Corolla 2012 genuine wiring after fire damage

[markusmanp]

Hey there, My Corolla caught fire under the hood from an aftermarket relay short circuit as it was installed without any inline fuse. I was able to extinguish the fire in time but some wiring has burnt. Anyone know where to get genuine replacement wires in Rawalpindi?

Also, I'll need a new air intake pipe, it's been damaged as well. Please guide where to buy this from as well. The fire erupted on the passenger side.

Thanks for helping out

[hash4u]

sultan ka khoo for both items

[Xulfiqar]

Let this be a lesson to not hire morons with tools to work on your vehicle/equipment. You think you got a steal for low cost upfront, but you pay very dearly after the damage.

Same goes for mechanical work - idiot with sloppy tools on dirt floor and no idea what torque value or bolt stretch or assistive tooling is - is a waste of time in my opinion.

[markusmanp]

Thank you so much!

[markusmanp]

Xulfiqar bhai I echo you, it was after market Fog Lamps installed without the fuse (the previous owner got them installed) but lesson learned the hard way.

It was scary, I had just reached home after picking my family up from the airport, as I parked in the garage I noticed smoke coming out of the hood with that awful burning smell, for a sec I double checked the temperature and it was normal, I popped the hood open to inspect and voila there was fire right behind the passenger side headlight and it was spreading downwards, it was quite a flame, I sorta panicked and shouted for water, had to pour quite a few buckets to extinguish it fully. Then I disconnected the battery. The purpose of the story is to make the fellow drivers aware of this, it happened first time ever in 10 years since I've been owning cars. I plan on keeping a fire extinguisher in the car as well going forward.

I plan to fix everything myself. Will inspect the damage more closely today and then hit sultan ka khu to buy wires and intake pipe etc.

Will try to post pics as well. Appreciate your support guys!

P.S I'm not a fan of ustads either and couldn't hate them more. It might take another 100 years for them to learn to do jobs properly. Very sad!

[markusmanp]

[markusmanp]

OK I was able to fix everything. Had to splice all the headlight wiring. I used soldering wire as well as the heat shrinkage sleeves to give my best to each of the joints. Also, installed an inline fuse of 15AMP for the fogs.

Lesson learned: If you ever see any extra wire attached with either of your battery terminals, triple-check that you also see a fuse right next to it otherwise get ready for a blast at any random time.

[Xulfiqar]

Is that a square relay wrapped in the silver/gray coloured tape?

[markusmanp]

Xulfiqar - That's correct! Do you have a better way in mind to organize such after-market relays?

I had it tied underneath the upper radiator beam just to hide it using a zip tie. The short circuit occurred in a joint that was powering the fog lights (live wire coming out of the relay and it wasn't fused). I'm still terrified. LOL

[Xulfiqar]

you can buy relays that have mounting tabs with holes in them and use sheet metal screws to mount them somewhere. You can also buy small enclosures complete with fuses and relays for this job.

Is this a scrapyard relay from a random fuse box?

[markusmanp]

Sweet! You always seem to have a solution! Are the attached reference images correct for the "relay with mounting tabs" and the "enclosure with fuse and relay"?

Yep! It's just the relay with the socket taken out of a random fuse box I'm sure. Bought the same thing again but always looking forward to better solutions.

[Xulfiqar]

Yes this is correct.(these are bosch 40 amp spdt or spst relays) These relays and their connectors are sold brand new in electronic markets, along with the spade terminals, wires and crimpers so you can make a one piece wiring.

If you look harder you can find bosch branded relays with micro fuses that slot into the relay case very neatly unlike the one you shared which has a standard fuse, you can also find them with other brand names too.

I personally like bosch, TE, Mitsuba and Hitachi as they have a snubber diode built in and available easily brand new. Denso micro relays are nice but difficult to find with mounting ear. Denso 22 amp round tin relays are straight up scrap even when brand new from factory.

These above relays are sold new in Pakistan as tracking companies use th in their installations.

[markusmanp]

Thanks so much Xulfiqar bhai. I now have quite a bit of info around relays. Will visit our local electronics market in Rawalpindi over the weekend and see if I can get my hands on a better relay. All the brand names you noted are super helpful, at least I now know what I am looking for.

Denso micro relays taken out of fuse boxes are dirt cheap and seem to perform really well but there's no mounting hole which makes sense as they're not meant for external use in the first place. Appreciate the heads up on the tin shaped ones tho, I never liked their look ever and just found out that they suck anyway.

P.S You're a life saver! Appreciate it!