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 Still wondering... 
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Firing on two.
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Joined: August 31st, 2016, 12:12 pm
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Location: Hawkins County, TN. USA
Post Still wondering...
Any of you guys ever wonder why is the headlight wiring is not protected on 2CVs? Curious what the electrical engineers at Citroen were thinking when it came to the headlights on these cars.

I finally got around to replacing all the dodgy connectors in the engine compartment and new battery cables and decided to wrap the wiring harness in some insulating wrap just for piece of mind. This wrap is about 1" / 25 mm ID and secures together using Velcro. Just large enough to enclose all of the wiring from the bulkhead to the front of the engine

I'll haven't taken any photos of my work yet but I will once I take care of the headlight wiring.

I mentioned this in other post that my car suffered from an electrical fire and someone had spliced in a section of all of the wiring above the heat exchanger.

I am still wondering what caused this. Did the heat exchanger melt (unlikely). Did one of the wires going to the headlights short out and caused all of the wires next to it to melt?

The easiest solution I could think of to protect the headlights is to replace a section of the wiring with a piece of fuse-able links rated for the original wiring.

Four links: one going to each headlight. That way I wouldn't have a secondary fuse box mounted on the bulkhead or some inline fuses dangling in the engine compartment outside my insulation wrap. Because they would be too big to fit within the wrap.

I thought about mounting some inline fuses directly behind the headlights but that would be too far down stream to protect the wiring.

Another thought was to mount a circuit breaker before the headlight switch but the problem with that is this would kill all of my lights for a few seconds before it resets.

So far this seems like the easiest solution to protect the headlights.

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March 4th, 2018, 8:57 am
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Joined: October 22nd, 2014, 10:59 pm
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Location: South-Limburg
Post Re: Still wondering...
Citroen engineers were thinking Michelin that is to say keep it cheap... ;-)
All pre 1970 2cvs didn't have fuses at all. :shock:


March 4th, 2018, 7:44 pm
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Joined: April 9th, 2010, 12:21 am
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Location: West Sussex
Post Re: Still wondering...
AZL57 wrote:
Citroen engineers were thinking Michelin that is to say keep it cheap... ;-)
All pre 1970 2cvs didn't have fuses at all. :shock:

AK350s did, from 1966: one for the lights and one for almost everything else (including the ignition).


March 5th, 2018, 12:09 am
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Joined: March 26th, 2010, 8:41 pm
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Post Re: Still wondering...
When I re-built my AZU, I incorporated fuses for all circuits and also ran 'earth' wires to all the lights. It started off as a 6volt system with the 425 engine, but changed all to 12V when I fitted the 605. The alternator has its own fuse built into it - peculiar printed circuit thing.
BobH


March 6th, 2018, 9:12 am
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Joined: February 11th, 2009, 12:32 am
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Location: Chichester, West Sussex
Post Re: Still wondering...
bobh wrote:
When I re-built my AZU, I incorporated fuses for all circuits and also ran 'earth' wires to all the lights. It started off as a 6volt system with the 425 engine, but changed all to 12V when I fitted the 605. The alternator has its own fuse built into it - peculiar printed circuit thing.
BobH


Same in my 350. Everything is now fused with earth leads for the lights.
I also added an ‘ignition live’ fuse box, meaning that the ignition switch just activates a relay, powering up a bus bar fuse box where anything that I want to come on with the ignition is connected to.


March 11th, 2018, 10:43 am
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Joined: March 26th, 2010, 8:41 pm
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Post Re: Still wondering...
Also aded a bulkhead battery cutoff switch just underneath the parcel shelf.


March 11th, 2018, 9:22 pm
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Joined: February 11th, 2009, 12:32 am
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Post Re: Still wondering...
bobh wrote:
Also aded a bulkhead battery cutoff switch just underneath the parcel shelf.


Me too!


March 11th, 2018, 11:37 pm
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Joined: August 31st, 2016, 12:12 pm
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Location: Hawkins County, TN. USA
Post Re: Still wondering...
OK so I finally got this damn mess sorted out.

1) All connectors replaced in the engine compartment including new earth ring connectors.
2) New battery cables.
3) Fuse able links installed in sections of the wiring going to the headlamps (all four)
4) Insulation sheath wrapped around wiring for peace of mind. I thought about painting it flat black to blend in with the engine compartment a bit better but wasn't sure if the paint would flake off.
5) I saved the color coded sleeves for reference. Some were missing so I used some fingernail polish to color coordinated the connectors at the fuse box.

I felt like I could have done a better job but at least all the poor connectors have been sorted out.

Hopefully you can view these photos on my Google Drive. BTW, there is one photo of the brake reservoir cap. Looks like the cap is missing something which explains why I am loosing brake fluid. Lucky I discovered a brake reservoir cap from a Fiat will fit! I pulled it off a parts car and gave it a good cleaning and it's drying out for a week.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

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March 19th, 2018, 3:02 am
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Joined: March 5th, 2009, 6:23 pm
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Post Re: Still wondering...
Like it, very tidy car.


March 19th, 2018, 12:47 pm
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Location: Hawkins County, TN. USA
Post Re: Still wondering...
subarupete wrote:
Like it, very tidy car.


Thanks.

I really hated to use those butt connectors to link the wires together. And those barrel quick disconnects near the headlights. But they are quick and dirty.

I really wanted to solder all of these wire joints together and use heat shrink tubing. I got some of these joints soldered but had issues with the really thick wires.

I couldn't get my soldering iron hot enough. My solder may also be too old. I think the resin has broken down.

They actually make those copper crimps like used from the factory but could not find any.

As of right now everything is working much better.

One thing I'd like to do is relocate the main beam and turn signal warning indicator lights above the brake and oil pressure warning lights to where I can see them. Last time I fooled with it, I couldn't get the surround shroud completely off after I removed the screws. I somehow managed to work it out just enough to where I could get my hand behind the instrument cluster to replace the speedometer bulb but just barely.

I'm trying to figure out what's holding me up. Maybe I need to disconnect the speedometer cable from the gearbox? Or maybe it was the hose going to the washer pump has the issue?

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March 19th, 2018, 1:10 pm
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