Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,

I need some advice and help.

1988 VW T25 autohomes komet Mark 1 water cooled petrol

So the situation is... I went to start the van the other night. I could see from an app on my phone that the car battery voltage was dropping, then when I turned on the side lights, the engine died.

I then left it a little while and the battery voltage went back up!! But then just drops again as soon as windscreen wipers or lights are put on.

I then called recovery, he came along and jump started the van, left his jump pack connected to the van battery and started revving the engine continually! I then started smelling electrical burning and smoke started coming from the left side of the dash! Where all the fuses are!

Can anyone help with what’s happened here.

My tow ball lights were playing up a couple days before so I don’t know if this has anything to do with it.

And I also have a DC charger renogy.. and I don’t know if that is causing the issues!

Please help!

Ok, first thing is make sure the battery is disconnected , then go investigate the fuse box 

heater motor is a common cause of the smoke escaping from the wiring , as is the wiper motor .

you need to look at the fuses , and then wiring behind the fuse box to see what was melting 

it would help your cause if you added the details of your van to your signature , age, engine type , model ,and your location ,  ect 
then we can give better answers faster ! 

oh and just in case you feel the need to add pictures , this is how 

how is your phone app connected to the van ?
Is the charger a recent addition ?

Oh yes sorry! Added it above

It’s a 1988 t25 komet autohomes water cooled petrol!

I don’t actually have any pictures of the dash because Currently the van is at a garage but I’m just trying to prepare myself for the worst!

Aidan wrote: ↑27 Jun 2021, 18:53 how is your phone app connected to the van ?
Is the charger a recent addition ?

So I have a Pandora alarm fitted for the van! And that tells me the voltage of the car battery!

Yes I’ve had a whole leisure battery set up added! Includes 300ah lithium leisure battery, 2000w inverter, solar and dc renogy 40 ah charger!

The DC charger has a fault light on it during the day but I think this is a separate issue I don’t know...

Well your auto electrician at the garage needs to be double checking the new stuff as well as any disturbance of the original stuff done while installing it I'd say, something was causing a current draw on the main battery and possibly linked to that some sort of short with engine (and thus alternator) running, it is likely to be a combination of things, maybe the new stuff is inappropriately linked into the original wiring which wasn't designed to provide the necessary watts, a lot of the original wiring is only designed for low loads of 120-240W, the high load circuits are generally specific and isolated from the rest, like the starter and radiator fan.