[DeTomaso] Electrical nightmare scenario...

[ROBERT TIMMA TIMMA]

Mike, 
  I feel your pain on fuse boxes, and you know my fix....Replace the entire fuse box!
Bob T.
#3952 > From: erpike at cs.com> To: MikeLDrew at aol.com> Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:15:28 -0500> CC: detomaso at realbig.com> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Electrical nightmare scenario...> > > Mike:> > For what it is worth, I seem to remember that those older vw's were a little> susceptible to fuse block issues. Water would leak thru the windshield and> right onto the fuse block eventually causing problems. My memory isn't as> good as it should be so I would file that away in case you continue to> experience electrical gremlins... (kind of like a Pantera!!!)> > > Ed....> > -----Original Message-----> From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On> Behalf Of MikeLDrew at aol.com> Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 6:02 PM> To: DeTomaso at realbig.com> Subject: [DeTomaso] Electrical nightmare scenario...> > Hi guys,> > I spent the day before yesterday locked in mortal combat with my daily> driver > VW Scirocco. There is Pantera relevance to this story, so bear with me.> > After years of driving it everywhere, I decided to treat it to a tune-up > (although arguably it probably didn't really 'need' it). New plugs, wires,> cap > and rotor, and it ran just as well as before. For no particular reason I > decided to ops-test the electric radiator fan, so I let it sit and warm up> in my > driveway while I put the various tools away (itself an almost unheard-of > condition).> > I was in the back of my garage merrily organizing my wrenches and sockets > when I heard SPLOOOSH!!!, turned around and saw a geyser erupting from my > radiator!> > Sure enough, the radiator fan never turned on. With visions of blown head > gaskets in my head, I did a dance worthy of Baryshnikov through the piles of> > parts and debris on my garage floor to race to the Scirocco and shut it off.> > Okay, so now why didn't the fan work? It is actuated by two independant > means--either by the thermoswitch in the radiator, or automatically anytime> the > interior heater/blower fan is turned on.> > Neither method would get any action from the fan. The first thing to do,> of > course, was to check the fuse. I opened the fusebox and all the fuses were> > visibly good.> > I then proceded to do some basic troubleshooting. Disconnecting the > connector from the back of the fan, I rigged up some jumper wires and ran> them > straight to the battery--VAROOM! Okay, so the fan motor itself works. I> then got > out my voltmeter and tested the connector; with the fan switch on the dash > turned on, there was 12.7 volts.> > Okay, so let me get this straight? I've got power at the plug, and the fan> > motor runs when you give it power, but when you plug the plug into the fan,> it > doesn't work?> > Electricity is my weak area and I quickly call for backup when I get in > situations like this. I keep SOBill Taylor's phone number on speed dial> for just > this sort of occasion. I called him up and explained the scenario, then > scanned the factory wiring diagrams and e-mailed them to him. Together we > conjured up several likely scenarios; I would hang up, spend a few minutes > testing/troubleshooting, eliminate that potential cause, and then call him> back for > another lead.> > Eventually every wire and connector had been tried and tested, and> everything > was checking out good. The last possible problem area was confined to the > fusebox itself. > > A couple of hours (at least) had passed by this point, and then I physically> > removed the (Pantera-style) fuse from the fusebox, and this is what I found:> > http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/BadFuse.jpg> > My 'good' fuse was anything but! Sure, it was good where a fuse is> supposed > to go bad when it DOES go bad, but hidden from view under the prongs of the > fusebox, the fuse was totally wasted!> > Simply popping another fuse into the holder instantly fixed the problem!> > During the course of my troubleshooting I cleaned all the various connectors> > in the system, so hopefully any excess resistance has been resolved. But> the > lesson learned here is that 'checking the fuse' doesn't mean merely looking > at it sitting in the fusebox. It means removing it, inspecting it and then> > reinstalling it!> > BTW, some people have suggested replacing these old-fashioned fuses with > glass fuses. But I have had poor luck with glass fuses, because when a> circuit > goes bad (but not terminally bad), they would heat up and melt internally, > completely out of view. Instead of blowing, they would simply stop> working, but > even when looking at it in your hands, there would be no visible indication> of > failure. At least with these ceramic fuses, when they go bad, it's visible> > evident.> > That is, assuming you take the time to actually LOOK at the thing!> > Sheesh.....> > Mike> > > **************************************> See AOL's top rated recipes > (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)> _______________________________________________> > Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA> > Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/> > DeTomaso mailing list> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso> > _______________________________________________> > Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA> > Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/> > DeTomaso mailing list> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso