Fusible Link Question (1 Viewer)

[Fj moneypit]

Still need to do this! Almost forgot, thanks. To many repairs not enough time!

 

[Spike Strip]

Word.

 

[BTUMAN]

If I contribute nothing else to Mud, this one tip would be enough. The fusible link can be hard to diagnose. I spent considerable time and money replacing a number of parts before finally diagnosing.

Do not trust the fusible link when you start having intermittent problems with stalling. Here is the issue. The main separate link that comes from the ignition and is linked back from there to the Alternator would lose continuity only after it got warm, and there was a power need. Although this was the first thing I checked- it showed fine when testing with a multimeter when I first had this problem.

I could start it up, drive until it gets warm, and then it would stall out at a stop. By the time I would let it cool, make it back to the house, get out and start to check, it had cooled enough to show continuity and perhaps never broke full continuity but was so week it could not carry load.

Not until I had replaced every other possible part, including all new grounds and power cables, and while driving, turned my lights on trying to do anything to see if it was power related, and it died, did I realize it must be something else with power. I thought it had to be the link- even though I know I had check the wires more than once for simple continuity and power.

I put my meter in line with each of the fusible link wires and ran my meter up to the windshield so I could see it, waited for it to get warm and as it was I could see the voltage dropping. Then put it in gear, and you would see the voltage drop to under 9 volts to near zero and motor would die. Confirmed this with a simple bypass of link with real wire.

I ordered a correct size fusible link wire and all fixed. Simple corrosion from the battery since this 89 had sat so long with a battery in it and jumped off too many time perhaps. I hope this helps someone in the future. Again, this was not the fusible ink with all the connectors, but the one that sits out separate so it was easy to change out.

 

[Fj moneypit]

Marshmallow, wrapped inside foil, wrapped around braided wire! This should be in the best mods for $50 or less! This the wire from fusible link to battery. What gauge again? Does it specifically have to be "fusible link" wire? And where to get? @Spike Strip i saw your previous pic, is that wire for this end or the green end?

 

[Fj moneypit]

Like semi new!

 

[Output Shaft]

Just another tidbit about the fusible link concept...

As most of us know, the fusible link is a fuse; a cheaply designed, streamlined fuse. It's purpose is to melt (just like a normal fuse) when the current flowing through it exceeds it's ratings. It's rating is designed so that it burns up before the wiring harness does; protecting the wiring harness in case a short develops. It is a sacrificial lamb.

Since the FJ60 fusible link design is SO LAME with that crappy non-sealed plug containing three little spade connectors, problems develop with it over time. The typical problem is corrosion of the spade contacts. Once corrosion sets in, so does resistance. Once resistance sets in, heat increases. Over the years, the heat increases to the point where it begins to melt that crappy plug and coat the connector contacts with icky stuff and the circuit thus is broken. In this instance, the link did not overload and melt due to a short, but corrosion of the plug screwed the pooch.

So with all that being said (get to the point already!)
A simple 3 gang fuse block can do away with the yicky fusible link forever. The fuse rating needs to be just a bit higher than the sum of all the loads that are carried on that particular fusible link wire. A 40 amp regular old fuse seems to be fine. And if it blows for some reason, a replacement is only as far away as your hardware store, and costs very little.

 

[BTUMAN]

Just another tidbit about the fusible link concept...

As most of us know, the fusible link is a fuse; a cheaply designed, streamlined fuse. It's purpose is to melt (just like a normal fuse) when the current flowing through it exceeds it's ratings. It's rating is designed so that it burns up before the wiring harness does; protecting the wiring harness in case a short develops. It is a sacrificial lamb.

Since the FJ60 fusible link design is SO LAME with that crappy non-sealed plug containing three little spade connectors, problems develop with it over time. The typical problem is corrosion of the spade contacts. Once corrosion sets in, so does resistance. Once resistance sets in, heat increases. Over the years, the heat increases to the point where it begins to melt that crappy plug and coat the connector contacts with icky stuff and the circuit thus is broken. In this instance, the link did not overload and melt due to a short, but corrosion of the plug screwed the pooch.

So with all that being said (get to the point already!)
A simple 3 gang fuse block can do away with the yicky fusible link forever. The fuse rating needs to be just a bit higher than the sum of all the loads that are carried on that particular fusible link wire. A 40 amp regular old fuse seems to be fine. And if it blows for some reason, a replacement is only as far away as your hardware store, and costs very little.

