Fuse Box Woes

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noflers
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Fuse Box Woes

#1

Post by noflers » Sat Aug 27, 2016 8:50 am

First, a photo:
Image

Is this the correct fuse box? Keep in mind that it's a 1/70 car, work a 68/69 dash. I'm getting no power to the woes leading to the fan motor, and I narrowed it down to the fuse box so I popped it of thinking a good cleaning might help. But no, I find this instead.

What is that solid blue wire that comes off the left fuse bank doing? It leads nowhere, where should it be going? The red wrote with black stripe looks to be the only one that's been resoldered...

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#2

Post by noflers » Sat Aug 27, 2016 2:43 pm

Update, that random blue wire is actually a 12V switched circuit for air conditioning. Clearly I don't have A.C. so I may tap into it for something or other...

I soaked the box in vinegar and cleaned everything up, also replaced all the incorrect fuses with new ones. Still no power to fan motor...

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#3

Post by noflers » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:51 pm

UPDATE 2

Both of the circuits on the top left are getting no power, where might I find the grounds for them? I figure they aren't grounded properly. Top left is for hvac, and the one below is for the windshield wipers. Image

If I don't make any progress tomorrow I'm going to splurge on a decent wiring harness. It's beyond frustrating to follow wire that have been clipped and spliced multiple times. Also got some hot wires in a few places that can't be safe....

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#4

Post by wayno » Sat Aug 27, 2016 5:02 pm

Wish I could help you, I am sure if you stick with it long enough you will figure it out.
Electrical shit is a mystery to me, and it doesn't help when someone that worked on it ahead of you is even more clueless at it than you are.
“The difference between genius and stupidly is that genius has its limits” Albert Einstein

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#5

Post by flatcat19 » Sat Aug 27, 2016 6:30 pm

wayno wrote:Wish I could help you, I am sure if you stick with it long enough you will figure it out.
Electrical shit is a mystery to me, and it doesn't help when someone that worked on it ahead of you is even more clueless at it than you are.


I'd go e a like to your post, but...well...you know.

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#6

Post by noflers » Sun Aug 28, 2016 7:23 am

Well, bump a few wires and this and that stop working, fix those but bump a few more wires and more things stop working. I'm over it. Ordered a 21 circuit harness. Still not sure if my alternator is internally or externally regulated, but there is a regulator on the fender and it gets HOT, as do a few other things that shouldn't be getting hot.

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#7

Post by wayno » Sun Aug 28, 2016 8:55 am

That is a common issue or the 521 fuse box, move the wires around and stuff starts working again, very annoying when the headlights go out while driving down the freeway at night and I have to stop and wiggle the wires to get them working again, the fuse box is under the hood. :(
It's not easy wiring a new fuse box in either though.
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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#8

Post by flatcat19 » Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:03 pm

I replaced my 521 fuse box with a Blue Sea 6 circuit.

Easy as hell. Not sure how difficult for the 510.


I would love to do a full rewire in the future.
21 circuit though? Even 12 would be over kill in a Datsun.

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#9

Post by Indy510 » Sun Nov 06, 2016 2:15 pm

My 710s use 4 constant power fuses, 2 ignition powered, 2 ACC powered, and each headlight has an individually powered/relayed fuse.

I can't find any aftermarket fuse box that has more than constant hot and ignition hot. There's a Blue sea one with 6 of each. Or there's "painless" ones with relays and flashers that I don't need. Any suggestions for other after-market fuse boxes?

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#10

Post by noflers » Sat Nov 26, 2016 12:25 pm

Indy510 wrote:My 710s use 4 constant power fuses, 2 ignition powered, 2 ACC powered, and each headlight has an individually powered/relayed fuse.

I can't find any aftermarket fuse box that has more than constant hot and ignition hot. There's a Blue sea one with 6 of each. Or there's "painless" ones with relays and flashers that I don't need. Any suggestions for other after-market fuse boxes?
Could you just make them all ignition hot?

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#11

Post by flatcat19 » Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:41 pm

I have a Blue Sea box. Really easy to install. They have lots of options.


Look a few pages back on my "Redemption" thread in the 521 section.

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#12

Post by Indy510 » Sun Nov 27, 2016 12:51 am

noflers wrote:Could you just make them all ignition hot?
No, that would be too much for the ignition switch, and probably too much for a relay too ... and some stuff needs to work without the key on, for safety; like the headlights, horn, dome light, and brake lights

I ended up using my 710 fuse box, just to keep it stock and easier to diagnose

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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#13

Post by DRIVEN » Sun Nov 27, 2016 6:22 am

When I got my current wagon it had some wiring hackery too but not nearly as bad as yours under the dash. Most of mine was under the hood. I initially repaired what I could and drove it that way for a year or two.

This may or may not directly apply to you but is something to consider; When I did the engine swap on my car it obviously added a great deal of wiring and load to the overall system. What I did was try my best to take load OFF of the original 40+ year old electrical system. Since the swap included a 105A alternator I had no doubts about the charging ability, more concern for the old wiring, tired/corroded connectors and switches. I added a "main power relay" and an aux 6 circuit fuse panel on the LS kick panel. Now my engine harness, stereo, and gauges are completely independent of the old system. The original electrical system basically consists of the lighting and wipers. I didn't compare before and after draw but i would imagine that the original Datsun coil is more of an amperage load than the trigger side of that main relay that the ignition switch now controls. In the future I'd like to add relays for the high and low beams to further reduce load on the old system. I did that on my 1200 and the difference in headlight brightness was dramatic.
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Re: Fuse Box Woes

#14

Post by noflers » Sun Nov 27, 2016 7:56 am

DRIVEN wrote:When I got my current wagon it had some wiring hackery too but not nearly as bad as yours under the dash. Most of mine was under the hood. I initially repaired what I could and drove it that way for a year or two.

This may or may not directly apply to you but is something to consider; When I did the engine swap on my car it obviously added a great deal of wiring and load to the overall system. What I did was try my best to take load OFF of the original 40+ year old electrical system. Since the swap included a 105A alternator I had no doubts about the charging ability, more concern for the old wiring, tired/corroded connectors and switches. I added a "main power relay" and an aux 6 circuit fuse panel on the LS kick panel. Now my engine harness, stereo, and gauges are completely independent of the old system. The original electrical system basically consists of the lighting and wipers. I didn't compare before and after draw but i would imagine that the original Datsun coil is more of an amperage load than the trigger side of that main relay that the ignition switch now controls. In the future I'd like to add relays for the high and low beams to further reduce load on the old system. I did that on my 1200 and the difference in headlight brightness was dramatic.
Oh man, under the hood is a mess too! I also realized yesterday that a couple of wire were spliced under the carpet coming from the rear. The wiring harness I ordered a while back got cancelled by the manufacturer. I never looked into it, instead I decided to tackle the wiring myself again. I really wanna do this wiring right so I or anyone else never has to worry about it again...

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