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Christmas tree dash fail/ignition fail simultaneous

Oh, no! I got to the supermarket and the car malfunctioned. Failed to start. Never does this. I always turn the key over until the dash lights up like a Christmas tree. I let it do that for about 10 seconds, MAX. I read somewhere you can do this to let the fuel pump charge. I then clicked over to start the car and it fizzled. Never happened before. All dash functions stopped lighting up.

I peered through the windshield and saw a bit of smoke blow away on the front left side of the bonnet (hood) [i'm in continental europe with L hand drive]. I just had the distributor rebuilt in Essex at I.C.P. The distributor had leaked all over the transmission housing. and I had used a lot of MOTOX degreaser/engine cleaner and 2 litres of water from a bottle of water to rinse it off. i had already removed the battery and battery tray. and that wiring harness with the fuse system i had gently raised up with a string away from the housing. i did not pinch it or wrench it up hard. i think it is actually quite durable to a point. at least i think they knew you'd be moving it around a bit.

so, the wiring assembly that bends around the battery in an L shape never ever got wet. i got the housing nice a clean but i did notice lots of orange rust on both terminals of the starter. i really dismissed it since it was lower in the car and since it had been there. but the caps over the terminals may have gotten a little too wet also. and held in the wetness with the rust. combined with the rust that was there too and probably some old debris. i should have tended to it.

i did let the car sit with no battery connected for 24 hours in rather dry weather before i connected everything. and it had driven around for a week just fine. but i took it out today on a very moist, rainy humid day. this k11 is like a fleet car as if it were used by a water meter guy. or a car rental place in italy. i have no electronics in the car. no radio. it is just bare bones electrical.

is it possible the positive line and the negative line to the starter, where i see a glob of rust and debris that is really just a glob of orange, caused an arc? when i started the car? and a main fuse blew? is there a big fuse near the battery that i should check first since the CHristmas tree does not even come on at all. The theft light blinks on my dash and so i think the battery is fine. and it is a new varta too. practically brand new. i think a huge amount of power went to the starter hoping to jump the starter and it simply hit negative and positive together and never went into the starter. and so some fuse, i hope, took the brunt of it.

SOS. thanks in advance

Troy in Bulgaria
 
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