bottomwatcher Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 Ok seems like a lot of folks have issues with fusable links. Driving ancient shit always has me nervous of having a problem where parts have to be ordered and waited for. So the fusable links are simply a fuse but must have some slow blow or other distinctive feature? Can they simply be replaced with ATC, ANL or ANN fuses? My truck has been kind of reserved to "island car" status even though it has been dead nuts reliable. Fusable link failure and LED CAS failure (carry spare CAS) make me nervous. Could carry spare fusables but it may take a couple of "blows" to find the offending issue. A cheaper, quicker swap would ease the longer trip anxiety. I did drive 150 miles round trip today which kind of brings this up. I used to drive this from south Florida to Washington state annually but with us both getting long in the tooth going outside the AAA gold plan makes me a little nervous. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 If it ain't broke don't fix it. If you're thinking of carrying extra parts because they might fail then why not an extra transmission, radiator, alternator, distributor, windshield???? the list would be endless. Trust that everything will be alright. A fusible link protects wiring in the event of a catastrophic accident where power wires are crushed and grounded to the body and might cause a fire. A fusible link only protects the power wires from the battery to the fuse box. Everything past that has their own fuse that flows to protect it. A fusible link will sustain a dead short for over 5 seconds before melting. You can replace with a regular fuse but carry spares. I don't see any advantage to doing this if it's working and has never had a problem. Quote Link to comment
bottomwatcher Posted January 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 Got an extra transmission on the shop floor since that is the weak point for Datsuns. To convert the fusible link to a standard fuse makes sense to me, fusible links failures are not obvious without a meter. I have added a fuse panel with LEDs that highlight fuse failure with a light for accessories added stereo, power seats, lights ect. My only concern was if there was some kind of slow blow feature? Otherwise 40 amp fuse is a 40 amp fuse, cheap available and obvious compared to a fusable link. Will be removing my fusible links and replacing with atc /ato if not an issue!. 5 second dead short no way without damaging the rest of the harness. Researching the fusible link means "slow blow" so an ANN should work. Just looking for someone who has done this with success. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 What I'm saying is that blowing a fusible link is extremely rare. That would be like carrying two spares, just in case. But if you think you need it go ahead. Quote Link to comment
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