Fabio421

1988 S4 - Yesterday I found that my fuel pump fuse was melted (but still working). I got the fuse out in pieces but the black plastic fuse holder is melted beyond use. Is this black plastic piece available as a part? If so, what is it called? I trued searching "fuse block" or even just "fuse" on 928 International and this part didn't come up from what I can see. Although many of the items do not have a photo. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Kevin in Atlanta

928Intl will be able to help you.

linderpat

A bigger issue is why did it overheat. The fuel pump may be failing, so that should be addressed too.

Kevin in Atlanta

Corroded fuses are a common cause. A proper fuse in good shape should pop.

Mrmerlin

if the connection at the fuse was corroded then the amount of heat on a hi draw line will easily melt the surrounding plastic.
Based on the info provided your fuse connection was dirty or not clamped enough to provide max energy transfer.

Use deoxit 100 and you may have to replace the fuse holder pins in the CE panel as well as the plastic parts that have melted.

NOTE the section that you are working is specific to your year,
so just using any old combination of parts would not be a smart thing to do.
carefully evaluate the pins on the back of the CE panel for the correct installation

ammonman

there is an S4 CE panel available on Fleabay right now (no affiliation but from a good seller) for a reasonable price. I picked one up a few years back as a donor for some repairs on my panel (cooling fan fuses.) Nice bit to have in the spares bin. The entire panel comes apart so you can harvest individual parts for repairs.

Captain_Slow

What Mike said above and I hope this helps... https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...nor-block.html

Alan

C531XHO

I had the same problem on mine. The parts are difficult to clean up without damaging the plastics. I bought a flying fuse holder and connected it to the original wires disconnected from the back of the original fuse holder - works perfectly

Alan

Be aware that if re-using fuse-holders from another panel:

1) Only panels 1985+ are compatible for ATC/ATO fuses
2) Each fuse holder block is numbered (sequential groups of 5) look under the lip - not obvious when installed
3) Fuse holders are not all configured the same - the input side (top when installed) has shorting buss bars across some inputs (config varies)
4) Even between years specific fuse holder numbered sets have different configurations - so only a correctly numbered fuse holder from the same model year (panel type) is a guaranteed match
5) Otherwise you will need to test any candidate fuse holder and ensure it matches the one you need to replace (you can swap internal terminals/terminal sets with other blocks
6) You can see the fuse holder input shorting config for your year on the Wiring diagram Central Electric Page (look at the fuse section)

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - YOU CAN SEVERELY DAMAGE YOUR CAR IF YOU USE THE WRONG PARTS

Alan

Captain_Slow

Alan was a big help during my CE refurbishing job. His information regarding compatible panels and blocks were key to a successful result. Of course the most important thing to do is visually compare the architecture of the copper conductors inside the blocks. It's not hard and nothing to be afraid of - but seriously important to be aware of and match exactly.

Tomkat80222

I'm heading down this road as well. The number 8 fuse had blown and I replaced it and while doing so found all the fuses had a layer of corrosion on them. I cleaned them all up and sprayed each socket with Deoxit 100 and put in a replacement 5 amp fuse that started to pull apart (metal from plastic) as I was installing it. Not a good sign, but this was the only one I had. I turned on the lights and all was good. Drove the other night and within 1 mile I was smelling smoke!! Pulled over and ripped off the cover to see a little smoke and the fuse housing melted. I grabbed at the hot mess and finally got the fuse wire out. I'm a little confused as to why this would happen this way and after spraying the sockets. Bad fuse? Or as Alan has said, is there a poor connection? Or do I have a short and the fuse failed.

Kevin in Atlanta

Poor connection - not good enough to blow the fuse, but enough to melt everything around it.

Jason89s4

If I had a 94 Minerva Blue GTS 52K miles I would spend $35 and replace all the fuses with quality new ones, not just clean them. Oh, and another 40 bucks and replace all of the "53" relays.
Oh wait, I do that with all my cars.
-Jason

The Forgotten On

I never really realized that the resistance could get so high to melt all of that stuff.

Makes me glad California is so dry for once.