What exactly will or will not work when a fuseable link is blown? Asking just out of curiousity since it came up in a conversation today. I've been under the impression that nothing relying on the key to be turned would work. Do you get interior lighting and so forth if the fuseable link is blown?

 

There are several fusible links, depending which one blows it will affect different circuits. The main thing is that when a link blows a bunch of stuff goes out at the same time.

 

[&:] kypher this will depend on the vehicle and year gm's early stuff only had one or two fusible links. dodge really liked lots of em in the 80's and my 95 maro has like close to 10 or so. so as you can see it will depend on how far into a specific circuit or circuits the fusible link is and what it was designed to protect kurt

 

I think the only ones my car (74 Z28 LT camaro) has on it are on the solenoid (2 fusible links) and alternator. I could be wrong and I would have to check the wiring diagrams. But the one we were mainly talking about was the solenoid one. Now that I'm looking at the wiring manual, I see where it connects to the solenoid and has leads coming off. So if that is blown then nothing electrical should work right? Especially since it's two wires and unable to complete the circuit. Now I know some solenoids have three connectors coming off and I think that might be where my friend was goign with his conversation at work today. In my case if either of the solenoid's fusible links goes down then so does the entirety of the electrical system. Whereas with a three connector I think it just shuts down the starter and engine harness's power but still gives you interior power? I've never had to deal with fusible links so everything that I THINK I know is just theory at this point. If I'm wrong please correct me as electrical problems are not my strongest feature, ha ha.

 

You will have to look a a diagram to see what circuits are powered by what links. For instance my brother had one of the links on his starter go bad. The only real things I saw go out from it was the headlights and rear hatch power pull down. If you suspect a link is bad most of the time it easy to see because the wire burns away. Not the plastic connector. That just connects the fusabble wire to the standard wire. But you should give a lite tug on the wire because it could melt inside the plastic and not be seen. And when repairing you can buy the wire in different amperages.

 

I had a 89 Dodge Daytona, and it was full of them. I had a friend helping me install my stereo, and he drove a screw through the power wire to the amp into the door jam. Talk about screwing crap up, that car never ran right again. As for a Camaro, I havefive on my starter solenoid ( 92 Camaro RS) I just went through a bad starter problem. Three get power straight from the battery, and the other two are powered when the ignition is turned. I had a small crack in one of the links and it gave me hell to figure out what was wrong. I hope this is just a conversation you are having and not a serious problem.

 

Madmikez28> Ha, I wish I knew how to read the abbreviations better in this diagram. There's no key and I really don't have formal training in electronics/wiring diagrams. I'm good at figuring it out when it's in front of me but when looking at wiring diagrams it's a little different. My dad's an electrician and I'm sure he's tired of me calling him everyday going, "Hey, I'm a dumb@$$! Help!". Too bad he lives 300+ miles away.

cjsuret> Nah, it was a conversation I walked in on and joined in between my friend and another person. So luckily there isn't a problem with that... yet. I've been troubleshooting electrical problem after electrical problem with my current restoration. So far the steering column's dissasembled and waiting to be reassembled, hopefully, tomorrow after I put a new dash in.

 

[&:] kypher fusible links are nothing more than a goofy and annoying version of a fuse. what shuts down and or doesnt work when one blows depends on what items that that fusible link fed power to. i dont remember for sure but im thinking that the two links in early GM one may have been for key on items and the other was for power to the other chassis items. anyone got the diagrams and can tell us for sure how these two were split???