porsche47

I just recently bought a 79 928(5speed) for $2200, the car was well maintained up until 2010 where someone did some hackwork, odometer quit at little over 100,000 around 2010. Paintjob will need to be redone but a solid car that needed some TLC. I have fixed most of the vacuum leaks and the car idles, revs much better, rebuilt the axles which were upgraded long ago, reupholstered,fixed most of the interior, installed a dash cover and now chasing down all the little electrical issues.
My main problem right now is about 6-8 fuses have no power whatsoever in the fuse panel. All fuses are located on right side(dash lights, high beams ect...).
My question: is there a fusible link that may have popped causing the whole right side of the panel to go dead? Or maybe a relay? I have the FSM fuse diagrams but nothing shows any kind of fuse between the battery and the fuse block, or I have missed it.

ROG100

Pull the panel and check the connections behind (do disconnect the battery).
Best to replace with a good used panel.

DougM

I have some good used early panels. Give me the number off of your and I will see if it matches if you are interested in going the used route.

porsche47

My panel # is 01021, I am interested if this is going to fix it.
I pulled it down and couldn't see anything like corrosion, (Ca/AZ car) I got the DMM out and started checking voltage but found nothing obvious. I will get the panel completely out after taking some pictures and check for continuity but I was hoping to see something obvious. The previous owner did tap a +12V and ground wire for an aftermarket radio. also pulled wires out that were poorly ran for an aftermarket alarm. As an electrician I would think there would be some kind of fusible link between the battery and fuse panel, sounds like a fire waiting to happen.

Alan

There are no fuses or similar between the battery and the CE panel fuses/relays.

Not all the fuses are supplied permanently - some are ignition switched and some are accessory switched while some are only powered when the equipment itself is switched on.

Varies by year - but on a '79 for example:

Fuses 1-4 are equipment switched
Fuses 5-8 are X bus switched (accesssory (2/4) on ignition switch)
Fuses 9-13 are Ignition bus switched (ignition (3/4) on ignition switch)
Fuses 14-23 are direct battery connections (30 bus)
Fuses 24-34 are equipment switched (mostly lighting related)

What you see may be completely normal.... You need the wiring diagrams for debug.

Alan

porsche47

I do have the ebay fsm on CD, seems like its missing some pages on the electronics though. I went ahead and bought a used fuse panel on 928international for 150$, hope this solves the problem. I could not get any power to the Hi/lo headlight relay and the hi beam works and is stuck on when I turn the lights on. I also checked the ignition switch for acc and ign 12v and that seemed fine all the way to the fuse panel. I figure I'll have plenty of spare relays if I have future issues. I will have to post some pictures of my 79 project, it was in need of some serious TLC. So far ive replaced; the dash, reupholstered all the interior, replaced all the speakers, replaced the vacuum hoses, plugs, cap, wires and the throttlebody coupling. Waiting on my new odometer gear to come in so I can drive it down to get a new exhaust installed where the cat will be taken off and straight pipe back to a magnaflow muffler, should sound mean. No emissions here ;-)
Someone was trying to fix this car with a underqualified mechanic, it seems they installed some kind of vacuum solenoid to the strut tower bar that intercepts a vacuum hose. It was wired to come on with ign12v and when activated it speeds up the idle. I suspect its some kind of air conditioning idle adjustment, or they couldnt find the thrttle body coupling leak and tried to use the solenoid to make it idle with the leak.

Chuck Schreiber

If you end up getting a good used one, use Sharkskin's write up to make sure everything is clean and working properly.

He did a good job w pics, etc..
http://members.rennlist.com/sharkski...04-Bzzzzzt.htm

Good luck!

AirtekHVAC

The solenoid increases idle when the AC compressor is active.

I replaced the CE in my 78....easy peasy