On my '72 at least, the fuse block is shoddiest piece of electrical
equipment I have ever seen in a car. Let me explain:
On a normal fuse holder, there is a U-shaped metal clip holding
each end of a fuse. The clip is springy, so it
pinches the fuse strongly enough to make a good electrical
contact. Also, there are two points of contact between the
fuse and the clip- which further increases the reliability of the
connection.
Now consider the Spit fuse holder: Instead of a single U-shaped
clip at each end of the fuse, there are two parallel metal pieces.
Each of the two pieces has half of the circuit's wires attached
to it. Thus, each of the sub-circuits is being fed through
only one contact point instead of two. Also, the contact
pressure is not provided by the springiness of the metal, but
by the "springiness" of the surrounding parts of the plastic
fuse block. One failure mode of this setup is having a power
loss to some, but not all, of the components on a particular fuse.
I'm surprised this managed to meet the various regulatory standards.
Doug Braun
'72 Spit
P.S.: If you buy a repro harness, what does it have for the fuse connections?
Are you supposed to splice it into the existing fuse block?
At 02:15 PM 4/7/01 , you wrote:
>Dear All,
>
>Carly has an intermittent electrical problem - from time to time, the
>rev counter dies. When it does, it takes the windscreen wipers and
>washers with it. More often than not, when I start the car, the rev
>counter/wipers/washers are non-functional. Leaving the engine running
>and fiddling with the switches and wires doesn't help. Once I drive
>away, the problem normally disappears within a few hundred yards, and
>does not recur for several miles. Once the problem returns, I am
>without rev counter, wipers and washers for a minute or so, and then the
>wipers and washers come back, followed shortly afterwards by the rev
>counter. The problem is less pronounced if I am driving with wipers
>permanently on - they have never cut out on me, once they are up and
>running - and the cycle is much quicker if I am driving in town than
>when I am on a longer run. Turning the engine off and restarting
>resets the problem to the beginning.
>
>Other known electrical faults with this car include non-functioning
>cockpit light (probably just a bulb gone); non-functioning hazard
>warning lights (they worked for me once, but no longer), missing cigar
>lighter, non-functioning seatbelt warning light (I don't think it's
>connected, but I haven't traced the wiring yet), non-functioning
>reversing lights and non-functioning heater fan. All the other lights,
>gauges, indicators and the radio work fine.
>
>Any ideas, anyone? Please don't tell me I need a new wiring harness!
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