Fiery electrical & relay problem... & The PEPboy.

[GODamWiReS]

Hello everyone.First I'm sorry about the user name I am changing it... I am the proud new owner of a 1998 318ti stock in immaculate condition. I only have one problem which could in turn be a big one. The previous owner took the vehicle to pepboys... Those idiots messed up the wiring and now I have a what I think to be a miss-wired relay harness or shorted wire problem. To be more descriptive.. One of the brown & white stripe wires in the main harness starts to fry once ignition power is applied. It is one of the relays outside to the left of the fuse/relay box. I think it is the fuel pump relay? Not sure yet. Seems like it fry's as soon as the relay is inserted, and won't do that until power is applied. Everything was fine before all that. It went there for a cooling problem LOL... And then went to another electrician... MY MAIN QUESTION IS SHOULD I TRY TO FIX THE EXISTING WIRING HARNESS OR JUST REPLACE IT ALL FROM A COMPATIBLE BMW VIN#?? I have the harness all apart and will post pictures of my work also. She has 300,000 mi on her too what are the things I should do to keep her healthy? Thanks for any and all your help!
-Chris

[roadrash]

Perhaps one of these will help with your wiring issues.

BTW, I'm not a religious guy but your username will probably offend some folks. You should consider something a little less provocative.

[GODamWiReS]

That link you provided errors out. I emailed the org to change my user name I could not find the link to do that. This site is very confusing to use. No one responded to my post here? I really could use some help. I don't want to fry my baby. I am a computer / electrical tech so I do know what I am doing. This is the first Bavarian car I have worked on. I have the full adobe PDF BMW wiring schematic (like 100 pages to print out!!) for my 1998 318ti BUT I don't know what has been switched or spliced... So I am reluctant to start. There could be a short some where now causing more problems. The wiring is not that bad though, definitely replaceable. BTW I have brand new computers install in her and I still have the old ones for testing purposes.. Does anyone know how much it is at BMW to test my computers? (Two: ECU and transmission comp) So anyone out there? Please popularize my thread?!?

[roadrash]

Oops, sorry... I screwed up the link. It's fixed now.

I'll have the site admin contact you about the username.

[GODamWiReS]

Cool thank you for providing the link, that manual is the one I downloaded already. Printing it is fun! ROADRASH would you know how hard it is to get or if i should just get my hands on a new wiring harness for my 1998? And I have seen rumor of needing to match the VIN # when replacing it? Oh and how do I post pictures for everyone to see in my thread? Thanks for all the help!

[roadrash]

Sorry, I know nothing about wiring harnesses.

Regarding attaching pix... If you're in "Advanced Mode," look below the message input box in the "Additional Options" section. The second item there should be "Attach Files"... click on the "Manage Attachments" button.