As the final step of a White LED interior lighting conversion. I replaced the driver's side footwell bulb with a low power white LED bulb.

I quickly realized something terribly wrong was happening when plumes of smoke started rolling out from Junction Block No.1 left of the clutch pedal.

Anybody who as burned up some electrical components understands how truly nasty this smoke smells. And it sticks around for a LONG time inside the car!

Without having any idea what just happened I started testing all the interior electronics. Everything worked fine. All interior lights were on and nothing seemed out of the ordinary (except for the nasty smell).

It wasn't until I closed the door that I realized the interior courtesy lights would not shut off. Regardless of anything I tried they would not turn off ... so I was forced to disconnect the battery.

After some TSRM and thread searching I realized it was the integration relay that controls this and it is located directly behind Junction Block No.1.

This is not a particularly easy location to access. Especially with a 5-spd as the clutch pedal prevents you from easily pulling the carpet out of the way. After some struggling and contorting I eventually pulled the carpet back and unbolted the Junction Block. Once the junction block is loose you can unplug and remove the integration relay from behind it.

Here are some pics: carpet pulled, comparison of exploded part to new replacement.
Major props to Aliga for the quick replacement and sweet price.

 

That does look like a pain to swap out...

Gazi is the man, helped me out in numerous occassions & ships fast!

 

i think i need to do this . my city lights dont work, from small fire.

 

Glad I could help!

 

How did this happen? Did the bulb itself cause the relay to go bad?

 

Whoaa! Im glad that didnt cause a car fire. Im still trying to figure out how that happened. I hope it wasnt because of the bulbs you were using.

 

I am also curious what caused it. Hopefully not the bulbs because I was just about to change them out.

 

To be honest, I have no way of determining if the replacement LED bulb overloaded the circuit or if the integration relay was faulty.

Ok... that's not true... there is a way to find out. I could plug the LED bulb back in and see if I get another explosion.

For some reason I'm a bit hesitant to try that...
I don't think Aliga has another relay to sell...

I tend to believe the integration relay already had a problem. It should be substantially more resilient than that.

Perhaps someone is willing to help test that hypothesis??

Really, I think first I need to check that my fuses are the correct amperage. I would have hoped this type of failure would have blown a fuse instead of exploding the circuit board.

 

[QUOTE=NeSSuS-GTE;2849304]

Ok... that's not true... there is a way to find out. I could plug the LED bulb back in and see if I get another explosion.

[QUOTE]

Hey! give it a shot!

j.k. You should buy a new LED bulb if you want to try to plug one back in.

But you should test that one LED on the car's battery to see if it even lights up or causes a spark to find out if that may have been the culprit.

 

i need to bumb this.

I have the carpet back and the 3 bolts (2 bottom 1 top) out for the Junction 1 Relay Box...now i have NO room to disconnect all the connectors like the TSM wants me to do, NOR can i diconnect boxes 4 and 5 like it wants me to do...am i missing a bolt that i can't see or what? i have very little play in the junction to find out.

 

managed to get relay boxes 4 and 5 disconnected, and got all but the yellow plug (having trouble remembering how to get the connector type w/ the flapper).
still no play to get the wiring off

 

Arent LED bulbs polarized?( have a negative and positive) Unlike the bulb that it replaced, you could have gotten the bulb in backwards?

 

in my case the bulb in the 92 tail light may not have been the right size. it was melting the plastic when i brought it. then 1 day it shorted. no prob i change the bulb and the it started smoking. put it right out. but city lights didnt work!!

 

gonna bump this ancient thread...i also cant get the airbag connector off the fusebox. mine seems to have the flap broken off.