Yep, made the big NO NO!! Let the sunroof open and it rained!!

[caqueenslace]

:( Yepper, did the big no no about a week ago. Left the sunroof open and it showered on us.

I have a '95 525'. It ran fine for about 3 days. Kept parking in the sun so I can get it to dry out. Didn't get too wet but a little. Then went out to bring the dog in after dark and the hazzards were flashing. I got power. It just would not turn over, could not lock the doors nor shut or open open windows.
Got the hazzards to shut off by just pushing the hazzard button in and back out and they shut off and still work. I have all the dash lights, radio and fan works. No attempt for the engine to turn over at all.

Figured is was acting like the security system was triggered. Next when I had daylight I checked the front fuse box, fuses up front were fine, pulled the back seat and the only two 7.5 fuses next to the set of four fuse inlets near the security system were blown.

Replaced them, the car started and everything worked again.
I drove about 10 minutes. Parked, shut off and restarted... repeated that process. Worked fine. Then let it sit for a couple hours.

Back out to check it, fuses blown again....put two more...same thing.

The back seat was damp when I pulled it out so it's obvious that wire harness from the right to left side of the car from the security system to where I assume heads up front may be wet.

Anyone ever go through this and what you suggest I do next? I plan to pull that wire harness out in the morning and try to check it out. Although it is covered with heat wrap...suppose I can pick up some of that to replace it.

What do you all suggest?

By the way...you all have helped me with so much on my car. The best one was right after I bought in in 2003 from a local used car dealer. I had him convinced to buy me a new $250 passenger window motor. Got on here for the first time and found if I hold down the buttom and open and slam the door the window will probably go down. That was the best find yet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
CAQueenslace

[632 Regal]

dude that just sux...could be worse though!

Id say try to get to as much of the exposed wiring and clean/dry it off. If its water in the main runs then you have cracked wire insulation which I kinda doubt. Your main window switches need to be removed in the center along with the hazard switch, cleaned and dried. You probably have a couple areas that are wet, take one at a time.

Have fun!

[RobPatt]

Can't help more than to offer good luck...

[Gayle]

Is there any way you can put it in a low humidity environment? Like a garage with a dehumidifer?

[caqueenslace]

So it's not that bad? Oh..thank goodness! I will get that all out of there in the morning.
They predict our last day of summer here tomorrow so I want to make sure it's all dry.
Carpets never really were wet and the seat only got damp. I already pulled the swithc down from teh head liner and look for wetness up there. Nothing really and I let it hang for a couple days in the sun in.

As soon as I get this fixed, I have a tougher one to resolve. Shortly after I bought the car I could no longer double arm my car with the remote. You can set it but after a few minutes the alarm is triggered. Guess I need to buy one of those testers to get a code on it.

Thanks much and I will let you know how I make out with it. I'd like to fix it, my husband will get a trip out of it like he did the windows. He's no computer dude...so I always find the fixes and on here!

A gal gains lots of respect when she fixes the car before the gent!


Later.

Regards,
CAQueenslace

[caqueenslace]

Yes, I can put in the garage however, we have a drought going on and that shower it was in was a quick one and the only one in weeks. So it's pretty dry out however, I'm sure the nights are moist with us hitting fall. I will get it in the garage in the morning
as well as the the wire harness out of it and get it dried out.

I'm almost positive it's the harness under the back seat. It felt damp.

Be back and THANKS!

[caqueenslace]

Thanks, I need it. I miss my bimmer :(

[632 Regal]

might sound stupid but if you take a hair drier to the harness you can warm the thing and turn any water into humidity faster so it can exit faster than just letting it sit. Id still inspect and clean the connections, also redo the battery cable ends and grounds if you can get to them.

When your done reboot the computers and hopefully you will have an entirely new car.

:D

[caqueenslace]

Ahh....I know operate a hair dryer but I made a rule not to touch the battery.

I can see the battery, it's brand new. It's in the back seat.
Are you sayting to unhook it and rehook it back up again. My husband can do all that Thursday.

Now on the reboot of the computer, where can I find instructs on how to do that??

You've been a great help!

[Gayle]

might sound stupid but if you take a hair drier to the harness you can warm the thing

:D


Hey Jeff

Is this sexism? Telling a woman to use a hairdryer? In the six month I have been reading this board, I have never heard you suggest that to a guy. :D

[632 Regal]

the battery isnt a scary thing unless you want it to be.

Reboot:
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=2806&highlight=shogun+reboot

[632 Regal]

a guy would refer to it as a heat gun...sexism unrelated.

