Melted fuse box

[GN]

Could a faulty fuse cause one end on that fuse itself to melt the plastic on the box? The thin center did not break, but the end in question is a little brown inside the fuse. A new fuse completes the circuit and everything works. But, before I put in a new fuse I was wanting to know if something else could have caused the melt down? The fuse is for the dome,trunk and brake lamps.

[Ghoste]

It could be a faulty fuse, it could also be an incorrect fuse with too high a rating, but it could also be corrosion on the terminals making for too much resistance (heat).

[GN]

How can I tell if it is a bad fuse? Why did'nt the inside element break? Thanks.

[Ghoste]

Sometimes the element breaks up in the end where you can't see it.  Did you put a multimeter on it and check for continuity?

[GN]

Yes I did. The new fuse stays at 0.00 volts dc, as when the leads are touched together. The bad one reads numbers. Is this a correct test?

[2Gunz]

To test a fuse it can be done 2 ways.



The first....

In the box with the key turned on.

Put the meter on DC volts.

Ground the black probe to metal in the car.

Touch the other to BOTH sides of the fuse ONE side at a time.

If you read around 12 ish volts on BOTH sides you have a good fuse.

If you get 12 volts on only ONE side the fuse is bad.


The second.........

Pull the fuse.

Set the meter to "Ohms"

Put one probe on each end of the fuse.

Depending on which meter you have will give you different results.......

A good fuse will give you a   "0.00"  a tone or both

A bad fuse will give you a "-.--" ,random wandering numbers , or other letter combinations

Hope this helps

[2Gunz]

Oh and as far as your problem I would say you have a loose fuse or connector.

[71_deputy]

take a Dermel with a little wire brush on the drill and clean all the fuse connections- make sure you disconnect the battery- then use a little dielectric grease on each fuse connections- just a little- enough to make it wet.

this will help to keep the connections clean- also make sure each clip to a fuse connection is not loose to the fuse.

[GN]

Thanks for the help. One other question, the brake lights are also on that fuse too. The prior owner disconnected the pink wire from the stop switch and ran a wire directly to the acc plug in on the bottom of the fuse box from the pink wire. Should I leave it alone, or plug the pink wire back on the stop switch?

[Ghoste]

I'd be trying to find out why he did that and get the whole thing working properly.

[Nacho-RT74]

does look thats the tipical melting point on 3rd gens

[71_deputy]

Thanks for the help. One other question, the brake lights are also on that fuse too. The prior owner disconnected the pink wire from the stop switch and ran a wire directly to the acc plug in on the bottom of the fuse box from the pink wire. Should I leave it alone, or plug the pink wire back on the stop switch?

10-4

should be back on the stop light as now there is now protection if the is a short due to no fuse!!!!!

[GN]

Deputy_71,
Should I put on an in line fuse on that brake light switch, with a 15 amp fuse?

[71_deputy]

if you leave it connected to the fuse box on the batt. side of the single spade connector- yes!!!!- 10 amps maybe even good!!!!!