Should I be more worried than I am?

Hi everyone,
Just had my first failure on the TF. Driving into work this morning the radio lost power, oil temp gauge dropped down to nothing and oil warning light came on!

I diverted to the nearest garage and checked the oil, all OK, water temp hadn't changed at all so I'm guessing a fuse has blown. Does that sound like the most probable cause?

I'm thinking that I'll try and drive home gently and then take a look behind the dash.

Andy1970h;15318 wrote: Hi everyone,
Just had my first failure on the TF. Driving into work this morning the radio lost power, oil temp gauge dropped down to nothing and oil warning light came on!

I diverted to the nearest garage and checked the oil, all OK, water temp hadn't changed at all so I'm guessing a fuse has blown. Does that sound like the most probable cause?

I'm thinking that I'll try and drive home gently and then take a look behind the dash.

It could be a fuse, and worth checking them first.
If it's not a fuse, then I would check the battery voltage - Should be around 12.3volts with the engine off, start the engine and try again - should be over 13.5 volts.
If the alternator starts to fail, you can run on battery only for a while, but as the voltage drops, various things stop working. The radio is usually one of the first things you notice.

Another regular fail is the small loom that is tied to the nearside boot hinge. The constant flexing can cause breaks in the wires and this gives rise to all sorts of weird electrical faults.

Or the loom that runs behind the radio over the sharp edges.

Let us know what you find

Fitted a new fuse which blew straight away so I pulled out the new radio. Turned out that one of the wires had obviously been caught on a sharp edge so just taped it and was a bit more careful sliding it back in.

And Clive wins!

Thanks guys, I'm new to this fixing my own car lark, company cars for the last twelve years so I'm enjoying fixing things myself

so yes, you should be more worried than you are, a short circuit could cause a wiring fire, this could lead to the whole car going up and you inhailing the fumes, some of which are carsonjenic (major sp) and you dieing from cancer in 30 years time, never replace a fuse with a larger one to prevent it blowing

talkingcars;15353 wrote: so yes, you should be more worried than you are, a short circuit could cause a wiring fire, this could lead to the whole car going up and you inhailing the fumes, some of which are carsonjenic (major sp) and you dieing from cancer in 30 years time, never replace a fuse with a larger one to prevent it blowing

Wise words. And a wonderfully inventive spelling of carcinogenic! Gave me a laugh, thanks.:yesnod:

Seriously, I lost a Granada through a fire, and it was terrifying how quickly it went up. Funnily enough it happened as I was driving passed a parked police car! The copper sprang into action right away; he wound down his window and shouted 'Get out of the car!'
Invaluable assistance really, as I had planned on sitting in the car until it was totally engulfed by flames.

Mind you, he did radio for a Fire engine, so they could come and put out the smoking remains.

talkingcars;15353 wrote: so yes, you should be more worried than you are, a short circuit could cause a wiring fire, this could lead to the whole car going up and you inhailing the fumes, some of which are carsonjenic (major sp) and you dieing from cancer in 30 years time, never replace a fuse with a larger one to prevent it blowing

Once I'd put the radio back I replaced the fuse with another 10A one so nothing dodgy in my fix.

talkingcars;15353 wrote: so yes, you should be more worried than you are, a short circuit could cause a wiring fire, this could lead to the whole car going up and you inhailing the fumes, some of which are carsonjenic (major sp) and you dieing from cancer in 30 years time, never replace a fuse with a larger one to prevent it blowing

You're mr happy today.