I also haven't heard of a guy leaving the sunroof open during a rainstorm Gayle, any input mamn?

[Gayle]

a guy would refer to it as a heat gun...sexism unrelated.




So help me understand what you are saying...does that mean you are not a guy since you first refered to it as a hair dryer instead of a heat gun? :p

Joking aside, the heat gun is a good idea.

[caqueenslace]

foclol!

No guy would admit on this forum in front of all the rest of you guys...LOL!

[Gayle]

foclol!

No guy would admit on this forum in front of all the rest of you guys...LOL!


I have seen many worse things admitted by guys here.

And what does that abbreviation stand for?

Never mind ... Just figured it out.

[632 Regal]

Admit what Ms. Queen lady?


foclol!

No guy would admit on this forum in front of all the rest of you guys...LOL!

[caqueenslace]

lol..I will leave a thread tomorrow night after I do some work and get it in the garage for the day.

I appreciate all your help and the laughs!

Regards,

CAQueenslace

[caqueenslace]

that they left the sunroof open during a thundershower...

[632 Regal]

hmm.... would a guy actually do that in the first place?


that they left the sunroof open during a thundershower...

[Gayle]

lol..I will leave a thread tomorrow night after I do some work and get it in the garage for the day.

I appreciate all your help and the laughs!

Regards,

CAQueenslace


The garage alone isn't going to do it. It needs to be low humidity. If you can't run a dehumidifier you would probably be better off outside with all the windows open so the air circulates.

[Kalevera]

First off, resist the urge to replace the (currently) blowing fuses with higher amperage ones -- that'll do damage to the wiring and won't solve the problem. I've done big money repairs on cars because the owner just wouldn't take "no", I know Winfred has done a body harness on an E38 ($$$) after similar circumstances.

One thing to do is determine what fuses they are and which accessories they...uh..fuse. Also, check to assure that the correct amp fuse is in there to begin with.

Most people don't know this until they really take apart a car, but there is a lot of space underneath the carpet in which water can collect. E34 body harness wiring runs in a plastic race along the outboard sides of the car and along the lower edge of the rear seat (by the main ground -- plastic cover thingy on the rear seat wall/pass footwell). These wires break out of the plastic races and run into the compartment under the rear seat via cuts in the seat wall. Those holes need to have rubber trim/bumpers on the edges or else the wiring will be cut over time as the car is driven around. I have seen instances wherein the trims were missing, for whatever reason.

You seem pretty handy, and I have a lot of faith in you being able to solve the problem on your own. Here's the first thing to do: pull up the carpet around the edges and check for standing water on the floorboards/remove it. That'll prevent the car from starting to smell like ****. Second thing to do is obtain an aerisol can of electrical contact cleaner, preferably one that won't leave residue (available from Radio Shack/the like), and pull all switches in the center console/give them a good cleaning.

The wiring really needs to be inspected, but my thinking is that by sopping up any standing water, the problem might magically go away, which would be nice.

Here's a picture of the wiring race (although you'll need to get the carpet up higher to get underneath it -- the stuff has a thick pile and an even thicker backing foam)

http://www.bimmer.info/~lowell/rear%20cable%20race%20under%20carpet.jpg

And another one to give perspective

http://www.bimmer.info/~lowell/racing%20cables.jpg

best, whit

[632 Regal]

you need a manicure Whit.

Nice job on the wireing routes too.

[dacoyote]

That sucks.... I left a window down in my van and melt all the power controls...

-Charles

[Kalevera]

you need a manicure Whit.

Nice job on the wireing routes too.
Yeah, I did. Way to point it out, CO-ach!

best, whit

[Paul in NZ]

if you can leave the car with rear seat out carpet pulled back/out all switches which could have gotten wet cleaned as per lowell,witht the windows/sunroof open on a sunny day...and Jeff i often leave my sunroof tilted all day,not all the way up.I dont close it unless it REALLY pours.....

[Dan in NZ]

What about setting the heater to foot vents, turning on the a/c to recirc, max temp, and leaving it closed up and running for a while. The moisture would just drip out the a/c drain!

[Qube]

Funny thing. Yesterday morning was really humid... lots of condensation collected. My sunroof and power windows didn't work. That afternoon when the temp went up, they worked fine again. BAH!

[caqueenslace]

Hi Lowel...

Well after pulling in the days of being in the garage. My husband did a inspection and there does not seem to be wet wires under the back seat and the window swithces are not the problem either. He is a car technician not a computer dude. So I do the checking online for him on our Bimer. He has primarily been a VW and Ford tech but has also worked on Benz, Saturn, Benz, and oh gosh there are others. The bimmer is new to him and he has never worked at a dealers ship of a long period of time on them.

