Poor Aftermaket Immob = fire!!

[Knight Rider S4]

Well was working away on the coupe today putting on another turbo..when there was this smoke coming from inside the car ..as you can imagine i was like WTF!!!....thankfully i had the glovebox out so could see what it was the immob box were all the wiring went in had started to melt and all the wiring from it was goosed ..disconnected the battery to save it from inferno as i could hardly see insde the car for the smoke...so i need to trace all the wires from it to remove it so i can move the car again ...Has anybody got any good pointers to were all the wires will be going ..to my knowledge most are routed to the ignition and hazard lights


On a lucky note thank god i was there when this happened or the car would of been a burnt out shell plus the two cars beside it

[sdk778]

Jaysus, you were lucky, good excuse to maybe keep a fire extinguisher in the car from now on, i lost a Golf in similar circumstances a few years ago.
At least you and said Coupe are Aok

[sjw185]

Lucky one

What do you think set it off? Sounds like no fuses on the install.
If its a full blown alarm as well, might be worth a look in the door jamb rubber flexy thingys for remote central locking wires I found this is where they made the connection to save taking off the door card on mine.


cheers

[shark_90]

Terrible! Can't believe it's not fused!

[mcandmar]

I had the exact same problem in a supermarket car park. Not a pleasant experience.

The unit that was in mine was wired in at the back of ignition key switch, routing the main power into the immobilizer box and back out to the key. It was the live power that had worn through and shorted against the steering column. As soon as it shorted it melted the rest of the loom and kept going until i disconnected the battery. I was lucky in that the only damage was the after market immobilizer and loom, everything was fine when i pulled it out.

After that episode i bought an alarm and fitted it myself, and a fire extinguisher

[Knight Rider S4]

I had the exact same problem in a supermarket car park. Not a pleasant experience.

The unit that was in mine was wired in at the back of ignition key switch, routing the main power into the immobilizer box and back out to the key. It was the live power that had worn through and shorted against the steering column. As soon as it shorted it melted the rest of the loom and kept going until i disconnected the battery. I was lucky in that the only damage was the after market immobilizer and loom, everything was fine when i pulled it out.

After that episode i bought an alarm and fitted it myself, and a fire extinguisher

Exactly the same as mine and not fused which is even worse...have another coupe which is for spares so going to clean up some of the wiring under the dash with it ..and hopefully that will be it sorted

[S2central.net]

If that car came with a certificate of installation - roll it up tight and place it somewhere memorable on whoever signed that work off - absolutely ridiculous...
What if you or your loved ones had been in the car - even left alone for a few minutes somewhere - just unthinkable. Close escape hoff

[Knight Rider S4]

If that car came with a certificate of installation - roll it up tight and place it somewhere memorable on whoever signed that work off - absolutely ridiculous...
What if you or your loved ones had been in the car - even left alone for a few minutes somewhere - just unthinkable. Close escape hoff

Have been looking for the certificate just to shout a someone ...to be honest when looking under dash , the wiring has been chopped and joined from previous headunit installs done badly and other gadgets ...a trail of scotch locks and dodgey block connectors everywhere

[Knight Rider S4]

Well got a couple hours in tonight so turbo all bolted up and job done in engine bay ..moved to the immob and found a cocktail of complete **** ups..masking tape used for joins during install??..no proper connectors at all!! some pictures ..

You can see were it has melted through and started to earth againist the steering rod join



This picture is poor vis but take it the pink in the corner is the ignition switch and all the bare wires and masking tape everywhere





All of the immobilizer is out now have got the ignition switch and wiring of the other coupe so most of it is wired in (properly!!)..just a few wires am stuck with that they seem to have cut spliced into ...four wires one is grey and black,one white and blue cant remember the others but looks like it should of had a plug on it at one time??

any ideas..It traces down to the driver footwell behind the kick panel