locks, fuel and trunk release solenoids, side view mirrors, and more.Normally you would disconnect as many of the items powered by a circuit and hope to find the culprit when they are reconnected one by one, but all these items are powered directly by the orange wires and then grounded to operate, so if the short is somewhere along the orange wire, it will blow the fuse whether you remove the ground switch connection or not. Some places I'd start looking is where the wires pass from the body into the doors and the splice under the driver's seat, but could be anywhere.Did something not work or word intermittently before the fuse started to blow. Might give an indication of where else to look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 I did not notice anything working intermittently. What sort of evidence should I look for when I am looking for the short (bare wire possibly). Also, do I have to remove the driver's seat to look at the splice? If so, what is the best way to remove the seat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 If you want to try and isolate the problem, Connector 200 is to the right of the glove box.It is a 56 pin connector and if you disconnect it, and the fuse does not blow, then you know it is in the back half of the car... See 8A-11-0 of your manual.Have you check for dampness under the seats?It is not uncommon for cars that have spent several years outside, to have this splice problem. Seldom happens in Arizona and other dry states.In each case, there are several wires that are connected by a steel splice. If they get damp over long periods of time, the steel will rust to the point of releasing crimp pressure and the wires no loner touch. The more common problem is things not working, but if the electrical tape has come loose around the splice, then it could be touching something that is grounded and causing the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Seat is easy to remove. 4 bolts. 1 or 2 electric connections. Move all the way forward. Remove rear escutcheons and bolts. Move seat all the way back. Remove front escutcheons and bolts. Tilt steering wheel all the way up. Put seat in full upright position(no recline). Lean back and disconnect electrical connections. Put a blanket on the door sill to protect it. Carefully lift seat out. Watch out for steering wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Barney,When you say connector 200 is to the right of the glove box, do you mean under the glove box but on the right hand side and do I have to take off the plastic cover to get to the connector 200?Trey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Ok - I have the driver's seat taken out of the car - thanks Vincent Vega. However, I do not see a splice - only carpet. Do I have to remove the carpet to get to the possible malfunctioning splice? Removing the carpet seems to be difficult - does onyone have advice on that if I do have to remove the carpet? Should I also remove the passenger seat as well? Is there a splice under that seat as well? I never did find that connector 200 - should I unscrew the black plastic cover under the glove box? That seems like a pretty big job as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 You indicated in your first post that you had a service manual. Section 8A - 201- 5 figure A clearly shows the location of C200... it is not easy to get to. Section 8A-202- 0 shows the actual connector and the pin out. If you get to the connector, you might luck out and find the short.Unplug the connector, then see if the fuse blows.....If it blows, then the problem is up-stream from the connector, but the same logic, if it does not blow, then use your multimeter and probe each pin for ground.You might get more than one ground indication, so you might need to check the schematic of that wire....Yes you must fold back the carpet....remove the sill plate and that allows the carpet to fold back easier. The wires will be wrapped with black electrical tape and you must remove that to find the splices. Repair ALL the splices, use copper splices and solder them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) ...Yes you must fold back the carpet....remove the sill plate and that allows the carpet to fold back easier. No. The sill plate stays put. It's the color coded molding that gets removed. Remove lower seat belt escutcheon. The molding is clipped in place. Pull straight up. There is a screw that holds the molding down and I can't remember off the top of my head which piece it is. It is near the lower seat belt mount. The wires will be wrapped with black electrical tape and you must remove that to find the splices.....No. The wires are in the plastic channel under carpet. The channel directly under the seat has black tape wrapped around it. Cut that tape to open the channel and expose the wires.Added pics of drivers side sill and pass side wire channel Edited April 4, 2012 by Vincent Vega (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 88atta Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) Trey, Check the below link (driver's side); the orange wires you are looking for in the channel are identified by ReattaFan1 in the second picture following the "lil gremlin" ...they are four (4) wires that should be joined.. ensure you dis-connect the battery prior to working with them..they are hot. ReattaFan1 did this work-up in Jan 2011.http://forums.aaca.org/f116/88-reatta-sub-floor-splice-rework-296779.html Edited April 8, 2012 by 88atta (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Since I now have both seats taken out, I am thinking about taking all the carpet out and getting it cleaned. However, to get all the carpet out, it looks like I have to remove a lot of other parts. Anyone have guidance on which screws have to be removed to remove all of the carpet? Once I get all the carpet out, I will have more space to fix these splices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Trey, while you are checking the splices you should take the splice for the orange wires apart and test each of the orange wires one at a time for being shorted to ground. It will allow you to isolate the circuit causing the fuse to blow. The short could be in the orange wire going back to the fuse or it could be one of the orange wires going to lights, power mirrors, etc. Be careful to have the battery cable disconnected when you are working with the orange wires. One of them is hot any time the battery is connected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 Thanks Ronnie! Kind of stuck here, I have taken off the plastic molding from the door entries, the center console carpeted side panels and un-velcroed the carpet from the floor. However, what is the best way to remove the metal disks from the studs that hold the seats. I cannot get the carpet out without removing these little metal disks. I tried pliers, but it is hard to get a good grip. Is there is special trick - or should I just try more force? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 Update - I got the little disks off by using a small flathead screwdriver and putting it into the slots and spinning the disk counterclockwise until I could unscrew it with my fingers. After that, I took off the four hex-bolts from the back section and the wing nut under the break pedal. I also used a T-50 torx bit and a breaker bar (for leverage) to remove the seat belts. I now have the carpet out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 If you need instructions for repairing the splices. I have instructions on my website. They are a simplified version of what ReattaFan1 posted here on the forum.Wire Splice Repair*-*ReattaOwner.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 Ronnie,How do I "test each of the orange wires one at a time for being shorted to ground". Should I go buy a multimeter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 (edited) A good digital multimeter is a good investment if you intend to do troubleshooting on a Reatta. Set the multimeter to read resistance (ohms). Connect one lead to a good bare metal ground. Clean off paint if needed to get a good ground. Use the other lead to test each orange wire, one at a time, for continuity. Continuity will indicate a short to ground.Most good digital meters have a setting that gives you an audible alarm for continuity that is useful for what you are doing. It will beep when the wire you are testing is shorted to ground. Edited April 7, 2012 by Ronnie (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Trey, Listen to Ronnie.He's the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 I think I may have found the issue. The previous owner must have put in a 15 A fuse for number 2; however, it should have been a 20 A fuse. I have taken apart all of the splices and re-spliced the splices - but I found no problems. All of the splices were good and had no evidence of corrosion. I wish I had noticed I had the wrong amperage of fuse to begin with. On the bright side, I have the carpet out of the car, so I will give it a thourough cleaning. Does anyone have any ideas about repairs that I should make now that I have the seats and carpet out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 If you have the tan interior you may want to respray it as the carpet may have developed a pink color. If you want a recipe on how to do it there is a "How To" tutorial on Ronnies site. If it is any other color that has faded you can be the chef for the new color recipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Corvanti Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 going to have to do something with the blue rear area carpets at least, if i ever get her running correctly. still waiting for those parts to arrive...i've used "SEM Color Coat" in the past, for a corvette carpet with good results. anyone have a better product or a SEM code for the correct color? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 As a follow-up to this thread, the main problem was not with the fuse size, but when I pulled the lever to open the hood, some wires were getting pinched by the lever and causing a short. That was a hard to track down mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Trey,Thank you very much for posting the outcome/solution to your problem. When all is said and done, that's the most important part of the process.John F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doity Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Trey,Thank you very much for posting the outcome/solution to your problem. When all is said and done, that's the most important part of the process.John F.Trey, I have the exact same problem with the same fuse. I mentioned it to my mechanic and he said that it is probably some wires in the trunk lid (he thought the back one) that were worn through from opening/closing the lid. He is going to diagnose in a few months when I put the Reatta back in service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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