Old British cars have amazing electrical systems. We all know about Lucas, the Prince of Darkness. Well, to keep us safe and make sure our lovely cars don’t burst into flames typically the whole electrical system runs through 2 fuses… if the circuit is fused at all. In my case I have a special previous owner modified system with 3 fuses plus a bonus fuse for the radio which doesn’t work.
The electrical system has worked reasonably well so far. In the past week though I’ve had a problem with an intermittent loss of left window power and turn signals occasionally not working as well as a tachometer that bounces around and then just quits. Considering the tachometer is my speedometer (I need a new speedometer cable.. and I do have a GPS which give me my speed hut turns off regularly due to iffy wiring) and I drive on public roads I decided to upgrade to the 1990’s and add a new 10 fuse box. At the same time I’ll try and figure out what the wires are protecting. Should make for an entertaining day
This is what I came up with after a few hours. It’s all very temporary at this point but at least makes it easy for me to isolate a circuit and attempt to figure out what it does. Using a wiring diagram has helped, fortunately the Europa’s wiring harness is reasonably intact in most areas. Today’s job will be trying to determine what a few more of these fuses protect and add another circuit for a GPS and USB port. I’m almost guessing at fuse amperage at this point as well.
Does everything electrical work? Of course not! The wimpy horn used to work but has now quit (horn is working again, bad contact). None of the warning lights (oil pressure, ignition and high beams) work but that’s been the case since I bought the car. I figure a few more hours and I will have beat Lucas… at least temporarily.
