The engine is grounded, but I DO think the main fuse is blown. How do you replace this thing?



It looks like that whole plastic box gets replaced, I can't fathom a fusible link being inserted into it at all.



I'm guessing a normal auto store has this part?

 

The links just plug in. I think most autoparts stores should have it. It comes in a roll (you buy it by the foot) and you need to attach the connectors.







There are also fusible link replacements (they plug in like a fuse). I am not sure who sells them, though. Is the chassis grounded (large wire like the engine ground)?



Good luck.



Kent

 

[quote name='gsl-se addict' date='Apr 4 2005, 08:50 PM']The links just plug in. I think most autoparts stores should have it. It comes in a roll (you buy it by the foot) and you need to attach the connectors.







There are also fusible link replacements (they plug in like a fuse). I am not sure who sells them, though. Is the chassis grounded (large wire like the engine ground)?



Good luck.



Kent


[/quote]



Okay, not to make myself sound any less intelligent, but the LINK itself is what needs to be replaced? And that's just the piece with two rubber sections that slide onto the metal tabs?



It doesn't appear to me that you can take that plastic piece apart, the one in your pic, in order to replace anything on the inside of it. Unless you pry it open or something. There are wires going in that I assume are terminated in some fashion on the inside.



How should the chassis be grounded? LOL.

 

Yes, it is the link itself that would need to be replaced. You can see if you have power on both sides of the link. I believe that they just pull out, although I have never had to remove mine. I will take a look later today and see how they plug in. The center one is the main link. The other two are for headlights and the retractors. Basically one end of all of the links gets power from the battery (that metal tab that I had you hook the smaller battery cable to when you were working on the alt) and the other end of each link goes to different circuirts. If the current is too much, the link blows (like a fuse). Sometimes there are difficult to tell if they are bad because of the outer covering they have.



So let me see if I have this straight.

-You have the alt connected to the old alt wire.

-You have a wire that goes fro the battery (+) to the metal tab on the fusible link block.

-The main battery (-) cable goes directly to the starter mounting bolt.

- The main battery (+) cable is going to the main post on the starter solenoid (the one without the wire that goes to the starter body).

- You have no connection between the engine and chassis or battery and chassis.



Is this correct? You will need a chassis ground if you dont have one. You could run a large wire (4 ga.) from the engine (maybe the engine/trans bolt above the starter {where the original ground went}) and connect to the strut tower or somewhere convenient on the chassis. As a temporay solution, you could connect the engine to the chassis with jumper cables to see if the starter works.



Kent

 

[quote name='gsl-se addict' date='Apr 5 2005, 12:51 PM']Yes, it is the link itself that would need to be replaced. You can see if you have power on both sides of the link. I believe that they just pull out, although I have never had to remove mine. I will take a look later today and see how they plug in. The center one is the main link. The other two are for headlights and the retractors. Basically one end of all of the links gets power from the battery (that metal tab that I had you hook the smaller battery cable to when you were working on the alt) and the other end of each link goes to different circuirts. If the current is too much, the link blows (like a fuse). Sometimes there are difficult to tell if they are bad because of the outer covering they have.



So let me see if I have this straight.

-You have the alt connected to the old alt wire.

-You have a wire that goes fro the battery (+) to the metal tab on the fusible link block.

-The main battery (-) cable goes directly to the starter mounting bolt.

- The main battery (+) cable is going to the main post on the starter solenoid (the one without the wire that goes to the starter body).

- You have no connection between the engine and chassis or battery and chassis.



Is this correct? You will need a chassis ground if you dont have one. You could run a large wire (4 ga.) from the engine (maybe the engine/trans bolt above the starter {where the original ground went}) and connect to the strut tower or somewhere convenient on the chassis. As a temporay solution, you could connect the engine to the chassis with jumper cables to see if the starter works.



Kent


[/quote]



*ALMOST* correct. I have a 4awg wire from the battery (-) to the chassis and a 10awg wire from the chassis to the engine.



The starter is grounded to the engine and to the battery.



Does that help?

 

So is the the 10 ga. wire the only connection from the engine to chassis/battery? If that 10 ga. is the wire that you are refering to in order to ground the starter, it is way too small. The starter can't pull the current needed though that wire. You need at least 4 ga. either between the chassis and the engine or the engine and battery. It sounds like the chassis ground is probably good.



Maybe some pics would help for us to make sure it is correct. The main thing is both the engine and the chassis should be connected to the battery (-) though 4 ga. wire. There are several ways to go about it, though.

 

I was in panic-mode when I couldn't find my post! Whew.



Here are the requested pics...I took plenty of them so if anyone has questions we can refer to them in this post with ease.



Fusible Links



Here is the main fusible link, or something, because I really don't understand how this works or how to replace it if it's what's broken. If I take off the connector for the main power and use a DMM to test the voltage, I get numbers jumping all over the place. The DMM reads 0 for the other two links: the headlight and headlight motor links.



[attachment=29912:attachment]



[attachment=29913:attachment]



Engine/Starter Grounding



**warning: blurry/crappy pics ahead**



Here is where I've grounded the starter to the body:



[attachment=29914:attachment]

 

Engine/Starter Grounding (cont'd)



Here is where the engine is grounded to the body:



[attachment=29915:attachment]



Here is where the starter is grounded to the engine and also where the engine ground wire connects to the engine (from image above):



[attachment=29916:attachment]

 

So are you missing the links or did you just remove them? The box with the links installed should look like the pic I posted last time. With the power connected and the links removed, one side should read battery voltage and the other should read 0.



It looks like you have the battery (-) connected to the chassis. Is this the only main connection (heavy wire) connected to the battery? If so, that wire that you have in the engine bay (10 ga.?) has to carry the current for the starter. This wire is way too small for that and that is probably where the smoke was coming from. Does that 2nd wire on the engine just go to the starter mounting bolt? If so, you probably won't need it. The starer can get its ground through the engine. You need to connect a heavy wire between the engine and the chassis (4 ga.) or between where the large battery wire attaches to the chassis and the engine (4 ga.). If you do this, you should be in business to crank (assuming the starter is wired correctly).



Kent

 

[quote name='gsl-se addict' date='Apr 8 2005, 01:31 PM']So are you missing the links or did you just remove them? The box with the links installed should look like the pic I posted last time. With the power connected and the links removed, one side should read battery voltage and the other should read 0.



It looks like you have the battery (-) connected to the chassis. Is this the only main connection (heavy wire) connected to the battery? If so, that wire that you have in the engine bay (10 ga.?) has to carry the current for the starter. This wire is way too small for that and that is probably where the smoke was coming from. Does that 2nd wire on the engine just go to the starter mounting bolt? If so, you probably won't need it. The starer can get its ground through the engine. You need to connect a heavy wire between the engine and the chassis (4 ga.) or between where the large battery wire attaches to the chassis and the engine (4 ga.). If you do this, you should be in business to crank (assuming the starter is wired correctly).



Kent


[/quote]



Well I still have no power when I turn the key. Is this because of the grounding issues? If it is, you would think that the wires would have burned up by now...the wire I ran initially to ground the starter was like 16 gauge, now it's 10 gauge, which you say is still too small...but why don't I have power? LOL.