Just as sort of a counter point- There have been many who have swapped these out for regular fuses and things work ok. However- as I understand, a fusible link is a bit different that a regular fuse. It is designed to slow blow (except for a direct hard short) so that it can take some peak spikes. This could be an important difference to prevent one from getting stranded. Granted, if you are familiar with the system you can just swap out fuses when they blow, but the fusible link will never blow unless it really needs to protect your wiring.

For this reason, and the fact that I believe the engineers at Toyota know what they are doing (there were fuses in 1989 after all that would have been cheaper to install), I would replace with equivalent fusible link wire. In fact many vehicles use this system rather than fast blow fuses under the hood. It may be easier to replace with fuses, but original is usually better on a Toyota.

That said, now that these are discontinued, there is a good market for someone to built these. I ordered one from SOR and it was bad out of the box. Corrosion is the enemy.

 

[FishNinJay]

Just another tidbit about the fusible link concept...

As most of us know, the fusible link is a fuse; a cheaply designed, streamlined fuse. It's purpose is to melt (just like a normal fuse) when the current flowing through it exceeds it's ratings. It's rating is designed so that it burns up before the wiring harness does; protecting the wiring harness in case a short develops. It is a sacrificial lamb.

Since the FJ60 fusible link design is SO LAME with that crappy non-sealed plug containing three little spade connectors, problems develop with it over time. The typical problem is corrosion of the spade contacts. Once corrosion sets in, so does resistance. Once resistance sets in, heat increases. Over the years, the heat increases to the point where it begins to melt that crappy plug and coat the connector contacts with icky stuff and the circuit thus is broken. In this instance, the link did not overload and melt due to a short, but corrosion of the plug screwed the pooch.

So with all that being said (get to the point already!)
A simple 3 gang fuse block can do away with the yicky fusible link forever. The fuse rating needs to be just a bit higher than the sum of all the loads that are carried on that particular fusible link wire. A 40 amp regular old fuse seems to be fine. And if it blows for some reason, a replacement is only as far away as your hardware store, and costs very little.

CAse in point...

This is the RED fusible link, I believe.. that will eventually connect via that corroded dusty spade connector to a yellow wire that goes to EFI (per my wiring diagram below). I cut this, and saw the silver strands, and realized it was probably the fusible link wire. I spliced in a temporary copper wire segment to a ring contact to bolt on to my battery pos terminal. Does the length of the fusible link wire segment matter? Anyways, I'm looking to replace it soon.



Someone above was trying to figure out the wiring, colors, and what fusible link wire goes where.

Here's my wiring diagram, with the actual fusible link parts ripped out and placed on their corresponding locations.
Maybe this will be helpful to somebody...


I'm considering just removing these connectors entirely, and just using some type of heavy-duty weatherproof spade or bullet connectors to put in the fusible wire segments? My green wire segments look ok, so maybe I'll just try to slip some sandpaper in there and clean out that 3-prong connector and salvage it.

My question is...
How do I get the appropriate fusible link wire? The FSM wiring diagram has the following

0.85R goes to EFI (RED FL wire connects to Yellow EFI wire)
0.5G goes to HEAD (Green FL wire connects to Red Head wire)
1.25B goes to ALTERNATOR (thicker BLACK FL wire connects to thick WHITE ALTERNATOR wire)
0.5G goes to AM1 ignition switch (Green FL wire connects to Black AM1 ignition wire)
0.5G goes to AM2 ignition switch (Green FL wire connects to Black/Green AM2 ignition wire)

I get all that... but what do these numbers mean? 0.85 and 0.5 and 1.25
I'm thinking they correlate with Gauge size?

Sorry if this is something obvious I'm missing, but I just need to know what type of fusible link wire I should order. I'll probably try to salvage the green wires, so I mainly need to know what BLACK FUSIBLE LINK WIRE corresponds to "1.25" and what RED FUSIBLE LINK WIRE corresponds to "0.85".

THank you..

FOr anyone else interested, here are some other pics of my ripping out the PO's original fusible link wiring..

[

Alternator wire bolted to black fusible link wire inside this black hinged connector box??

 

[Spike Strip]

The 0.85, 0.5, etc., size refers to 'square MM' or metric equivalents of SAE gauge. If you Google it, there's cross-ref charts somewhere in the ether...

 

[FishNinJay]

The 0.85, 0.5, etc., size refers to 'square MM' or metric equivalents of SAE gauge. If you Google it, there's cross-ref charts somewhere in the ether...

I'm looking... but it seems like the closest to 0.85 sq MM is 0.8 sq MM which is an 18GA fusible link wire. Close enough? Or should I go up to the 1.0 sq MM 16GA fusible link wire.

Likewise, the black fusible wire going to my alternator is 1.25, and I can either go 1.0 (16GA), or 2.0 sq-mm (14GA).

http://www.amazon.com/Pico-8125PT-G...eywords=PICO+14+gauge+fusible+link+wire+SQ+mm

Seems like from a safety standpoint, I should round down to the smaller fusible wire... but I also don't want to be melting wires all the time!

 

[Spike Strip]

Don't know about the larger wires, I used a 20 for green and 18 gauge red for my 60. Difficult to find the same color as Toyota used, but I did find it on ebay, some time ago. I think it was the same brand, Pico wire, as on Amazon.

You want to be about 4 gauges above (smaller wire FL) than the wires they're protecting.

 

[FishNinJay]

Don't know about the larger wires, I used a 20 for green and 18 gauge red for my 60. Difficult to find the same color as Toyota used, but I did find it on ebay, some time ago. I think it was the same brand, Pico wire, as on Amazon.

You want to be about 4 gauges above (smaller wire FL) than the wires they're protecting.

Thanks.. I'll check out ebay!

So, on your 60... don't you have a thicker BLACK 1.25sq-mm fusible wire that goes to a WHITE alternator wire?
Since I have just a standard alternator (but a DUAL BATTERY setup), so I'm thinking I'll just go with the 16GA fusible wire
and hope it doesn't blow out.

Thanks again..

 

[Spike Strip]

No the 60 FL just has two green and a red. I would stick with what Toyota engineers thought was the appropriate sized FL for the circuit. Going larger (smaller gauge) defeats the purpose and risks fire.

 

[FishNinJay]

So... I guess it's (probably) OFFICIAL..

TOYOTA no longer makes this fusible link assembly for the FJ60/-J62

I spent 30 minutes at the Parts counter, and we actually found the item on their stupid computer
system.. under PART 82210C

It is no longer in stock or being stocked, ANYWHERE in the U.S.A.

So, I will try to clean up and rehab the 3-green wire connector, and I ordered the closest gauge fusible link Pico wires from Amazon for the other 2 fusible links, and I'll make my own assembly.

The BLACK WIRE fusible link actually looks ok, except the outer insulation had cracks and acid/heat burn, so I stripped it. But, it looks like all the conductor strands are intact. I was thinking of just reinsulating it with some clear adhesive marine shrink wrap, probably 2 layers. Anyone think that's unwise? I guess it is 25 years old... probably new is better.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Just went to my local Toyota, Colchester CT and the parts guy found the FJ60 fusible link with a pix (so far he has been a great help!). Only uncertainty is the shape of the green connection, the photo wasn't the best and it was hard to tell if it was round or square. So I'll be curious to see what it looks like when it arrives, he was cool and isn't charging me until I can put my hands and eyes on it myself. I will post a pix if its good. He found three listed in US. I used this part # 90982‑08135 listed previously. Not cheap either, $58 and change. (Also cool to note that my '87 FJ60 was put off the production line Aug '86. I ordered the cork gasket for my oil pan and needed to know which end of '87 it was as the pans differ.)

 

[Brock]

Here is part number I was given when I bought mine.
90982-08135Toyota OEM Part Number 90982-08135 | FUSIBLE, LINK

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Yup

Here is part number I was given when I bought mine.
90982-08135Toyota OEM Part Number 90982-08135 | FUSIBLE, LINK

Yes, same one I used. Its the right part... not in hand yet as I realized I'd forgotten my wallet when I got to the dealership yesterday with my son and dogs in tow. Mama just too damn distracted getting out the door. Guy joked with me "what you think you can just get it with your good looks?!" I chuckled, "yes, please?!" But yup. Put my eyes on it and it is... now I will be splicing a new 10g wire for my alt and I'll be back in biz.

 

[SeattleFJ62]

Updating my fusible links (FJ62) to chase down an intermittent electrical issue, plan to use these connectors (original plastic connectors are disintegrating) Allstar Performance Weatherpack Connectors ALL76267 - for the three way (all greens) and the two single fusible links. Would like to use ring terminals with heat shrink insulation for each fusible link, but also want to avoid a stack of ring terminals on the battery connection - best practices to solve this situation?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Landpimp]

62 link is dead, coolerman I think offers a replacement or will rebuild yours

The 60 link is available from Toyota

 

[red66toy]

62 link is dead, coolerman I think offers a replacement or will rebuild yours

The 60 link is available from Toyota

He does! He rebuilt mine for the FJ62 and it works perfectly! He does great work.