Ok the girl has been down for a couple of weeks and I
finally got around to find out what caused her to quit with
no power to the dash and no start. I found the fusable link coming off the starter and replaced it with another fusable link.
I put a 20 amp and it blew in 2 days. I got annoyed and put in a 30 and its been fine. What do you guys think might be causing that link to keep blowing and is that 30 amp fuse a ticking time bomb. The friend mechanic said to lose the link and hard wire it.
Any advice would be appreciated. One more thing my speedometer works sporactically. It was fine before this fusable link problem. Now it jumps from zero to speed and then might work for ten minutes then stop. Now I am driving around with my good jack, jack stands, and a bunch of fuses to fix her on the side of the road if it happens again. I have no faith so short distances for a while.

 

I had a problem with the fusable links on my old 85 Z28. The wire harness was to close to the collector on the header and would cause the links to melt and short out.

 

i want to replace my fusable link also cause i heard they cause nothing but problems and most people dont even use em' anymore... whats involved? whats the rating for the links, 20A, 30A???? can i just use a low gauge wire with a fuse in-line?

 

Whenever I've bought fusible links, they were sized based on the gauge of the wire they were protecting. If you had a 16ga circuit, you'd buy a fusible link for a 16ga wire...no mention of current rating, just wire size.

The best ones I've seen were from MAD Enterprises out in CA, he's a mail order shop and I don't have his info handy but his link kits rock. They come with small and large ring terminals, heat shrink, everything you need to install them right. 2nd best were at the local NAPA. Worst were at PepBoys/AutoZone...couldn't find the exact right wire size and ring terminal combo.

Fusible links are OK for where they're located on a thirdgen...right on the starter. Tight quarters for a weatherproof fuse case, lots of exhaust heat. Unfortunately, that's the safest place to fuse...right at the voltage source.

You could go regular wire from the starter, and add a fuse somewhere downstream more convenient, but if you ever have a short upstream of the fuse you'll have a fire.

 

so how can i put a fuse in-line with the link if it doesnt have a rating???? just go with a 30A like the guy above did?

 

Depends on what components are on the circuit...which one are you looking at?

20A would probably be fine for all but the cooling fans or the circuit that feeds the under-dash fuse panel. 30A should cover those.

 

Typically fusible links protect circuits over 30 amps. Many car makers are opting for those big *** maxi fuses, over the fusible links, mounted in the engine compartment. If you have a circuit with a 12 ga wire the fusible link is typically 16 ga or thereabouts IIRC. They are not rated by amperage per se, but you could calculate it based on the ga of the wire if you really wanted to I guess.

And here's is Kev's recommendation: http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/fusible-link.shtml