Well I managed to short the 12v power wire (dark blue) running to the VE and now I have nothing when I turn the key to on. No gauges, starter, lift pump or anything else on an ignition relay. The only thing that works is the buzzer. What did I fry? Obviously some sort of relay or the ignition switch but my wiring is a mess and I'm no good at electrical stuff anyway. I would greatly appreciate the help.

 

theres a fusable link going to the ignition that will go

 

Know where its located? And how to fix it?

 

If it's a fusible link it should be good to go after a short while right?

 

Nope, fusible links are filled with magic smoke. Once you let the smoke out, it's gone and they never work again.

The fusible links are all on top of the driver's side fender well. Look for the crispy burned wire, it's the one you fried.

 

It appears as tho the PO cut the fuse links out and replaced with normal wire. So what would be next in line to fry?

 

The switch or one of the connectors would be my guess. There are no other circuit protection devices for the shutdown solenoid. You sure it's normal wire and not a fuse link?

 

Pretty sure, I didn't see any burnt or crispy wires up there either. Are there any relays before the switch?

 

Nope. The power goes from the FL straight to the switch, then from the switch out to the engine bay.

 

OK thanks, I'll go take a closer look at the wires and possibly the switch.

 

Ok it appears that one of the wires has a small burn spot right where it goes into the connector thing. How in the world do I fix that? It's the orange one on the far left.

 

Anyone?

 

The repair method in the manual is to peel off a bit of insulation from the heavy feed wire, slightly upstream of the connector thing. Wrap a new piece of fusible link (of the same gauge) around the bared section and solder it to it. Then cut off the old fusible link and connect the new fusible link to the wire. Carefully wrap your connections.


I would do it a bit differently if it were mine. I would get rid of the connector thing altogether and crimp an eyelet to the end of the heavy feed wire. I would attach the eyelet to a single-stud junction block that I had located and installed close by, on the inner fender. Then I would install all new fusible links, or maybe even weatherproof inline fuses, each with an eyelet on the end, and attach them all to my junction block stud. They would then each attach to their respective fusebox feed wires. Simple and professional looking.

 

Very nice- I will do that and thanks for the help.