He was out of town when this happened to me so today was the first day for him to dig into it. He eliminated the window switches as being the problem. There does not seem to be any standing water any where except he has not pulled the carpet up totally, only under the driver side and it's bone dry.

The fuses blowing are number 32 and 33. Central locking system and the sunroof.
The driver side was down when it got wet. Forgot to mention that. The day it got wet my husband discovered it with the windows down then he left town. I didn't realize all the door windows were down as well.

He sees your notes and tomorrow morning he will pull the carpet and check for water but we really think it's dry. There is no smell and it's been two weeks now since it got wet.

Another question for you. When he detached the remote keyless security system box to read what fuses were blowing he discover there was a wire plugged into the INPUT hole but it was only about 8" and the end was frayed like it was chewed by a mouse. And he cannot find the other black wire it connected to.

Do you know what that input is for and is that the problem?

Also I wanted to mention. My husband knows not to put higher amp fuses where not suppose. He replaced the ones blown with the exact size 7.5. And this is the first it's done this except for double locking system problem.

Let us know what you think now that you know what fuses are blowing and what the heck is that input on the remote keyless security system.

Thank you and regards,

Denise and Al.

[caqueenslace]

lol :)

[caqueenslace]

Yeah, we are going to pull the carpet up tomorrow. The funny thing here is nothing appears to be wet. But that is the only thing that happened to the thing that we linked to the this happening. Of course it's cause...just what...

[caqueenslace]

My husband said he did that the morning he went out and discovered it.
And I did it once more after the car appeared totally dry.

[caqueenslace]

Oh my, luckily it's fairly dry where we live in KY. We are not close to the Ohio River and on much higher ground. Most of the time it's on the dryer side where we live.
The cracks in the ground sometimes I look like they are going to break the earth out from beneath ya...This time of year though the nights are moister.

[Kalevera]

Hi Denise (and Al):

That input is actually the antenna -- it should be stubby, but not "cut" at the end. It's probably the alpine system -- box may be marked "BMW PREWIRED". Perhaps a rodent got in there and attacked the wiring...it was never a water issue to begin with :) Either way, the system should still have some range without the antenna connected.

Good to hear that the ebox appears dry. Don't waste time pulling up the carpet if the car isn't smelling moldy. If the accessories are operating correctly when the fuses *aren't* blown, I'd wager that it has to be due to a short somewhere in the loom, which could be quite hard to find.

Does Al have a fluke 88, or similar automotive multimeter that can record limits? If so, I'd piggyback the leads to the fuse/set to check resistance, drive around and see if the fuse(s) blows when going over a bump or something similar, which would indicate that it's likely a physical problem with a wire getting pinched or exposed to ground.

best, whit

[caqueenslace]

Hey Whit,

He already pulled the carpet by the drivers door and it's all dry. No standing water at all! And no mold smell.

He is at the frustrated leve!!

Yesterday when fuse blew he has not been able to get any to take now. They blow instantly when you go to put them in.

Also that input on the security. We see the attenta one. That is a stubby and it's fine.
The other looks like a DC input and the end is stubby but frayed or chewed. The hole is labled input on the box too.

Anythy other ideas? He pulled the driver door panel as well and there is no problem there.

He convinced it's from getting wet because the fusing blowing are connected to where it got wet #32 and #33 which are the sunroof and the central locking system.

Do you know where the central locking system point of interest would be? In drivers door?

We really appreciate all your help and what about the SRS we have that problem with the SRS coming on for two minutes and then it goes out. We never unhooked the battery yet and reset the computer either. Do you think that this would work to fix the problem with the fuses blowing?

This is getting tough.

[caqueenslace]

Oh that box is marked BMW remote keyless entry security system. Don't see it say BMW prewired anywhere.

Still trying to figure out what the heck that input is with the DC end (look alike plug) plugged in and it's wire frayed or chewed. We cannot seem to find the other end anywhere in the wires. If there is one somewhere then that is the exposed wire. If it's left from someone yanking out something they installed connecting to the keyless entry box...then that is not it.

We unplugged that

[SRR2]

I just read through this thread and don't recall reading that you pulled the negative battery lead. I saw someone recommend it, but nothing that you actually did it.

To reset the various elex, just pull off the negative battery lead and let it sit for a half-hour. No need for that elaborate 'shogun reset' business. The negative lead will do the trick. After you do that, try the fuses again.

