Hey i am new to working on vehicles and i recently bought a Dodge D100 1986/360 V8

The fuse box had an open back side and grounded out on some metal while i was driving. The wire connects to a piece of copper that connects to the whipper blades, turn signal, and radio. There is a large black smudge on the copper. I changed the Regulator at the advice of a friend, it did nothing. Ended up replacing the rotor and dist. cap, which had a ton of carbon, buit that was just for fun. The wire that grounded is dead, as are several other fuse wires. The ones that are dead are all powered by the ignition being on....so i am guessing the ignition caught a bad surge from the ground and blew out or something like that.

I got the steering wheel off and now am facing the turn signal switching mechanism, and i cannot get to the next cage that holds the ignition. Do i need a special tool? Is it worth going in? Any advice would be welcome.

Oh and i can run a wire from the battery to the coil and the truck will run. And no, i do not even have a restrictor, its in the coil.

 

Sounds like a fusible link. There are 4 or 5 of them at the back, top of the drivers side wheelwell, 2 of them go directly to the ignition switch. I would check there first before tearing the switch out, that job is tough without a manual.

 

First thing you need to do is get a wiring diagram at the least, or a factory shop manual at the best. You should be able to drum one up on Ebay. I do NOT mean the Clymer/ Haynes stuff, I mean a real, Mopar, factory, shop manual.

 

It sounds like a fusable link, tearing the steering wheel of is just more work going in the wrong direction, a wirering diagram is your best help, sorry I do not have one for that year

 

thanks guys i will look into it!

 

Are these fusible links? i have a chilton and a decent wiring diagram, but really unless i start cutting open all the tubes its tough to tell what goes where. what i have found is that the yellow wire going from the starter relay to the ignition is dead. the red from the battery is live. now i didn't try it with the truck running but i did try it with the key turned to On. No power from the relay to ignition.

http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/...=Things052.jpg

 

Yes those are the fusible links. There may be a number corresponding with the wiring diagram or checking continuity with a couple of pins/needles piercing the insulation.
I forgot to add the colour and gauge of the wire could be the identifiers.
And when you check continuity disconnect power from the circuit.

 

so just check for continuity, not amps? Can do.

 

Yes, from the big single wire to the other side of the big molded rubber connector of each wire. Ohms.

 

one was dead. i thought the link was the large dark plastic part. i did the pull test, the dead one is broken inside.....i think this is my problem??? Also, my little brother pulled spark plugs off the dist. cap trying to find the problem, and put them on wrong....i have to time my engine after i get this all working.

 

A fusible link is basically a smaller gauge of wire that will overheat then break before any other wires it is supplying. That big rubber bit is a molded connector to join the to different sizes of wire ind keep it waterproof. A repair is to solder in that same type and gauge of wire if not there is the risk of burning the protected wires and possibly fire. Worst case would be no fire and catastrophic battery failure. If you already knew all this, sorry for wasting your time. That pull test is a new one on me, I've only seen them black or burned right through, good job.

 

i have heard of the pull test but i still need to open it and look at it tomorow. i will let you know what the deal is. thank you with your help

 

LA firing order 1 8 4 3 6 5 7 2

 

so i replaced the fusible link but the size was incorrect i think. I do not know how important the length and gauge is but this one was 16 and i needed 20, but the guy at the parts store said it would work fine. It also was longer than the old link. Another thing is that i just stuck the link in the old butt conector and taped it in, as it gave a signal on the other side. the truck ran fine, a little rich, after doing that and replacing the spark plugs and cables. then i was driving home tonight and it died again. same problem, the ignition was getting no power, so i used the old wire-to-coil trick and it ran. the new wires i put in where also very hot, is that a problem? later after i got home it worked fine without the wire-to-coil. any ideas? should i get an exact replacement for the fuse link and soder it onto the main wire to avoid the old butt connector?