What's on your mind today?

[Tank]

Well my car of 13 years and 110,000 miles is off to the big car park in the sky this weekend. And it has been done for by the most trivial of things. Somewhere the insulation on a wire has worn through and is shorting on the chassis. This results in a blown fuse on start up. The RAC man pulled the harness about so the car will now start (and once going it keeps going) but when the harness settles back the fuse will blow again. So it's last trip will be this weekend. But on the up side I'll be getting a newer old car

[Asmodean]

The Asmo, what likes old clunkers for the purpose of cruising around in, shall kidnap a small child in order to secure some hands, with which to then salute your old car on its Last Ride.

[Tank]

I like my MG ZS. I will miss it 

[Asmodean]

I get it. I still miss the hell out of my first Opel Omega. That's the one I crashed into another car, so... Kind-of my own damned fault, although the municipality could have run a grader over the ice tracks, but nevermind that. It was thoroughly liked, that car, and I've been looking for one just like it in as good a condition as I can get ever since I came into posession of a reasonable salary.

[jumbojak]

Why can't they just fix the wire? 110,000 miles is nothing. You know what fuse is blowing, so you know which circuit is killing the car. Find someone to trace the wire. It takes a little time with a circuit breaker and the amp tool but it's not difficult and an hour or two of labor finding the short is cheaper than a new car.

Also, what's an RAC man?

[Asmodean]

I suspect it may be a case of having to change the whole harness, although one could run a wire parallel to the rest and just disconnect the old, sparky one. In my case, I too have let cars go over relatively minor issues, them often being "the straw that made the wheels fall off."

[Bad Penny II]

I like my MG ZS. I will miss it 

How old is this thing?
It was a thing some decades back, don't buy UK cars, they don't get the electrics right.
Surely you're getting them right by now?

[Tank]

I suspect it may be a case of having to change the whole harness, although one could run a wire parallel to the rest and just disconnect the old, sparky one. Still, in my case, I too have let cars go over relatively minor issues, them often being "the straw that made the wheels fall off."

You're correct. One could keep it going but to do so would just keep it waiting for the next thing. The breaks are a bit iffy, the internal trim is getting tacky, internal bulbs are blowing, one headlight main beam has lost its bulb support wire, the motor that sets one main beam angle has died. The next service is a major on and the one after that (120,000 miles) requires the engine cam belt replacing (more than the value of the car) clutch can't have much life in it now. So it's been a death of a thousand cuts.

The RAC is the Royal Automobile club. It's the roadside rescue service that I use. They are some very good people who spend their lives fixing cars.

[Tank]

I like my MG ZS. I will miss it 

How old is this thing?
It was a thing some decades back, don't buy UK cars, they don't get the electrics right.
Surely you're getting them right by now?

2005.

It's been reliable apart from one congenital fault with the cylinder head gasket.

UK cars are infinity better than they used to be as far as reliability is concerned.

[Tank]

Why can't they just fix the wire? 110,000 miles is nothing. You know what fuse is blowing, so you know which circuit is killing the car. Find someone to trace the wire. It takes a little time with a circuit breaker and the amp tool but it's not difficult and an hour or two of labor finding the short is cheaper than a new car.

Also, what's an RAC man?

I probably could get the wire fixed but to do so would require paying somebody to do it and it's just not worth it. As I said it's not just the wire but some other serious stuff on the horizon that would be the issue. I was intending to put it through its Ministry of Transport (MOT) test in the nest two weeks and then sell it anyway. So it would have gone within the next couple of months.

[jumbojak]

I suspect it may be a case of having to change the whole harness, although one could run a wire parallel to the rest and just disconnect the old, sparky one. Still, in my case, I too have let cars go over relatively minor issues, them often being "the straw that made the wheels fall off."

Harness replacement is reserved for severe damage to the whole harness, like in a flood. A dead short just involes finding the short - not difficult, but takes a bit of time - and repairing the wire by whatever means you prefer. Depending on location and loom size you might get away with a crimp, but soldering in a new wire is often the best choice.

Determine which circuit is shorting, get thyself a power distribution diagram ,and look for sources of heat and vibration first. If nothing turns up, break out the circuit breaker and detection tool.

[jumbojak]

I like my MG ZS. I will miss it 

How old is this thing?
It was a thing some decades back, don't buy UK cars, they don't get the electrics right.
Surely you're getting them right by now?

2005.

It's been reliable apart from one congenital fault with the cylinder head gasket.

UK cars are infinity better than they used to be as far as reliability is concerned.

Head gasket you say? We have a product you dump in the radiator that'll fix that right up!

Seriously though, if they sell such things in your area don't do it. At least, not on a car you like...

[Asmodean]

Harness replacement is reserved for severe damage to the whole harness, like in a flood. A dead short just involes finding the short - not difficult, but takes a bit of time - and repairing the wire by whatever means you prefer. Depending on location and loom size you might get away with a crimp, but soldering in a new wire is often the best choice.

Determine which circuit is shorting, get thyself a power distribution diagram ,and look for sources of heat and vibration first. If nothing turns up, break out the circuit breaker and detection tool.

Sure. My thinking in this case is, failed insulation on one cable may well mean faulty insulation on others. If it's all dried up and brittle in there, my workshop, at least, will recommend replacing the whole damned mess. If it's "simple" mechanical damage, yeah, they'll just splice it. Rather, I'll just splice it and not even go to a mechanic, but that's beside the point.

[Bad Penny II]

UK cars are infinity better than they used to be as far as reliability is concerned.

We don't make cars any more. We had Ford, GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan?, Toyota

Back when the global financial crisis happened we borrowed, we allowed our dollar go from 70c Us to $1.10

I don't know, truly I don't, I bask in my ignorance.
Couldn't we have printed/pseudo made money to keep our currency 70% of the $US, and not had to borrow?

70c to $1.10 what were they thinking?
We are back at 70c now, sans a car industry.

[Dark Lightning]

I like my MG ZS. I will miss it 

How old is this thing?
It was a thing some decades back, don't buy UK cars, they don't get the electrics right.
Surely you're getting them right by now?

Lucas Electric, the Prince of Darkness.