Hi all,

I took my mini out for a pre work drive and found my indicators, fuel gauge and temp gauge we're not working.

I had a look at the fuse holder and found the 35A fuse had blown. It is the lower one. I bought another fuse but it blew straight away too. I was hoping to drive to work tomorrow so am looking for some help/ assistance. What should I be looking for? A loose wire? Is it a component instead?

All the wiring was replaced almost 12 months ago.

Cheers

Clovus

A short somewhere is a good start if the 2nd fuse blew straight away.
Cables rubbed through somewhere?

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Tim

First thing to do is to unplug everything that comes out of the fusebox from that fuse, and try plugging each wire back in one-by-one. Probably best if you put a smaller fuse in to test each wire (say 15 amp). Once you have figured out which wire is blowing the fuse, you can plug the rest in, and see what isn't working.

Having a service manual with a wiring diagram will make things much easier, because you can figure out what is attached to each wire and go from there.

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like a weekend job. I will go get some fuses tomorrow and see how I go.

If you have a rod change box fitted Might be an idea to check if the wires going to the reverse light switch and see if they have dropped on to the exhaust pipe. Quite a common fault.

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DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

Yes it is a rod change. Thanks will look for that tomorrow after work.

Cheers

Thanks to the advice in this thread I have a bit more precise information.

Plugging the three white wires in -all good, car still runs. No brake lights, indicators temp or fuel gauge.

On the other side of the fuse there were three green wires (brake switch, flasher? And voltage regulator) according to the wiring diagram and a pink wire that wasnt on the diagram -perhaps washer pump.

Plugged in the pink wire no difference. Plugged in one green wire and brake lights came back on.

Plugged in another green wire and got indicators. But still no fuel or temp gauge.

Plugged in the last wire and the fuse blew. I think this is the one that is the problem and I'm hoping it's the likely cause of the non functioning fuel or temp gauge..

Is anyone able to guide me in to what do now? Do I pull out the voltage regulator? If so how do I test it to see if I need a new one?

Before this the gauges were rock solid, it didn't wiggle, vibrate or float around.
Thanks again

I also couldn't see a wire going to the gearshift mechanism to check for Tony's suggestion so can't rule that out either. If you could point out where to look I'd be grateful.

Cheers

What colour is the wire causing the fuse to blow ?

_________________
DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

It is a solid green wire. I did as suggested by IrishYobbo and connected each wire one at a time to a 15a fuse to see which was the culprit. The two other solid green wires at connected and it hasn't blown the fuse.

So with the rest of the wires connect and fuse not blown WHAT have you now that does not work with Ignition turned on? Check their circuit and follow wires. Should be easy now you know the culprit wire.
One word of advice.........
Disconnect the ignition Positive feed to the coil while working on this problem saves the Electronic ignition or points from getting HOT and causing other damage. Don't forget to re connect it when finished or car will not start.

_________________
DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

I had a similar problem a little while ago. I found that the 2 wires to the brake light pressure switch were touching intermittently, and when they did the 35A fuse blew. 5 minutes work with some better insulation and problem solved. May not be your problem but certainly worth a look.

Tricky!

Tony,

No fuel or temp gauge. Thank you for the suggestion about the wire to the coil. That is something I never would've thought of doing.

There quite a mess of wires going to the back of the speedo, I am pretty certain it's the wire going to the voltage regulator. Will investigate more over the next few days.

Thanks for all the replies

Well I've "fixed" it. I traced the green wire back to the voltage stabiliser and checked the connections to the fuel and temp gauges. I couldn't find any wires with the insulation rubbed through so I moved the green wire over to the next plug on the voltage stabilizer and all seems to be working, I don't know for how long but will get another stabilizer to swap them over when it starts playing up again.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice.