Fusible Link Up in Smoke; Battery Won't Charge

[Marccus]

I had some starting and wiring problems - turned out to be a faulty coil connector - and moved the wires around the relay on the driver's side fender in front of the strut tower. When I went to start the car there was a big puff of white smoke from the area around the strut tower. Someone on my other post stated that it may be a fusible link that melted and that I would know soon enough since the battery wouldn't charge. Well, guess what. A week after this happened, the battery had a voltage of 12.6 volts (Optima Red Top) which is very low and the car was very slow to crank after several tries (I was again having starting problems).

All the wiring near the strut tower and the links looked OK. I couldn't see anything melted; although the wiring is bundled up in tape.

How do I troubleshoot this problem? How would I find and replace the fusible link? Any circuits I can test with the voltmeter to see where the problem is?

Thanks.

 

[digeronimo34]

As the old saying goes where there is smoke there is fire, if there was smoke then i would bet that something is all toasted under the tape. I would test before and after the link to see if it is bad. Strip the tape off that area carefully you don't want to cut in to anything else. Replacing it should not pose a serious problem. I would use a mega fuse as a replacement depending on what amp the link was. I am currently using a 100amp one now to replace the link that was before the alternator. You can pm Nick (1993MTXSHO) for info on where to get a replacement i think it was under $10

good luck

 

[lowc]

i would just pull out the battery cables along with the rest of the harness that goes to the fuse box and untape it and have a good look at it just for piece of mind. also i would check the power wire on the alt. and make sure your connection isnt busted there

 

[ViPER1313]

As the others have said, you just need to pull back all that tape and find the burnt link. I really forget the wiring colors, etc, but I know that when I pulled back the tape on my friend's 89' it was immediately obvious which link was burnt up. I just found a high amp fusable link at Advance - it was under $10.

 

[tompumped]

I think I remember reading somewhere on the forum that it's not wise to replace them with fuses. I could be wrong though.

I replaced mine with fusible primary wire in my last sho. I got a roll of the largest gauge they had, it should be two sizes smaller than the wire. Make it the same length also.

When mine burned it was the alternator that killed it. Luckily there was no fire!

 

[Marccus]

I think I remember reading somewhere on the forum that it's not wise to replace them with fuses. I could be wrong though.

I replaced mine with fusible primary wire in my last sho. I got a roll of the largest gauge they had, it should be two sizes smaller than the wire. Make it the same length also.

When mine burned it was the alternator that killed it. Luckily there was no fire!

I'm not sure I understand. You got the highest gaue fusible wire and that was (happened to be) two sizes smaller than the wire the fusible link was located on? Is that right?

 

[Marccus]

I checked the voltages on my battery and the alternator. I charged the battery (Optima Red Top) overnight to 13.1 volts. After three starts and driving around for awhile, the battery with no load on it read 12.6 volts. After starting the car, the alternator read 14.3 volts to the battery.

Is my charging system OK?

It may be I need a new battery. A new no-load Optima Red Top should read about 14.3 volts. I have drained this battery three times until it was "dead" (left interior lights on). That seems pretty significant for a non-deep cell battery.

Any comments on my charging system (perhaps it is OK after burning up "something" (possibly a fusible link) near the strut tower)?

Thanks for continued assistance.

 

[tompumped]

You're charging system is fine, but i've had no luck with optimas. I believe they are a "deep cycle" battery, but once again I could be wrong. I know they take a charge very fast which was nice, but they didn't seem to last long for me.

For the price they'd better be.

You are correct about the fusible link it just happened to be the right size the size I bought. There was actually instructions on the package which stated what I said.

 

[Marccus]

The "red top" is their starting battery; their "yellow top" is their deep cycle battery and their "blue top" is their marine battery. Optimas never last that long for me either - maybe four years. But everyone praises them and I really don't know what else to buy. AGM batteries seem to be the "in thing" rather than using the old lead-acid wet battery with cells. Thanks for the reply.

 

[tompumped]

I should've mentioned to buy a cheap load tester, but you're probably fine.

If you want to look into other batteries read about Napa "The Legend". I've never seen a battery with such a long reserve capacity. I was never impressed by a battery until I bought one of these. It was in a carbureted car and I can't believe how long I was able to turn over the car for. The car was flooded bad.