[caqueenslace]

I'm trying to get him to try this but in the meantime he unconnected the trunk switch. It has not worked with the remote keyless entry in a year. We're out of our 7.5 fuses...been going through them like water. He put in a 5 and a 3.5 and it started.

So he is going to try this first and see if it fixes it before he unhookds the battery.

Yesterday when it worked. I took it for that ride to the store. At the store I drove the car out back of the loading ramp for the gent to load 2 bags of horse feed in the truck. I left the car running. He opened the trunk, loaded the feed and I drove off. A couple minutes later as I left there I smelt the match burning smell. Came home parked it. Opened the trunk to unload the feed and then shut it and then a few minutes later the hazzards started flashing again and it would not start again.

Do you think it could be the trunk switch?

And do you have any idea on the input DC looking plug on the Remote keyless entry box? The antenna is there....this looks like a dc plug or an ear phone plug on a walkman. The wires was chewed and exposed. Could this be my other problem with not being able to double lock the car without the alarm going off. That has been going on for a couple years.

[caqueenslace]

I just read through this thread and don't recall reading that you pulled the negative battery lead. I saw someone recommend it, but nothing that you actually did it.

To reset the various elex, just pull off the negative battery lead and let it sit for a half-hour. No need for that elaborate 'shogun reset' business. The negative lead will do the trick. After you do that, try the fuses again.

********************
He thinks it is the trunk actuator. He disconnected it and not the door looks work now..they have not worked once since we have been going through this.

And the trunk has not worked with the keyless entry remote for a year or so..
so it must have gotten worse.

No corrosion or mold anywhere on this car. We are happy about that. Whit was correct about that.

And, we are hoping your fix of disconnecting the neg batter cable will fix the SRS light. We are hoping once we get that new actuator installed we can double look the system again.

We'll post how she runs in the next day or so... THANKS For ALL your HELP!

:p

[SRR2]

The harness in the trunk, especially where it passes over the hinge mechanism is a known weak spot with insulation chafing and inadvertant cross-connections. Search "trunk wiring" for more information on this. I recall reading some good posts on the subject.

Speaking as one who's had a car (pristine four year old M-Roadster with 12,500 miles on it) burn up due to wiring issues, I strongly encourage you to stop guessing and do whatever's necessary to get to the bottom of the problem. I guarantee you that electrical faults have the ability to destroy your car.

Regarding your last question -- critters (i.e. "chewed") can cause these kinds of problems with electrical equipment. Might help to post a picture. Based on a several-decade long career in Electronics Engineering, my troubleshooting mantra is "Fix what you know is broken" when trying to get to the bottom of a mystery involving things that are broken that you don't know about.

You guys probably aren't engineering types, if I've caught the flavor of your posts. No matter, you can still do a lot of the troubleshooting yourself. You will need a reasonable Digital Multimeter which you could find at RatShack, Home Despot, Sears, or any of a million other places. That will allow you to measure voltage and current which will be a big help in tracking down wiring faults.

[Kalevera]

Maybe it's a case of a frayed trunk lid wiring harness? Kinda typical.

See my other post on the connector for the alarm box -- I was wrong, it's the MIC input. More in the other thread...

best, whit

[caqueenslace]

Whit, I forgot to mention....our cars are twins....same green :) Is yours a 95 525?

[caqueenslace]

I'm no expert at any of this, however, my husband is a master tech for 25+ years now.
He finally found and tested that the trunk actuator is bad.

I will tell him about the wire harness for the trunk as well. He is very good a electrical systems on cars.

Whit headed us in the direction that the water did not damage anything and my husband was freaking because there was no wetness anywhere. What was throwing him off was those two fuses 32 & 33 were for the central lock system and the sunroof,...the two places that got soaked.

Once he verified they were not damaged he moved through the other parts of the central lock system and found that bad trunk switch.

He said all the wiring underneath the car look great and the ebox is in new order.

The one exception is that mic cord was either riped out or something chewed it. Not the problem with the fuses blowing though.

Now we are trying to locate that mic so we can see if the previous owner removed it.
There is no evidence to the other end of the wire going to the mic being present.

Do you know where that runs to the front of the car?

My husbands snap on boxes are the size of a motor home...he has all that stuff at work. He keeps most all those testing tools at work. He is very good at fixing what is broke! Not satisfied until it's done. I tried to figure out what was wrong all week while he was away. He spent an hour on it yesterday...and a couple on it today and found the problem along with Whit's tips that it wasn't water damage.

You guys are experts on these gems!!

THANKS!