Lost power to the instrument cluster –need hints

I just got my QV back with the fan blower fixed. Was all good on the way home when I smelled electrical burn. Thinking it was the A/C blower, switched it off. Smell when away. At home quick disconnected the battery as usual.

 

Today I take the car. Quick connect the battery. No power to any instrument panel gages. No blower, no turn signal, no power to headlamps, no horn, no wipers. The only think that works is the battery light turning on. The car starts and all. The fuses all look ok on visual.

 

Anybody has any idea on what may have happened or what I should look for?

 

Thanks

I had a similar problem a couple of months ago less the burning smell.

Start off by rechecking fuses and grounds. Countach are great cars but they are notorious when it comes to ground issues. Actually , don't even check the grounds, just start looking for them, and cleaning them. You will find that you will eliminate future problems by doing this. There are lots of ground points so take a flashlight and keep looking.

Having said that, In my particular situation, there was a bad connection between the wire and the connector leading to the fuse box. If the shop that looked at your car had removed the fuse box and pulled it out to look at the other fuses, they may have put stress the connection (Time to find endless, cost to fix 25 cents,amount of enjoyment afterwards, priceless.

Patrick -

 

Your relays have melted. this also means your battery is not charging, so save whatever power it has to start the car for moving it around......

 

On my Countach George Evans upgraded the relays and seperated out a bunch of circuits (added more relays)....I had the same thing. Basically Lambo put too many circuits though too few relays and as the car ages it becomes impossible for those old circuits to handle the current, especailly with other modernizations (like my bigger ac blower fan, modern stereos, etc....).

 

Pull down your fusebox, look at the relays - I'll bet their toast. Just replacing the relays won't help - it'll happen again inside of 200 miles. You'll need to seperate some circuits (not that big of a deal).

 

Call or email me if you like.

 

Good Luck -

 

SL

Damn it Patrick, seems like you chase one thing for a while and another pops up. I'm with SL on this one. Especially since a new load was put on with the blower working again. Unless they re-routed the blower where it's not able to handle it.

 

PS don't feel bad, I still haven't had time to check my points yet, still run flat

Email me if you want someone to scratch heads with

Who did the blower motor and switches?

Thanks for all the help guys. There is nothing worst that getting your car back and be down the next day.

 

12097:

Now that is scary. I fear ground issues because you can spend weeks on that stuff. I never had grounding issues. I think G. Evans may have addressed this at his last major service he did a few years back. Have not done any major since. Due pretty soon now but the car has run very well.

 

Steve:

You are correct :supz: . Checked it and one relay smell bad. The 2 other seem ok. will chase a relay today.

 

Peter:

I think we found it. That should not prevent you from stopping by if you are in the area. Bring your countach. I got a lift so we could get drunk watching the underbelley. :partyman: or watch what a CT burnt relay looks like.

 

Andy:

did you get you car back yet? If so you would be welcome to join and we all can watch the underbelley of our beasts and really get drunk :partyman:

Shop is F40 in Porland CT. They are not a heavy mechanical shop but rather a body shop. They have done a few Pebble beach cars. My blower needed to be greased. It was stuck. Go figure. Never had to grease a blower before. They just did a few other minor cosmetics. I think they are good at body work. They have a nice Muira SV that will go to an auction. $450K. Well above my means unfortunatly.

Hi Patrick,

I had the same problem with my car. I was driving at night on the interstate and poof, no lights or power to the accessories. engine kept running. same burning smell and no blown fuses.Luckily i had a V-ohm meter and identified the circuits that didn't have power, and patched them with my jumper cables(!), finished the drive home!!! pulled that one out my ass. Well, it turned out a main circuit was overloaded with the power draw. The wire had heated and oxidized the reconnector which caused it to overheat even more, and melted the connector and more wiring, then another short. The relay/fuse panel was a mess and needed some rewiring. The problem in your care is almost certainly in that panel, and also check the wiring. There is one wire in particular that is under-sized, and IMO the real culprit. Not that difficult of a job to fix though, so you'll be on the road soon

dennis

Raymond has some pretty good pictures and 'tips" for dealing with the various melted fuses and relay issues on his site. When I went through my car, two of the fuses were LITERALLy melted... Just BLOBS of plastic... BUT THEY WERENT BLOWN. They were fully functional despite themselves... I replaced them and have checked them periodically since- So far so good.

Hi Patrick,

I had the same problem with my car. I was driving at night on the interstate and poof, no lights or power to the accessories. engine kept running. same burning smell and no blown fuses.Luckily i had a V-ohm meter and identified the circuits that didn't have power, and patched them with my jumper cables(!), finished the drive home!!! pulled that one out my ass. Well, it turned out a main circuit was overloaded with the power draw. The wire had heated and oxidized the reconnector which caused it to overheat even more, and melted the connector and more wiring, then another short. The relay/fuse panel was a mess and needed some rewiring. The problem in your care is almost certainly in that panel, and also check the wiring. There is one wire in particular that is under-sized, and IMO the real culprit. Not that difficult of a job to fix though, so you'll be on the road soon

dennis

 

 

HAHAHA !!!! Holy Crap - that happened to me too !!

 

My wife and I were on our way back to the garage where we stored the car at the time (a friends house), late one Sunday night....we got caught in the rain. Driving down these back woods winding roads at night in the rain, then....POOF !!! TOTAL PITCH BLACK.

 

We were headed right for a tight corner (we weren't going that fast) so all I could do was brake as hard as I could and keep the turn about where I thought it was. I'm still farting bits of seat leather from that moment.

 

So there we are, at night in the rain in the woods with no power to anything but the red battery light, but the engine is running fine. There was just enough ambient light that if I had wipers, I could have limped along, but not in the rain. SO, I hopped my but on the door sill with the door open, and drove it the rest of the way to my friends house (about another 2-3 miles). At night, in the rain, with no lights.

 

That was my entre into the world of correcting the Countach relay panel !!

George spilt up the circuits and added more relays (to split the load on any one circuit) so the problem is now permanently fixed, but this has become a known age related design problem with the Countach.

Interesting. When my fan & AC was working, I never had issue. Then it stop wroking, never had issues.

Then I go it working AND I also use my wipers driving back home (but still moving forward :anal ) at the same time (first time doing).

The wiper and the fan blower may not like to be on together?

I have to say the fuse panel wiring is a real mess to look at. Overall if I have to complain about anything, it really would be the electrical. That is the only thing that has been pesky on that car.

HAHAHA !!!! Holy Crap - that happened to me too !!

 

My wife and I were on our way back to the garage where we stored the car at the time (a friends house), late one Sunday night....we got caught in the rain. Driving down these back woods winding roads at night in the rain, then....POOF !!! TOTAL PITCH BLACK.

 

We were headed right for a tight corner (we weren't going that fast) so all I could do was brake as hard as I could and keep the turn about where I thought it was. I'm still farting bits of seat leather from that moment.

 

So there we are, at night in the rain in the woods with no power to anything but the red battery light, but the engine is running fine. There was just enough ambient light that if I had wipers, I could have limped along, but not in the rain. SO, I hopped my but on the door sill with the door open, and drove it the rest of the way to my friends house (about another 2-3 miles). At night, in the rain, with no lights.

 

That was my entre into the world of correcting the Countach relay panel !!

George spilt up the circuits and added more relays (to split the load on any one circuit) so the problem is now permanently fixed, but this has become a known age related design problem with the Countach.

 

damn lucky! unfortunately i was 40 miles from home on the interstate and had to get the lights going, or call a tow. The italians made the most cobbled together POS relay panel i've ever seen. part of the charm i keep telling myself, haha