I am not ashamed to admit that working on newer cars is unfamiliar to me, having only been a thirdgen owner since October. Prior to that, my experience was with the uber-simple 60's and 70's cars.

Anyway, I was working on some of the wiring issues on my '92 TA this afternoon, and I found some items that I do not know the purpose of. If you could help me with figuring out what they are, I'd appreciate it.

Here is the first item. My faer is that it is an emissions part that has been disconnected, which is bad because this car will have to pass the smog test:



These things below are located on some of the wires going to the starter. The starter wires have been hacked and have cracked insulation, but I need to know what the heck these things are and if I need to keep them or if I can rewire the starter without them.



Weird item by the upper radiator hose:



Could this be an aftermarket relay for the big stereo system that used to be in this car?:




And finally, what is the black plastic cylindrical part that is in-line with the positive battery cable, and from which the lead also emerges? I want to put aftermarket cables on here, but want to know if this is a part that will prevent me from using anything but a stock replacement cable. It's kind of hard to see, but it is the piece right above my pinky in the pic:



And just for kicks, check out this lame wiring. Cheesy crimp connectors, exposed copper, this kind of sloppiness drives me nuts!



Thanks for any help here.

 

First one is the AIR pump diverter valves. Runs to the AIR tubes on the manifolds.

Second picture appears to be fusible links. Important for protecting against electrical shorts/fires.

Third looks to me like an adustable temp fan switch. I had one, not quite like that, on my old 84 camaro when I put an electric fan in it. Should have a temp probe stuck in the radiator fins somewhere if I guessed right.

4th.. no clue but, they aren't factory wired relays obviously.

5th... can't tell.. my eyes are a little too bad to clearly see that. Looks like a hack job though.

6th...

Looks like quite the mess to sort out.

 

I thought fusible links were just pieces of what looked like wires, but they are designed to melt at a certain temp? Do some look like those plastic jobbies in the second pic?

I wish I could zoom in on just the part of the 5th pic that I am curious about, but I can't find MS Paint on my computer to do it in. If no on can see it, I'll snap a new, closer-up pic and repost that one.

Thanks for the help on the other stuff so far.

 

They are just that exactly. The little plastic 'pill' around them is where the connetion from the link wire to standard is made.

 

Ahh, I see! And do they have different ratings, then? Is the type in the pic available anywhere? I'd leave them be, but some of the wires' insulation is cracked right where it enters that plastic part, so I was wanting to run new wires.

 

Ok, I took a better pic of the stuff that is in-line with the positve cable that is foreign to me:

 

That broken insulation at the fusible links looks to me like someone was just testing the circuit, cut the insulation enough to get a voltmeter probe on the wire. I'd just tape it up real good and neat. That last picture is a hack job for sure and like the other picture you showed, I'd put a new piece of wire in there and solder the connections. That fan switch and relay looks pretty shaky too, but if the fans do work it might be okay for a while. Those get somewhat complicated to wire up and get right. Those missing hoses from the diverter valve are for emissions, will need to be put back on.

 

Yeah, I have my work cut out for me here.

I'm going to start simple and focus on running new battery cables.

My issue with that is that there are three things in the positive cable that I don't know what to do with. In the pic below, they are identified with purple arrows:



1. Is that part of a fusible link? If so, what do I do about the fact that aftermarket cables don't have this? At least the Taylor Diamondbacks that I want to use don't.

2. Another "what is this" question? One of the wires running to it is labelled "fusible link"

3. This lead is much thicker than that on any aftermarket cable that I have seen. So, my basic question, is how can I use the aftermarket bat. cables while still allowing the electrical system to function as it was designed?

 

Keep in mind the fusible link is a last resort safety, many cars don't have them at all. Usually have one from the alternator to the battery, never see it on an older car. I wouldn't worry about doing away with them, but that's your call there. In your picture I think item one is a factory splice, a couple wires connected together with the rubber plug as an insulator, pretty common. Item three looks to be the fusible link, the insulation is really thick to keep the wire from separating in case the wire itself burns in two, so the ends of the burned wires won't contact anything. If you cut into one of these links you'll see the wire is actually not very thick, it's designed as a weak link in the system. Item two >might< be a fuse holder. Remove the cap and you'll probably find a 30 amp fuse or so. To sum it up, I'd leave the fusible links alone if they are not causing problems, leave the fuse holder if it's still powering an amp for the stereo, but I'd consider redoing the fan control, that's a critical function and it looks risky as it is now, maybe solder the wires where you have those crimp connectors, and tape and wrap whatever needs to be neatened up.

 

Yes, I agree that the relay for the fan looks shaky at best...nightmarish, really. As does much of this other cob-job wiring.

If I eliminate the fusible links and replace them with in-line fuses, is there a way to determine what amperage of fuse to use? Does the factory manual state how many amps run through a circuit?

 

I can't find any indication to amperage in the 87 Helms manual I have.
The only 'real' info is the fuse link is 4x smaller than than the wire it is attached to and should not exceed 9 inches.

IIRC I recall vader or someone saying the fuse link wire is rated somewhere around 60A.

I know they sell replacement splices at PepBoys locally. Not sure there is an amp rating there either.

I ditched my, ECM/fan/maf/ whatever else wasn't connected to the starter, fusible link off the battery for a car audio fuse block and a set of 30A slo-blow fuses.

The main importance is just to make sure there is something at the start of the circuit to protect against a fault.

 

Thanks, Deadbird. Happen to have a pic you can share of that fuse block you installed? Sounds like a good idea.

 

I did post a pic at one time but, after 30 mins of trying to find it on here.. I gave up.
As it is now, most of my harness is lying either on the floor or down the center of the intake as I am re-rewiring.. again.

What I have though is a car audio 2- 8ga in/out fuse holder (think it's streewires or something like that). All the crap that used to be straight off the battery (fans) and other (MAF, FP, ECM) runs on their own grouped fuse now. The power from the battery to the fuse holder was upgraded (to dual 8ga). After the fuse retains the OEM wires.