Just finished installing a new harmonic balancer and intake manifold gasket on my 85. Buttoned it up and took it for a spin, and she drove great, but halfway home I smelled something that smelled weirdly like fried okra. The smell lingered and definitely seemed to be coming from my car, but I couldn't think of what under the hood would make a smell like that. I got home and popped the hood and found nothing; no leaks, no smoke. Got back inside the car and the smell was still there. Went to the passenger side and it was even stronger. Popped open the fuse panel and found this.




This is the 25 amp fuse for the A/C. What's worse is it isn't even blown; it passed a continuity test. I also haven't been messing with the A/C lately, but while I was replacing the intake gasket I tried to unplug the A/C compressor to get that harness out of the way and found that it was stuck on there pretty good, and caught a glimpse of what might be duct tape underneath the rubber boot, so I left it there.

Maybe I disturbed some janky bandaid fix when I went to unplug the compressor? I'll definitely be taking a look at it next. I've replaced the A/C fan, relay (NOS AC Delco) and fan speed resistor block, but none of that was recent.

Anyone seen something like this before? Why would a fuse get so hot as to melt but not blow?

 

Reading elsewhere, apparently this can be caused simply from dirty fuse contacts in the fuse box. This makes sense because the targa top does leak in such a way that water can find it's way down to the fuse box. Maybe I just need to go through and clean out all the contacts?

 

Poor connection equals heat.
Check that it is a tight fit also.

 

The fuse connections can only overheat if there is current flowing through them. What position were the A/C controls in during your drive? Does the A/C function?

The blower motor and the compressor clutch are powered by that fuse. If the A/C functions and you were using the A/C on your drive perhaps the clutch is drawing 'too much' current? That the compressor connector was "stuck" indicates that perhaps that connector is 'melted' too.

 

The A/C wasn't actually on at the time, just the blower motor at low speed in vent mode, and it seemed to be working fine. I am curious about what the previous owner did at the compressor connection though. My guess is the wire sheathing shrank and he wrapped them in duct tape.

 

Checked out the compressor connector. It seems fine. Idk why I was struggling to unplug it before. Cleaned up the A/C fuse spot with a pick and a small emery board, followed by some CRC contact cleaner. Did the same for a few other fuses that looked a little suspect. Everything seems to be working and I've driven it around a few times today without the fuse getting hot. I'll continue to monitor but so far so good.

 

The "duct tape" is factory, not Bubba....it was placed there to insulate the diode that bridges the green and black wires of the clutch connector👍

Here's the wiring diagram for future reference (this is for an '84, but guessing the '85 is the same...hopefully!)

This is even noted by GM!

 

That's amazing! I'm so glad I didn't try to take that apart! There's so many traces of bubba on this car I assumed it was him! Thanks for the info!

 

You won't hurt anything, I would gently remove and make sure your diode legs are not broken. Black Gorilla brand duct tape makes for an excellent replacement. I personally would visually inspect your blower motor resistor and verify the blower motor itself is working on all speeds and isn't starting to lock up. Not sure if the '85 is the same, but take a look towards the bottom of the AC evaporator housing, right by the exhaust manifold... there is a brown colored plug that comes from the starter/engine harness that feeds the blower motor/body side (there's also a HVAC vacuum junction)...That brown colored connector gets moisture on it and likes to corode and also melt....causing much resistance...just a few ideas for you to double check👍
I'll add pictures when I get a chance of said brown connector!

 

I've replaced the blower motor, resistor and relay! When I first got the car I only had high speed, so I changed the resister, which was rusty anyway, but that didn't fix the problem. Getting a NOS relay fixed that. Then last year the motor started squealing and locking up so I replaced that. It's got good fan action in all positions. Most likely the fuse contacts were corroded because of water running down from the leak in the targa seal at the top of the A pillar. I might check the brown connector at the firewall though.