850 wagon base, turn, hazards and high beam blows fuse

TerrDawg · Post by **TerrDawg** » 27 Oct 2017, 11:35

I bought this 96' 850 wagon a few weeks ago, my daughter just started driving and thought it would be perfect. It had "the water fell outta the engine" problem per the owner, when it jump started, I offered $300 and it was sold, patched it together and drove it home to Northern California ... No turn signals tho.
I ditched the hub caps and got the 5 spoke blade style, threw on a rear wing, factory Thule style roof rack, cleaned it up, and it runs great except the turn signals. After reading here, I got 3 hazard flashers from PnP, each one blows the 13 fuse, if I leave the hazard switch out, the high beams work, but no turn or hazards...
I tore apart the front looking for a pinched wire, there is evidence of a repair but no obvious issue, I read more and cleaned all bulb sockets, still nothing, I did a battery disconnect / reset alarm etc, nothing.
Actually, it worked for about 5 minutes before blowing the last time... Goin crazy here. The turn/ high beam indicator (the part on the steering column) seems to be working fine, does that have a known issue? - I've also tried the loose ignition mechanical thing and that's not it.
I also took the hazard unit apart, it looks nothing like the one pictured in the thread with the same issue, so any help would be awesome TIA
Terry

Post by **tryingbe** » 27 Oct 2017, 12:57

There is most likely a short.

I'd take out all the turn signal bulbs out on all four corners of the car and see if it blows the fuse when you use turn signal. If it doesn't, then put the bulbs back in one at a time and see which bulb blow the fuse. Then you can at least isolate the circuit.

Post by **scot850** » 27 Oct 2017, 14:41

Also check the actual turn signal switch itself. It may have a internal short or broken wire after 20+ years.

Neil.

TerrDawg · Post by **TerrDawg** » 27 Oct 2017, 15:24

Good thinking, Thanks !!

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 27 Oct 2017, 19:16

Any sign of a towing package?

TerrDawg · Post by **TerrDawg** » 28 Oct 2017, 10:17

Another good possibility, there is no hitch now but I'll crawl under it later today to look for remnants- I used to do installs dunno know why I didn't check that already

Post by **kahl** » 28 Oct 2017, 13:16

There is a wire harness that goes through the roof into the tailgate. Inside the wire harness the wires are known to stretch and break causing shorts.

TerrDawg · Post by **TerrDawg** » 30 Oct 2017, 20:34

I took all four corners out, unplugged the hazard flasher and fuse blew instantly, I'll check the roof wiring (didn't know about their running above) but was thinking its in the column at the turn indicators high beam switch btw, no sign of hitch, thanks again very much for the help - on a separate note, I bought an S90 that is the cleanest I've seen, runs great, but water in the oil will post in the 900 section

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 30 Oct 2017, 23:13

Might also be worth digging around for signs of an aftermarket alarm.
Chasing shorts is always a treat... Maybe this will help!

96 850 Turn Signals and Hazard Lights.pdf: (1.62 MiB) Downloaded 488 times

Post by **abscate** » 31 Oct 2017, 05:09

kahl wrote: ↑28 Oct 2017, 13:16 There is a wire harness that goes through the roof into the tailgate. Inside the wire harness the wires are known to stretch and break causing shorts.

Go here first for shorts. Most of the wiring on the Volvo is top shelf, this is one of the very few weak spots on wagons

If you have more than one thing blowing, and no evidence of wiring hacks, this is a 95% certainty