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Triumph TR6 - Glowing Blower wires = Not good?

Its always something.
Got the wheel back on after the stub axle failed at 60mph on a 3 lane highway. Girlfriend said she sit in the car as long as I don't go to fast.
She's buckled in and smoke starts to pour from the dash board. I pull over and she's so freaked that she can't undo her seat belt. Car off, engine is okay. I look under the dash and the wire to the blower is glowing red hot before it melts before my eyes. I figure its a bad ground?
What else can possibly go wrong? TR6: you gotta love 'em cuz you're crazy.
Bryn

Yeah - must have gone to ground somehow. You'll NEVER get her back in the car again, you know...
Brent B

Hi Bryn

Now I know why the weathers been so lousy in Ontario. You seem to have a dark cloud following you. Have you thought of moving to the west coast? :)

What are you using in the way of fuse amperage for the green circuit?

Bad ground won't cause that. Dead short to ground will or huge overload. Fuse should have gone before light and smoke show by design?

Do you have a boom box type radio in the car wired into green circuit? Did someone up the fuse rating?

If your voltage falls OHMs law says amperage goes up. Amperage and old wires trying to make blower motor turn pushing air through plugged heater box makes smoke show. Best bet.

By the way you might want to marry that girlfriend if she's out of therapy yet? After hanging around you for a weekend anyone else will bore her to tears :)

Bill
Bill Brayford

Your right - she might set foot in there again, but never will she rest easy in that car... women are like that with mechanical things that malfunction.

The reason I own a TR6 is because I grew up in a household that had a 19 foot, mahogany hulled, 400 hp, 70mph boat that caught on fire, had steering fail, hit a dock, threw the occupants out, had 10 different mechanics come to the house, 5 different motors, three different trim tabs and five different finishes over a 15 year period.

Mom hates that boat and will never set foot in it. We had more hours working on it than behind the wheel but we love that boat. It's the same with the TR6. For some intangible reason we toil and labour and spend because there's nothing like a fast cruise in a well tuned TR on a sunny day.

JP

John Parfitt

That's my boat. My wife won't ride in it. But I had a chance for my dad (orig. owner) to drive it last weekend for the 1'st time in 10 years. Kind of makes up for it.
johnston21

Some very nice and interesting stories.
I have tried to talk my wife into driving my 6. She says no...is afraid to put a scratch on her. Will eventually get her to drive it. Cheryl says very content to sit in the co-pilot seat. We both love to go for rides but then we have not had any scary situations yet (touch wood).
JP, my father owns a 21' Sheppard with a Big block Chrysler in her. Not a fast boat but a real pleasure to go for a sunday afternoon cruise. She has a very nice sound to her ...kinda like a TR. You are right about one thing...many hours spent on boat (and $$$$) just like our cars but in the end the work results in so much pleasure that it can not be measured in dollars.
Any other interesting stories???
Oh Ya Bryn...like Bill says check that fuse value...should have blown first
Rick C
Rick Crawford

What fuse should I be using?
And thanks, by the way, for the female advise.
She says she didn't really mind the wheel coming off but smoke pouring in from the dash board has put her in a different frame of mind.
Bryn

Bryn,
If this thread has switched to stories of TR6's and women (which it apparently has), here's one more. When I met my wife in college, I had a '73. While she stood alongside when we were talking, I let the car coast a little. I ran over her foot.

Neither she nor the car were hurt, and we still got married. I chose a TR6 for a restoration project figuring if I was having a midlife crisis, might as well get the car from my youth. I tried to tell her it was a 25th anniversary present, but I think the romance wore off because she didn't see it that way.

She still likes to ride in it though, so there's hope for your girlfriend.

On your blower problem, just another thought that maybe the motor is jammed causing the overload. Could debris fall down the scuttle and jammed it? Power tools get hot when they jam, but I agree with Bill that the fuse should have gone before the wiring.

Good luck with both,
Mark
Mark H

Hey - I really hate to come across as an A-hole on this, but this is a really good group. Let me encourage all the "non-members" to sign up - be part of the group. Cost's nothing, and makes your contributions just a little bit better! To fun driving!
Brent B

Brent,

I just noticed there is a "non-member" label beside my posting above. But I am a member so I'm not sure if that's a glitch in the software or what?

But yes - when you join you gain access to the archives which contain a wealth of information. For example, this past weekend I ran my new motor for the first time and had to figure out how to install a distributor and set timing - couldn't have done it without the archives.

John Parfitt
John Parfitt

It depends on how you access the site. Most times I use a bookmark directly to the BBS which skips over the login. This time I started with the home page. So on this posting I should show up as a member, on my last I was a non-member.
Mark Hauser

Bryn

All 4 should be 35 amp.

