Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Good Day All,
My Pajero burnt out last week Monday whilst on business in Mozambique.
I am trying to put my finger on the problem.
About 2 weeks ago i had the left hand dim globe fuse on me and i took ages to get the sample globe out to use as a sample in Maputo.
It was an absolute nightmare to remove and i was also very worried once i saw what the globe looked like how i was going to get it back in with out damaging it.
Nonetheless i could not find a globe in Maputo so i shopped aroung in Richards Bay over the phone and found globes at R1000 EACH.
I checked on line and found out that these globes normally last only 4 years so i ordered 2 .
I had a collegue coming up to Maputo so i asked him to bring 2 with him.
I pushed to globe hold back into its cavity in the light and put the waterproof cover back.
For ten days i did not use lights or drive around at night avoiding issues with local traficc authorities.
Last week Monday i had no choice but to go to the local Spar after dusk and en route about 600m from the Spar i put on my headlights.
At the spar i got out ,went into Spar ,i was gone 10 minutes at most and when i got back to the car it was surrounded with security guards with fire extinguishers.
This was when i noticed the whole engine compartment on the left hand side had burned out , Battery , harness ,fuse boxes including left mudguard , bonnet headlight , radiator expansion tank , hydraulic stearing resevoir and hoses as well as all plastic items under the bonnet.
Where did i go wrong?
Are the headlights fused?
Why did a fuse not pop ?

Hello Dean,

Sorry to hear about the fire. The electrical connector can only go one one way, so there is no way even if it comes off, it will mean only one headlight working and not a short.
Have you done anything or added anything to the electrical circuits lately ?. Do you have the wiring diagrams and the actual circuit that controls the headlights ?.
You replaced the globe but without actually seeing how hard it is to replace, you MAY or MAY NOT have disturbed the wiring to and from the fuse box.
Another possible cause could be the replacement globe had the wrong wattage. Fuses often blow in case of installing non-standard lamps, especially xenon short-arc lamps that have higher current consumption. When increasing the rated value, you need to simultaneously upgrade the lamp wiring. i hope you find the cause.