Who's smoking in my car?

[Iceblaza]

Well before I start all I can say is that Jeff at LOCKDOWN has been a really big help so far with this issue and i priaise him for his efforts.

I went out shopping with the girlfriend yesterday. We got to ikea shopped around for a while then left. After returning to the car and driving away i noticed my headlights werent functioning. I tried playing with the headlight switch and they would only flicker. A few seconds later my girlfriend said do you smell that, followed by smoke billowing out of my dashboard. Needless to say I pulled over and turned off the car. The first thought i had was it could be some crossed wiring from a starter that was installed. I called Jeff at lockdown and let him know my situation since he installed my alarm/starter. He jumped into his workvan and came across the city... in a snowstorm may i say, and came to see if he could figure out the problem. After disassembling my dash at the side of the road it was found that a bunch of wires in the dashboard were melted and my light / turnsignal switch was ****ed. After about an hour of looking at it, it was found that the HID relay in my batterbox had gotten wet somehow and corroded. This caused a chain reaction, that overloaded a wire that led to my dash... this wire melted/burned all the way from my engine to my dash where it met other wires and melted a bunch more. The HID install i did myself, but everything was done properly... This was more of a problem with the relay getting wet within the battery box. Any who.. Jeff was able to rig together some wires which got the headlights working and he drove my car to LOCKDOWN, while i found a drive home from my family. There he has now taken apart my dash and is trying to fix it.... problem is it looks like my whole dashboard wireing harness may be fuxed as well as my turn signal switch, and may be costing me a VERY pretty penny to fix.

EVERYONE CHECK THEIR RELAY HARNESS if they have HID's and make sure it is properly protected from the elements. Even though the HID's were installed properly water did somehow get into my battery box and screwed it up.

Jeff has been the biggest help and is taking care of me even though the problem is not his fault at all. Extremly helpful and a caring attitude from Jeff has all I have seen since this happened. He truly cares about the issue and is doing everything he can to get the car fixed ASAP.

A lesson learned my be, and it may be a very costly one... ill keep you all informed.

Paul.

[PlatMS6]

DAMN...do you still have the little funnel that goes to the battery box for cooling? ...it could have gotten in through there

I remember when I opened mine, it had salt/droplet stains all inside it....but all the connecters were fine. The box helps alot, but debris/moisture still find their way through the thin spout or whatever you call it (Battery Intake heh :P)

[Xerox]

^^ so you're suggesting that it will protect the battery box from the elements better if the "ram air" to the battery box is removed? (this is a honest question - I'm not trying to say that you're wrong)

My relay is in the battery box too (done by LockDown). I guess I better take a look (...when the weather gets warmer).

[EvilEric]

I thought the relay was pretty weather resistant. What exactly got wet? was it in front of the air intake?

[3GFX]

Wow I'm glad nothing else happened that could have gone worse! I'm glad everything will be ok.

[PlatMS6]

^^ so you're suggesting that it will protect the battery box from the elements better if the "ram air" to the battery box is removed? (this is a honest question - I'm not trying to say that you're wrong)

My relay is in the battery box too (done by LockDown). I guess I better take a look (...when the weather gets warmer).

Yeah a lot of people have the battery funel removed. It really isn't necessary ... I have never heard of anyones battery frying because of it

[Skarbro]

Hmmm... This makes me want to stick to my stock bulbs. Fire = bad.

[FLIPDADY]

Yeah kudos to Jeff for his great customer service.

Jeff and I are trying to sort out your wiring situation Paul.

[MAZDA Kitten]

yikes
scary
i had my hids installed at lockdown
so God forbid... if anything *knock on wood* happened wouldnt the shop be responsible for the work (just curious)

[aznkid.com]

Wow, that's scary.. I just finished my HID installation a few days ago.. I didn't bother putting that funnel back into my battery compartment but then again, my relay isn't in there.. It's just tucked in behind the headlights...

