Hey guys,

Earlier this week I was stopped for a train and turned the engine off. When I went to restart the engine all the dash lights went out and the gauges quit working (including the 3 middle gauges, but the head unit and speakers still work). The car still ran and drove just fine. I found the meter fuse had blown. Today I went to start the car to go buy fuses and it got stuck in some limp mode where the car would only rev in neutral, but would throttle cut once put into any gear making it undrivable. Managed to get some fuses, but they blow instantly and the battery drained quickly and is now almost dead.

Any ideas if there's a component that might've failed or what's causing this? Tomorrow I'll probably pull the whole dash apart to try to find a short or some obvious wiring issue.

Any advise would be hugely appreciated, thanks.

 

Welcome- you've definitely got a short somewhere, but this isn't a common issue with Z33s. While you don't mention year, mileage or mods, I'd start by checking wiring around the IPDM, battery and fuse boxes that are accessible before tearing apart the entire dash. Are there any electrical mods (stereo, lights, etc) that might explain where the short is located? Finally, if you're in limp mode, use a code reader to see what's held in memory and possibly get a clue.

 

Thanks for the response. I have an 03 with 110k miles. It has an aftermarket head unit and sub installed by the previous owner. However, it looks professionally installed as there's lots of heat shrink, labeling, and it's routed very nicely. The head unit and speakers/sub do still work too.

I checked all the IPDM fuses, battery connections, and the fuses in all the other two boxes (or are there more?). I recharged the battery and it is no longer in limp mode. The fuse pops as soon as the key is turned to the second position which would normally turn on the cluster and lights. Anything I might be missing?

Thanks for your time

 

Well I got it figured out.

I went to remove the dash and bumped the rear view mirror. When I went to straighten it I noticed a little DC jack tucked in the back. Looked behind the mirror to find this beautiful wiring job. Pulled out the jack and fixed the wiring and we're back in business. Would've been a real nightmare if I didn't get soo lucky.

Thanks for your guys input.

 

Glad to hear you figured it out.