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I build industrial control panels and we have a saying in the electrical industry, "Every wire and component has smoke inside, you don't want to let the smoke out." Well, tonight the smoke got out of the wiring harness on the F-2.
We were on our way to a drive in restaurant about 50 miles from home, it was a nice warm day and had to make a few stops on the way. We stopped at our bank in a town about ten miles from home. After were done with our banking I pulled out of the parking lot and made a turn at an intersection and a guy going the opposite way yelled out that I was losing my horn. I pulled into the next parking lot to see what he was talking about. As I got out of truck I saw smoke coming out of the side vents of the hood. Popped the hood open and saw the wiring harness from the radiator back to the firewall was split open and smoking. I went to the glove box to see what tools I had and there was only a 7/16" and 9/16", the bolts on the battery needed a 1/2". The smoke was starting to get bad so I pulled everything out of the glove box and found a needle nosed pliers. Fortunately I had just reinstalled the ground cable over the weekend when I pulled the truck out of the barn. I was able to get the bolt loosen and pulled the cable off and the smoke stopped. Just glad we weren't farther away from home when it was dark.
Turned out the horn, which is an oohga horn which I had mounted on the piece of sheet metal under the grill broke out of it's mounting holes and fell down and pulled on the wire going to the horn relay and pulled the relay apart shorting it against the radiator support. I wired the horn about 30 years ago using a reproduction harness and I'm not sure if that circuit was run through one of the circuit breaker because it was live until I pulled the battery cable. I think I probably got to it just before it could have caused some real damage.
I installed the harness new about 30 years ago, it was getting kind of frazzled and I've been wanting to rewire the truck for a long time, now I guess it's time to do it. I don't think it will take more than a weekend. With my business I have literally thousands of feet of wire of different gauges. I wired the panel truck a few years ago making my own color coded wire to match the shop manual but this time I think it'll all be black wire with labels at the end.
I think it was pretty close to bursting into flames when I popped the hood. While I was trying to disconnect the battery I was taken back when I inhaled some of the smoke. I got a little light headed.
Big time lucky that it didnt happen when you were out of the truck, the videos I have seen show it doesnt take long for a vehicle to go into full meltdown. Glad you got out safe.
I'm pretty particular about keeping battery cable terminals clean and tightened securely, but there's something to be said about the NEG terminal loose enough to be yanked off by hand. A 1/2" box wrench nearby isn't a bad idea. Even a Norwegian socket set would he helpful. Right now have a pair of Felco clippers stuffed right by the battery in the tray. In a Bad Situation, these could cut through even double ought cable.
Just wondering - did you have a fire extingusher with you?
Just wondering - did you have a fire extingusher with you?
I usually have one in the box behind the seat but not today. I took it out last fall when I put it away and didnt think about it when I got it this weekend. Today I remembered it as I watch the smoke coming out,of the bundle.
The ground cable was tight but I had a lot of incentive to get it off using the needle nose pliers. It's one of those things I wonder if I could have gotten it lose if it was a leisurely Saturday afternoon and I was in no hurry.
That was a close one. Glad it didn't turn out worse than it did. Thanks for sharing. A good reminder to the rest of us to have a fire extinguisher/ tools and a plan for a bad event.
This reminds me again why I shouldn`t wire in an auxiliary horn without a fuse.
It's been so long since I wired the truck I don't remember why there was a continuous hot wire going to the relay. Now from years of experience doing wiring I would never do it.
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