1994 Class A chassis electrical issue

[Rhianntp]

Your picture is the fuse links and they are not designed to come apart. You can sharpen your red lead probe or like you did with your frame ground clip make an adaptor and solder a straight pin to the end of the wire to probe into the red wire on either end of the fuse link. If there is a nearby terminal on the red wire it goes to you can check there as well as long as they directly connect to the fuse link. Be careful as it is easy to short your red lead or its connections when using an adaptor so tape them or take precautions to prevent grounding while testing.

Those links in the picture meet at a nearby buss bar it looks like. How will we know if the results are from the one wire or one of the others on that buss? If its even a buss haha

 

[Rhianntp]

Here where they meet

 

[Rhianntp]

Looks like that's just a lug for them and other things to join.. the wires are independent

 

[bullfrog]

It is hard to tell from the picture but I assume it is in the engine compartment or outside? Do the metal studs go through the plastic to the inside or fuse box, the last one isn't really doing anything as there is only one terminal on the stud. It looks like the plastic may be held in by screws coming in from the other side. So look on the inside/other side of the plastic and take a picture. Yes, you would have to remove and check the wires individually unless you can determine the other wire have no other source of battery power. If there is only one fuse link to each stud (I can not tell from the picture ) and you have battery voltage odds are pretty good the fuse link is good. Those single terminal studs almost have to be attachments to the inside behind the dash, check and see.

 

[Rhianntp]

That's mounted in the under hood engine firewall .. I"ll try to look inside under the dash, but I assume they pass through to something.. If they were connected there probably wouldn't be a need to have it all plastic like that and those knobs between the posts preventing the wires from possibly rotating in to each other

 

[bullfrog]

Did the studs all have battery voltage?

 

[Rhianntp]

I haven't checked any of that yet.. just wanted to show you what it looked like. When I get home a bit later I'll crawl under there and do the tests from good ground to those wires at each end of them

 

[gsfish]

I'm getting a little dizzy trying to keep up with this.

It's the kind of problem that I like to work on in person but not long distance. A steep learning curve for Rhianntp... hang in there.

Where's sternWake when you need him?

Guy

 

[Rhianntp]

Haha .We might as well be on some kinda first name basis..I'm William, Will, Billy, etc..This thread kind got off to an eclectic start, but I think it's starting to produce results and making more sense as we go along.  Very grateful to have people in the community willing to go through this with me and sharing what you know.  While we are at it.. what's all of you guys status? I mean full time nomad? What kind of vehicle ? What brings you to this community?

 

[bullfrog]

I'm trying to figure out why your electrons won't go where we want them to go! Lol!!!

 

[Rhianntp]

Them pesky electrons ..quantum tunneling all over my rig

 

[Rhianntp]

If it was something less critical than brake lights I'd call off the search, but man no way to tell the people behind me that I'm slowing down is a deal breaker

I love learning though..this is actually kind of fun in a sick way haha

 

[Rhianntp]

Question... Is fuseable link the same thing as just a wire of the same guage with a fuse of some kind in line?  Is there some reason they used that kind vs some other?  Just thinking about replacement if needed.

 

[kklowell]

Nope, it's not the same. It's designed to melt at a certain temperature and has a more heat-resistant coating. It also confines the heat to just the length of the fusible part, where a regular wire can heat for its entire length.

 

[Rhianntp]

Wow..had no idea

 

[Rhianntp]

Is the entire length of that wire going off the starter to that little block all fusible link , or just a section?

 

[kklowell]

The only fusible links that I ever dealt with were fusible for their length, but that's not to say that every one of them is.

 

[bullfrog]

A good example is the piece of fuse link used in the photo of the starter, the length is not recommended to be over 9" but is determined by the harness engineer/designer It is like a fuse generally most effective if near the power source. It will be spliced into the circuit and usually have identifying heat shrink, plastic/rubber or printing but not always. Many times it will be a different color but not always. It is usually used in the alternator, headlight or main feed to the fuse block circuits.

 

[Rhianntp]

Ok update from the socket I was holding in my hand:

I disconnected the neg wire of the socket from the wire it was connected to... Then with meter on continuity mode with sound and grounded to bare metal with black probe I touched the wire the socket was connected to..got tone....then touched the inner wall of the socket ..got tone... Then touched each of the prongs inside the socket ..got tone on one of them... Hope this helps

 

[Rhianntp]

Also touched the wire from the socket that used to be connected to the wire on the coach ..no tone there