Finally took delivery of my m998a1 today. Started it up threw it in reverse and noticed some sparks on the driver floorboard. Truck drives fine and all the lights work except the front driver marker light(which did work in the govplanet pics). Any ideas as to what the sparks may have come from? I'm obviously a newbie
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Sparks on floorboard
- Thread starter Apex02
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orgnal
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Bravojmc
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Don't drive your truck until you fix your issue!
low beam to high beam switch on the floor...?
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Agreed: check for loose wiring or connections. Do it with power off, and if nothing obvious then can try doing it with power on (non-running), but wear gloves and goggles.
These vehicles get lots of loose connections from age, neglect and vibration. I tidied up many on my truck. One non-obvious place to check that might help you is to double check that the brackets on the backs of your instrument cluster gauges are plastic brackets, not metal. One of mine had been replaced with metal and it was randomly touching the aluminum frame of the dash. It was sparking but randomly, until I finally spotted it.
Your problem could be anything, there are dozens of connections in the spot you mention. You will find it by visual inspection, wiggling, and if necessary working hot (with protective gear on!).
Good luck! Please post your results as learning material for others.
Bulldogger
These vehicles get lots of loose connections from age, neglect and vibration. I tidied up many on my truck. One non-obvious place to check that might help you is to double check that the brackets on the backs of your instrument cluster gauges are plastic brackets, not metal. One of mine had been replaced with metal and it was randomly touching the aluminum frame of the dash. It was sparking but randomly, until I finally spotted it.
Your problem could be anything, there are dozens of connections in the spot you mention. You will find it by visual inspection, wiggling, and if necessary working hot (with protective gear on!).
Good luck! Please post your results as learning material for others.
Bulldogger
gcbennet
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This is the kind of stuff you can expect to find... corroded wires and connectors, and bad repairs.
Attachments
I don't see any loose wiring etc. everything looks pretty clean and fairly new. The high beam switch works. The only thing that doesn't work is the front left marker light and it appears that the bulbs are still good. Pics attached. Any idea why there would have been sparks and what I need to do to make marker light work again
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NormB
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There's a LOT going on behind that "dashboard". Pull the instrument cluster out a few inches (all you can do without releasing the speedometer cable) and get a look inside.
There's a THICK (like 2") bundle of wiring behind and above the steering column. I replaced my column as the bracket was broken (wings and aluminum inserts) and, when I took it out, I could see the YUGE adel clamps normally holding the bundle to the firewall had given way/broken and gravity dragged the wiring harness down where it rested against the steering column.
The outer insulation had worn through and partially through TWO thick (like 8 gauge) red wires inside. No arcing to ground on the steering column bracket, but MAN am I glad I had to do that before something disastrous happened. I teased the wires apart, wrapping with teflon plumber's tape and silicone self-stick stuff and reattaching the bundle to the firewall bracket with zip ties and adel clamp and no problems yet, but the ESS box had "issues" (charging, starting, glow plug cycling) and I replaced that.
There's a LOT going on behind that "dashboard". Pull the instrument cluster out a few inches (all you can do without releasing the speedometer cable) and get a look inside, behind, down.
No, I didn't take pictures.
There's a THICK (like 2") bundle of wiring behind and above the steering column. I replaced my column as the bracket was broken (wings and aluminum inserts) and, when I took it out, I could see the YUGE adel clamps normally holding the bundle to the firewall had given way/broken and gravity dragged the wiring harness down where it rested against the steering column.
The outer insulation had worn through and partially through TWO thick (like 8 gauge) red wires inside. No arcing to ground on the steering column bracket, but MAN am I glad I had to do that before something disastrous happened. I teased the wires apart, wrapping with teflon plumber's tape and silicone self-stick stuff and reattaching the bundle to the firewall bracket with zip ties and adel clamp and no problems yet, but the ESS box had "issues" (charging, starting, glow plug cycling) and I replaced that.
There's a LOT going on behind that "dashboard". Pull the instrument cluster out a few inches (all you can do without releasing the speedometer cable) and get a look inside, behind, down.
No, I didn't take pictures.
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I second the recommendation to pull the gauge cluster panel out for a peek, or perhaps technically NormB is seconding my recommendation to peel behind there. Your wiring does look cleaner than some. It's a small effort to disconnect and reconnect the light panel plug (unscrews, then pull) and reseat it. If you're still scratching your head after that, having found no "smoking gun" (well, wire) then you could pull apart each Packard connector in turn and reconnect those. Here's a tip: any time you pull one of those fat rubberized Packard connections apart, give ti a tiny dab of dielectric grease before putting it back together. The next time you need to disconnect it, and there WILL be a next time, it is soooooooo much easier and quicker.
Best of luck,
Bulldogger
alphaseventwo
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install the grounding kit as well.
I see what appears to be one damaged wire in the photos. Probably not the source of sparks but, if there's one, there's more.
chickenbutt
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When they demilled mine and removed the radio, they just cut the 24V power cable where it came out of the tunnel by the radio rack. The radio power cable goes direct to the batteries, had the wires touched each other or ground, it would not have been pretty.
Check for any equipment that was removed that would have had power to it.
Check for any equipment that was removed that would have had power to it.
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+1 on that, it is very common. I had two clipped main power cables in my ride.
Bulldogger
NormB
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Man, the suspense is killing me... did you find the source?
Unfortunately never did find the issue--I did find that my front composite light was out because the wire was severed inside the front composite light housing itself--but I don't think that would have caused a spark inside the cab on the floorboard. Everything else works fine and looks fine