[MAZDA Kitten]

What is this funnel you guys are speaking about/ Can someone post a pic?
Im not sure where Jeff hid my relay

[aznkid.com]

here ya go:
http://www.aznkid.com/misc/batteryfunnel.jpg

[Iceblaza]

Hey guys,

Just an update.... After the car's dashboard was completely removed it was determined that the wiring harness was beyond repair because some of the wires were for important functions of the car.

Anywho... a new wiring harness had to be ordered at a price of $1031 retail. The turn signal switch also required replacement at $130 retail. I paid less with the TM3 discount, but as you can see this is still alot of dough. The part is expected in from Japan next week, and the car should be back together within a few days....

And so we wait...

[EvilEric]

Hey guys,

Just an update.... After the car's dashboard was completely removed it was determined that the wiring harness was beyond repair because some of the wires were for important functions of the car.

Anywho... a new wiring harness had to be ordered at a price of $1031 retail. The turn signal switch also required replacement at $130 retail. I paid less with the TM3 discount, but as you can see this is still alot of dough. The part is expected in from Japan next week, and the car should be back together within a few days....

And so we wait...

What about wreckers have you tried seeing if you can get the entire console from them for cheaper? I remember it not being nearly as expensive.

[chinsterr]

Samething happened to my relay harness. After 3 hours of pouring rain my relay harness was soaked and you could see brown water coming from it --- mind you , the relay harness was wrapped with half a roll of electrical tape.

My malfunctioning relay harness kept my lights on, even when the light switch was in the off position. I had to disconnect my HIDS to prevent them from draining my battery. Needless to say, once i replaced the relay everything went back to normal.

Wow , i didnt know the relay could cuase soo much damage! Just glad to hear that you caught the problem right away!

[3GFX]

Glad to here its going to get fixed, thank god for Joe and his help abilities. Maybe with a new harness you can unlock the fuel computer (unless you already had it).

[chinsterr]

Just to clarify,

Was this problem somehow related to jeff's work on your car ? If so, who is going fork over the cash for the repairs ?

[royroy]

oo so that was ur car... i saw it at lockdown when i have my alarm installed....

[Iceblaza]

No Jeff didnt install my HID's, its pretty awsome of him to take care of me like this even though the problem has nothing to do with him..... All the money is comming out of my pocket, which sucks, but there is nothing I can do.

As for the reckers ive called around and its hard to find a 2006 m3 sport, plus i have to ensure that the reckers take the harness out properly so no dammage is caused.... for the hassle id rather just order a brand new one, then i know its perfect.

And finally yes that was my car at lockdown... very sad... it would make baby jesus cry.

[BLKOUT]

I saw your car there with the dash completely removed, I thought, wow, whoever owns this car is getting a competition system put in....sorry to hear what happened man!

[Iceblaza]

Well, Tomorrow i should be getting my car back. After a long wait and no wiring harness arriving from Mazda (who said it could take up to 3 months) the original wiring harness was repaired as good as new and put back into the car. SOOO finally after a Month of no car I should be getting the car back (with upgraded speakers.... a little gift from me to me). The only last thing wrong with the car is the airbag light is on. Jeff reported it was because a sensor wasnt plugged in when the car started but is now plugged in but the error remains. If anyone knows a way I can clear this (and yes he has tried disconnecting the power) please let me know. If not ill take it into the dealer and get it reset.

All in all this little snag (*sarcasticly saying) has cost me about 1000$ to fix. Im still debating weather to wait for a new harness to come in and get a brand new harness in there (paying again for installation) or just cancel my order. The harness is reportingly back to as good as new so im still debating. If i cancel the new harness (still on backorder) it will save me 1000$ for the part plus labor.... so its a big decision. Any words on this???

Thanks all for the comments.... the spring approaches and the meets begin (well at least for me) see you all out there!

Paul.

[baymoe]

If the repair was done, I'd cancel the order and go splurge on a set of new wheels. =P

[BLKOUT]

Ice, I saw your car at LOCKDOWN the other day....I gotta say, it looked like she was in for a heart transplant! the entire front end of the interior was disassembled! it looked pretty scary.

I wish you the best! Hopefully everything is fixed.