Fried my fusible link @#$* SOLVED

[kokxville]

Damn,
i just hooked up my new engine and dash harness from yearone in my 69 R/T.
When i hooked up the positive on the battery,the fusible link ( blue wire ) fried out on the start relay This is the wire wich goes to the amp meter trough the bulkhead connector in the cluster if i'm correct.
What could have caused this?
Bad Amp meter maybe?

Any help would be apreciated.
Thanks.

[70 sublime]

Sounds like a dead short someplace in the harness and the fuseable link did its job and poped first before something else really bad happened
I bet if someone was in the car looking at the dash the ammeter gauge went right over when you hooked up the battery

[Pete in NH]

Hi,

What 70 sublime said!

Do you have sometype of test meter that you can use to check for electrical continuity? I suspect if you were to measure between the charging circuit and ground you would find a dead short. By the way disconnect the negative battery terminal to be on the safe side while looking around. If you can see the short circuit on a test meter you would then start disconnecting things one at a time until the short clears. That would give you and idea of where to look. You could also start with a very careful visual inspection of your work.

Those fusible links are a pain to replace on a 69 because one end is crimped into the bulkhead connector pin. There is another thread going in the section about fusible links, take a look at it. You might want to consider replacing the link with a fuse.

[imabozo]

I blew the fusible link due to stupidity while troubleshooting something else, but with that being said, it was quite a pain replacing it at the bulkhead connector, so after reading some posts on here, I replaced the fusible link with an inline maxi fuse holder and fuse combination. It still offers protection, but is a hell of a lot easier to replace.

[kokxville]

Thanks for the replies,

i bypassed the fusible link tru a gommet in the firewall.Welded the wire wich goes to the amp meter and put a 50amp fuse between it.
Now i disconnected my negative battery cable,and put a meter between the negative from the battery and the negative battery cable.I have positive battery cable on the battery now.
It leaks 11.68 volts and when i put a bulb in between,it lights up bright.I also bypassed the amp meter and it stays the same.
When i pull the fuses on the fuseblock in the glovebox compartment,it still stays the same.
There's something i'm overlooking,but i don't know what it could be.

[MaximRecoil]

I wonder if your new harness is defective/miswired (like having some wires in the wrong cavities of the bulkhead connector). The electrical system in a '69 is pretty basic and straightforward; I don't see how you could have hooked a hot wire to ground by accident. Can anyone else reading this think of a hot terminal of a new dash or engine harness that could plausibly be hooked to ground (or vice versa) accidentally during installation?

With a factory service manual and a meter, you can double check everything until you find the wire that isn't going where it is supposed to be going, but of course that is a long and tedious job.

Have you disconnected the plugs from the bulkhead connector and taken a close look at all the terminals to make sure there are no shorts in there? Also, have you looked at the fuse box, particularly the back side of it, to make sure there are no shorts or that it's not touching something when screwed down that creates a short? Have you checked the black 12 gauge charging wire that leads from the alternator stud to the bulkhead connector to make sure it isn't somehow shorted to the alternator case? On my alternator (a newer dual field terminal alternator) there is a plastic insulator ring surrounding the stud, and if that was missing, the charging wire's ring terminal could easily short to ground.

[70 sublime]

Under the hood there are 3 sections that plug into the main firewall block
I think the first thing I would do would be to un plug the other 2 plugs at the firewall to narrow it down some

[myk]

Under the hood there are 3 sections that plug into the main firewall block
I think the first thing I would do would be to un plug the other 2 plugs at the firewall to narrow it down some

Good thinking.  That would leave what...8 wires/connections to check?  And 'OP, be GLAD your fusible link burned and not the wiring harness or the car.  Good luck...

[kokxville]

  I found the problem,

my brand new ignitionswitch from Yearone was the problem.
I had positive 12 volts on the housing of the switch 
Changed it back with my old one,and tadaa the faults are gone.
I bought a new ignitionswitch,because they linked the oldone on a start button