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Sean_Ironstag · Joined: 12 May 2012 Posts: 51 Location: Houston

Oh my goodness, help!
I am dealing with an electrical nightmare and I could really use some expert advice, before I end up blowing my car up, and going crazy in the process!
To make a long story short, I am the owner of a '77 924, Martini. I have been messing with the corroded wiring for about a week now (replacing corroded wires, sanding down connections, replacing old connectors, etc.), around and about the fuse and relay panel, under drivers side dash.
I finally got everything in what I believed was good order and shape, then put it back together. The car started up just fine, but then about a minute or two, bang! ELECTRICAL FIRE UNDER THE DASH! /sigh.....
I know the culprit, it was a (what I believe to be an aftermarket) circuit breaker with (what I am assuming are) two hot wires coming in, and one hot wire coming out. Something happened and it caught fire.
This part looks like it is an aftermarket piece, but the car was running with it on before, so I just put it back on. Should it have never have been there? Or did it come stock with that circuit breaker there? Or did someone put it there for a purpose? Should it be there? I am so confused...
I have included some pictures below, of the piece that caught fire (I'm assuming it's a circuit breaker); where the two wires comes from, under the dash; and where it leads to on the fuse/relay panel.
I'm thinking maybe it caught fire because a piece of the metal touched the metal harness for the fuse/relay panel, but I'm not 100% sure. Or maybe the piece was just bad? Or maybe it just shouldn't be there in the first place! I dunno...
Please help! Any and all expertise is welcome, because I am at a loss here....
Thank you in advance!

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77 Porsche 928 Martini & Rossi Championship Edition

!tom · Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 3:42 pm Post subject:

Yes, that looks like a previous owner add-on circuit breaker.
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78 924 NA
5-lug

Sean_Ironstag · Joined: 12 May 2012 Posts: 51 Location: Houston

That's what I thought.
Would they have added it on for any purpose? Or did they just not know what they were doing?
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77 Porsche 928 Martini & Rossi Championship Edition

!tom · Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 3:51 pm Post subject:

That looks like a self resetting circuit breaker.

I'd be scared if I saw that on a used car; I'd think they had a problem blowing fuses, so figured they'd put in a self resetting circuit breaker instead, rather than fixing what was causing the blown fuses.
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78 924 NA
5-lug

Sean_Ironstag · Joined: 12 May 2012 Posts: 51 Location: Houston

Gotta love people and their shortcuts! /sigh.
Their fuses being blown probably had something to do with the MASSIVE amounts of corroded wires I had to replace. Augh.
It also has a wire that leads out of where it is connected to on the fuse/relay panel, a hot wire that is capped in electrical tape. I have no earthly idea as to where this wire is supposed to go, if anywhere! I'll add a pic of it. Any thoughts?

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77 Porsche 928 Martini & Rossi Championship Edition