Fusable links??

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Jul 17, 2009 | 02:01 PM

reddog76

Thread Starter

Instructor

Joined: Jan 2008

Posts: 201

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From: Leroy Township Ohio

Fusable links??

Went out for a nice evening cruise last night, came bck and had the vette idling in the driveway while I moved stuff in the garage. Car died and would not start, no spark,etc... dead electrically. pushed it into the garage for the night, went out next morning and it started right up. I am concerned about this happening in the middle of nowhere with the wife!! Does it sound like a "fusable link"?? Looks like quite a few of these old devices under the hood. Any suggestions??
Reddog76

Jul 17, 2009 | 02:28 PM

Paul L

Team Owner

Joined: Aug 1999

Posts: 30,995

Likes: 98

From: Ontario

Have the ignition module in your HEI distributor checked. They can go bad with heat and be OK without (for awhile).

Jul 17, 2009 | 02:59 PM

...Roger...

Race Director

Joined: May 2006

Posts: 16,528

Likes: 53

From: Dayton, Ohio

A fusible link will not reconnect once it burns in two.
You said electrically dead...if you mean no lights on the dash then I would check your battery connections,neg. ground cable at the frame. Ive seen ignition switches do this also. Would your headlights come on ?

Jul 17, 2009 | 03:06 PM

HamadUP

Melting Slicks

Joined: Jan 2003

Posts: 2,877

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From: Doha

St. Jude Donor '08

I had a similar problem few months back, it was the battery disconnect switch.

Jul 17, 2009 | 09:44 PM

mint79

Instructor

Joined: Mar 2007

Posts: 110

Likes: 1

when a fusible link shorts and burns, you have a problem, My 340 duster had the link burn,
started a car fire. If your car started the next day ,look for a heat related problem as a forum member mentioned earlier.

Jul 17, 2009 | 10:54 PM

72LS1Vette

Safety Car

Joined: Aug 2001

Posts: 4,883

Likes: 11

From: North Easton Mass

with others that the fusible links are not the problem. A fusible link is nothing more than a smaller guage wire spliced into a larger guage wire. If there is an over-current situation the smaller wire will melt and open the connection before the larger guage wire burns. Your problem sounds more like a heat problem with the starter or ignition, but as always diagnosis over the Internet is very difficult.

As a side note, I am in the process of replacing the battery cables in my 72. Seems like GM and everybody else thought it was a great idea to use Aluminum wires back in the early 70's. That was until houses started burning down because of the corrosion building up on the Aluminum wiring. I noticed that the original cables had a lot of strands that were breaking and fraying so I am replacing the positive cable that runs down the trans tunnel while the trans is out and the negative cables soon. Everyone reading tis thread might want to take a look at their battery cables if they haven't done so recently.

Rick B.

Jul 18, 2009 | 09:17 AM

reddog76

Thread Starter

Instructor

Joined: Jan 2008

Posts: 201

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From: Leroy Township Ohio

Just the engine spark, etc... was dead. All other stuff works.including the starter. Just turns over. Today went for a long local drive and no problems. let idle as before for a long time just like before. No nproblems. Just weird.

Jul 18, 2009 | 07:53 PM

alswagg

Burning Brakes

Joined: Jun 2009

Posts: 840

Likes: 4

From: Syracuse IN

I had a similar situation happen today also. I was driving down the road and it was like the ignition just shut off. The radio was dead, but the turn signals still worked. I coasted into a lot, the starter would crank, but still no ignition. I turned the key on and off several times and all of the sudden the stereo came back on and the car started and ran just like before. I was thinking the ignition switch or the ignition circuit breaker has corrosion. Since other electrical items still worked I do not believe it to be connections at the battery, or even power from the started to circuit breaker box. Odd huh. Allan