Fusible Link Repair
   by David Lane
   dlane@peabody.jhu.edu

Golly, I finally fixed something that has been an itchy problem for a long time.

Symptoms:

• Slow electric windows.
  
  

• Valentine 1 gives "low voltage" signal (displays laser alert) whenever the car goes to idle.
  
  

• Occasional hesitation between the time the key is turned and the time the starter engages.
  
  

• Occasionally, "nothing" when trying to crank the car. No dash lights, nothing. This usually happens when trying to restart a hot car.

Here's what was going on:

   First gens have some electrical connections (brown junction boxes) on the driver's side of the engine compartment, between the battery and the shock tower. These contain U-shaped pieces of wire that act as fuses. They are referred to as "fusible links." Cars with the 12A engine have a single fitting which contains three fusible links. The outer two have to do with the headlights. The middle is marked "main." GSL-SEs have an additional fitting containing two more fusible links which protect the fuel injection and the associated electronics. Both of these fittings are connected to the plus side of the battery via a thick wire that screws into the junction boxes.

   I have learned that when the car won't respond to the starter (everything is dead) all I have to do is to wiggle the middle fusible link of the lower junction box -- the one common to most (if not all) 1st gens. I have removed, cleaned and replaced this thing a number of times, but it turned out only to be a temporary fix. This time, I finally took the whole thing apart and cleaned off the corrosion on the screws and washers that connect the plus side of the battery to the junction boxes. I also cleaned off the male and female connectors on the fusible links and the junction boxes. A couple were loose, so I squeezed the female end with some pliers to tighten them up.

   The fusible link that seemed to be the most problematic was the middle one of the group of three. It is marked "main" and seems to be in the power path of everything that goes to the dashboard, as well as the control aspects of the starting circuit.

   I believe the corrosion on the screw connections, or possibly the looseness of the fuse connections was causing a break in the electrical path due to expansion when the engine compartment was hot.

   In any case, for the first time in almost a year, the Valentine One is quiet when plugged into the cigarette lighter -- even at idle. The power windows seem quicker, and the car has not hesitated to start when the key was turned.

   If you have any of these symptoms, and are checking the ground circuit to the battery (another problem area), I suggest that you also clean up the screw terminals and connectors to the fusible links--especially the one marked "main." Be sure to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery first. All of these connections are "live," even when the key is turned off.

   As usual, I must remind everyone that I am not an engineer, and I only have experience with GSL-SEs, so generalizations I make about other first gens are not from my own experience. Even so, the youngest 1st gen out there is now 12 years old, so there is probably a lot of dirt and corrosion in these connections.