Fused Links...

The Story
Well yesterday i was doin ome wiring to hecar. hooking upsome snke eyes, hard wring my interior neons and put som switches in the center arm rest. So i hooked things up like this. the snake eyes i hooked up regularly. grounded and taped for power at the dashlocated fuse box and ran wire to the switch in the armrest. The 2 neons i did the same, along with some LED's. I knew it was too much current for the power wire but wanted to test to see how it looked. So i did.

The Problems
I turned on the car and everything lit up just the way it was supposed to then the car died. I started to smell burning rubber. The wie overheated and burned up. Car acted like i had no key. I could do everything i could do without a key. Even though i had a key. Car wouldn't start nor the indicatorlights and the radio.

The solution
Check all the fuses, all good. Took apart the dash to make sure i didn't burn up any other wire. All good. Tried to reset the ECU, still no solution. Talked to a few people and they said to check the fused links. Its a rectangular boxed shaped capsule. Clear cover. looks like wire going thru it with a blob of solder in the middle. I blew #19. the one for the key switch. Desperate to get my car running, ran str8 to the dealer and got one for 15 dollars. Im pretty sure the auto parts store migh have it but didn't want to run all over town looking for one while i was for sure the dealer had it.

2morrow i'll be wiring everything back up but this time corectly. Just wanted to share in case u run into the same thing

Damn. You have to be pulling a lot of current to blow that big fuse out. Are you sure it wasn't a short? And since that was the fuse you blew, uh..... you better run a bigger gauge wire straight from the battery to the interior just for all your accessories. Also don't forget to fuse each accessory too. If you have tons of accessories, getting a circuit breaker will save you money in the long run if you keep blowing fuses as a circuit breaker can be reset. Good luck with all your little projects. :wink:

well b4 i blew everything up, i knew i was gonna kill the wire but wanted to see how it looked ril quick. i planned on installing a fuse box but i wanted to get the lights running for the meet. didn't happen lol. the LED's i wasn't really worried about but i was worried about the neons. i already blew a fuse hooking up the neons to the cigarette lighter previously but i fixed that quick.

so yea i dipped out from the meet a lil bit early. i wanted to get some 12 guage wire but they were out. i got some 10 guage wire instead. got 12 feet at a discounted rate of 25 cents a food. stinger wire. but yea everything is going great. got the switches in, got the fuse panels in. my interior is looking great. the 10 guage wire gives me some room to add more acessories in the future. same with the switch penal located ontop of the fuse panel. got it hooked up to the battery, everything is str8. i was really suprised how many lights and such i bought. when the car got wrecked, i kept on buying parts, but mostly like lights and such since they are universal and can be moved from car to car just in case the galant couldn't be saved. i'll post pics later.