Electrical Mayhem!

[maxpowers]

Wednesday morn,
van starts perfectly, driving to gas station, clock fades out radio shuts off.
park at fuel station, and no more starting after that.
get a jump drive it home 1 block, park it and try and start it, ,no go!

I assume alternator.

Play around with it in my driveway abit. after jumping it again. and discover that it will charge if reving above 2500 rpm.

So perhaps allternator Belt?

Saturday
Take it down to shop as currently have no tools to work on it, they check and yah alternator
only puts out juice at around 2500 rpm,
they tighten the belt and give me the green light all is working great, belts are in great shape all is well.

I'm stoked,

Now the fun part,

Go out for sushi, about 4 blocks, come back park in driveway. All is well.

Sunday morn wake up to go to penticton, van starts, as im backing out of the driveway. I loose all electrical, except for the heater fan and the light on the dash that shows what gear the tranny is in, oh and the turn signals.

No headlights no interior lights no nothing but it runs fine,
So I park it back in the drive way, turn it off, turn it on, and nothin, just a half crank, and thats all.

Battery has been not quite up to par for awhile now, so Im like screw it Ill get a new battery anyway, Get a nice new battery.
put it in, the van starts perfectly, but still no lights. or radio or headlights,

so i start rummaging around under the seat and notice that one of the wires that comes out of the four wire box that is connected to the 100 Amp alt fuse. thingy off the postive battery terminal is comepletely burnt through!
sooooo. I fixed that, and everything worked, Drove for a while 20Kms about.
and all of a sudden battery light flickers a few times and then all, lights and radio blows again.
drive back to my house, check under the seat and the same wire is totally charred. Again.

So.................
any suggestions,
A.
Currently I am wondering if something got fried while I was jumping it multiple times over the last couple days is this possible and if so where do i look?
B.
Or is it possible 70% of my driving is horrible roads Dirt, and the other 30% is on the third world highway to squamish.
that something anywhere has just jiggled loose and is shorting.?

Any advice much appreciated,
Also anyone had one worked on in a shop in squamish, or should I be thinking of taking it down to Vancity.

Jeff sorry about the long post.
Thanks!

[maxpowers]

heres a pic, Im thinking it must be the headlights shorting somewhere, they would maybe be the only thing drawing enough current to zap that wire.

[maxpowers]

or it could be a short at the alternator.
the wires pass over the frame and were worn right through, check em and tape em boys.
that will save you some hassle in the future!
I'll post a pic in the morn.
thanks.

[Beans on Toast]

Hey Max,

I have had wiring problems too, mostly interior lights and running lights. I took my van to JB Auto in Squampton, and they sorted her out. They are in the same building as the Brick, near Tim Hortons. I heard there's another guy in town working on Deli's, but can't remember his name. Jared at JB will be able to help, or at least point you in the other guys direction. Hope this helps,

Dan.

[maxpowers]

got is figured, was grounding out against the frame.

Driving around on the third world highway, wore right through some wires.

Good to no about shops though, thanks.

[redmond]

I had one of mine fry as well - powershades, windows, door locks, and gate lock. I'm thinking a fuse in line might be a way to go? These 4 wires are fusable links?? I would rather have a fuse blow than a wire fry - it didn't look like any type of fuse-wire to me. Way to go finding that - took me a few days chasing wires behind the dash!