How to replace Blown fusable link;??!!

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Nick.koehler6

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Hey guys I have a bad fusable link, I got in a hurry and hooked up the battery cables backwards, I know..Im dumb. I see a puff of smoke come from the firewall on the drivers side and smelt burnt rubber. I looked around and found a burned wire. Since that has had happened, Iv had a no start problem with my 83 k-10 with a 350 motor. I have 14.4V at the starter. I beleve that the fusable link has something to do with it. How do you replace this inline fuses?e
 

89Suburban

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Cut the bad section out and splice in a new one. You know any basic wiring?
 

kleedus

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a lot of people think the link is the connector but it is not it is the short section of wire from the plastic connector to the end. it can be repaired.
 

chengny

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Kleedus is right. The fusible link is actually the short length of wire on the supply side of the plastic connector. With his permission, here is a bit more detail on fusible links:

In addition to circuit breakers and fuses, some circuits use fusible links to protect the wiring. Like fuses, fusible links are "one-time" protection devices that will melt and create an open circuit.

Not all fusible link open circuits can be detected by observation. A blown link often, but not always, has "bubbly" appearing insulation making troubleshooting easier. Always inspect that there is battery voltage past the fusible link to verify continuity.

Fusible links are used instead of a fuse in wiring circuits that are not normally fused, such as the ignition circuit. For AWG sizes (wire gauges), each fusible link is four wire gauge sizes smaller than the wire it is designed to protect. For example: to protect a 10 gauge wire, use a 14 gauge link (or for metric, to protect a 5mm wire, use a 2mm link). Links are marked on the insulation with wire-gauge size because the heavy insulation makes the link appear to be a heavier gauge than it actually is. The same wire size fusible link must be used when replacing a blown fusible link.


Good and damaged fusible links:

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Double wire feed fusible link repair:

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Choose the shortest length that is available. A fusible link should NEVER be longer than nine inches. Fusible links longer than this will not provide sufficient overload protection.

To replace a damaged fusible link, cut it off beyond the splice. Replace with a repair link. When connecting the repair link, strip the wire and use staking-type pliers to crimp the splice securely in two places. To replace a damaged fusible link which feeds two harness wires, cut them both off beyond the splice. Use two repair links, one spliced to each wire harness.
 

garzas23

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Hey guys I have a bad fusable link, I got in a hurry and hooked up the battery cables backwards, I know..Im dumb. I see a puff of smoke come from the firewall on the drivers side and smelt burnt rubber. I looked around and found a burned wire. Since that has had happened, Iv had a no start problem with my 83 k-10 with a 350 motor. I have 14.4V at the starter. I beleve that the fusable link has something to do with it. How do you replace this inline fuses?e

I did the exact same thing! It was the fusible link leading to you junction block on the firewall right? Its actually kind of a good thing, because it means it surved its purpose. The fusible link fried at the junction block before it could short your trucks electrical system. If its like mine, it looks like 1 wire attached to your firewall, leading into a plastic tube then into 2 wires. They sale the same fusible link at NAPA for less than $5.
 

garzas23

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Heres a pic of exactly what mine looked like and the fusible line from napa. Just go to napas website and type in fusible link, you will see it. Then ofcourse i just bought an eye to attach to the link so i could bolt it to the junction block. Hope this helps.
 

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Nick.koehler6

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Heres a pic of exactly what mine looked like and the fusible line from napa. Just go to napas website and type in fusible link, you will see it. Then ofcourse i just bought an eye to attach to the link so i could bolt it to the junction block. Hope this helps.

that is the one thAt was melted! I broke the black box on accident. ill just pick one up I guess! thanks guys! any more info would be great!
 

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