Bill
Bill Brayford

My wife had a love for TR6s until we agreed that driving to Daytona Fla. from upstate SC would be a good idea. After packing the trunk as a suitcase, then having a flat and having to unpack at a rest stop to change the spare, then feeling every concrete joint in the highway for 200 miles, my wife demanded that we sell the car upon our return. It was fun to drive up and down the beach while we were there though. Her love for sixes never returned and mine has never diminished. I am on my 14th. (TR6 that is)
w Holtzclaw

Bill and Byrn,
I only would like to interject here that according to "Dan Master's Electrical Handbook", "never use an American 35 amp fuse to replace a Lucas 35 amp fuse. The rating method differs, and the "American" fuse will allow more current to flow before "blowing".
On page 26 of the book, he recommends using a 20amp fuse for the circuit that carries the fan motor.
Again, according to his book, the fan should draw no more than 4.0 amps in use. The other devices in the circuit come to almost 17 amps,(all on at one time), but this condition would be highly unlikely.
If you do replace with a "35" amp "American" rated fuse, you may have problems that cause more damage than just a fuse "blowing".

Oh, I am not yet a member.
Spending to much time reading the information and posts.

Mark Riddle

PS I highly recommend Dan Master's book
Mark Riddle

Fortunatly my wife loves our Six as much as I do. If not I'd have to consider changing wives. But no; that wouldn't work, she'd probably get the car in the divorce settlement. I introduced her to British roadsters when she was young. During the mid 60's I had a MGA, then in 1969 My cousin bought a new TR6 and I bought his TR3. That's when I met my wife and she just love the TR3. I loved my cousin's TR6 and thirty years later; and after showing my last kid the door out to the real world, I finally have one.

I have found my Six very reliable, the MGA was horrid, and the TR3 was bad, but not as bad as the A. Considering too that they were not that old when I owned them.

As for Long trips, if your getting up there like me -- Bad Idea --
I'm thinking of building a trailer and taking it along on holidays to the ocean mountains and such. Think that would be the way to go.

Doug
Doug Campbell

Here's a story you guys might like;
My Dad had a Triumph Herald while he was still in Britain. One evening, after a long party on a very cold night, he and his soon to be wife got in the Herald to find it would nmot start. Dad decides to try the Ether. Mom is sitting behind the wheel while Dad is under the bonnet squirting and shouting "try it again". After four attempts, Mom stops trying and Dad goes to investigate. Turns out the Ether fumes had drifted past the fire wall, into the interior and gassed poor Mom. She was out cold.
Bryn

Hey Mark,
finish the story, Dan the man Masters recomends,
In American fuse ratings, for a TR250/TR6, a 10 amp
for the RED fuse, 15 for the PURPLE, and 20 for the
GREEN . Even though the total systems requirment on the purple fuse exceeds 15 amps you would have to be
in a situation where you were continuously blowing the
horn, flashing the high beams, have the hazards flasher
on, the glove box open, the trunk open, key lamp on,
and have the courtesy lamp on. Dan has had no problems
with these fuses and I have had the same configuration
for a year and a half and also no problems
Christopher Trace

Mark and Chris

Sorry I should have posted 35A lucas fuse. Thats what Moss and TRF and any I have dealt with sell. Using american fuses will also screw things up a bit because the clips are metric sized I think. Those are what I use.

Thanks for correcting.

From an electronic techs. perspective. There 35 is a 17.5A slow blow american.

The only issue I have with a single acting fuse is initial load. Especialy on the green circuit. All devices even bulbs have a higher current draw starting than running. Defrost running? Big honking audio system pounding away. Add some major bird doo doo a few bugs bit of drizzle hit the wipers watch them try to get through the goo and step on the brakes at 60 and your out of business. Thats a good maybe?

Are the lucases not available any more? Never lost 1 and have a couple of spares for the last 20 years so don't know.

Reason I asked Bryn about the stereo. Add on audio amplifiers will draw current as needed should have a seperate new style fused circuit from battery buffers the old style alternator as well. But will overload alternator.

Bill

Bill Brayford

Thanks for the fuse info.
No stereo but the heater control leaks this morning causing steam to blow of the exhaust manifold. Fresh disasters every day.
Bryn

Unfortunately, I have limited knowledge about electronics. I have scrounged up 10, 15 and 20 AMP fuses but they say 25V. Can I use these? Seems I should have 12V fuses.
Bryn

Bryn Yes u can use the 25V fuse. Just means the fuse is rated up to 25V. Over current blows fuses and so does dead shorts.
Mark I have always book marked directly to this page...I have never loged on (not sure I know how to ).
Maybe it is how you deal with cookies that does not save page info. for next visit.

Man go away for 2 weeks and it takes an evening just to catch up on what is happening here.
Rick C
Rick Crawford

Hi Bryn

That is there best rated voltage. Should be good.

Unless you can't get them anymore haven't heard otherwise? Those will get you going and safe but you may want to go for the originals?

I think you have a totaly blocked heater box. Air and coolant? Probably has caused both problems?

Bill
Bill Brayford

This thread was discussed between 02/06/2003 and 08/06/2003

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