I am new to the forum and hoping for a little guidance in repairing some issues I am having with the wiring harness on my 91 Dodge Power Ram, in particular, the fusible links. The fusible link that runs power to my ignition keeps burning out while driving, causing the truck to lose power. I fixed it once, but am wondering if I did so incorrectly, or there is another underlying problem. All of the fusible links come together and join into what my book calls the "main" fusible link. At the point where they all join into the main link, there is a second, red wire that runs along side the main link. The book makes no mention of this wire and I was hoping somebody could tell me what this wire is and what it runs to. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

 

I hope someone who knows sees this because I would love to find out if the whole under-hood harness from the firewall to the battery and such is available and replaceable. Mine has been cobbled up over the years and none of the fuseable links are even still there. All have been swapped to fuses and even though I re-did that nicely, it still bothers me.

 

no one sells a under the hood harness.

if you keep burning out fusible links there must be a short or something somewhere.

on my 81 i have the old fusible links connected to the newer fusible links in my power distribution center.

 

I didn't say I keep burning out fuseable links, I said the PO replaced them with fuses. None of the fuses blow so there isn't an electrical problem. But what I was asking was if the harness was available so i could replace it and go back to fuseable links and a new harness. Mine is a tad cobbled too as the PO tied into it for a couple accessories. I removed the tie ins and did that right running separate hot to the cabin but the harness could be nicer. Can you get new fuseable links? If so how do they go in? Solder, or crimp conns?

 

You can buy replacement fusible links at any auto parts store. You can get them in different gauges between 12 and 20 (typically). It is recommended they are soldered in, but any well protected connection would work and probably last forever as well. I am assuming I have a short somewhere. The problem now is trying to sniff it out. Just as a curiosity, how would one go about converting the fusible links to traditional fuses? I would think that would be a better situation than all those spliced wires.

 

have you been using the right gauge of fusible links. the fuses in the fuse panel should pop before your fusible link blows which is why they use it. i am pretty sure you could upgrade to the newer style fusible links but i don't know where you would get a holder for them. i am pretty sure someone would sell them if you looked. you just can't use standard fuses. they blow easier than fusible links.
not all the comment were for you. best thing you could do is fix what you got or find another truck that is the same year and fix that harness and then swap them out. i personally think the stock power distribution sucks.

 

Agreed, the stock power dist. is not the best. Seems like the first gen. Rams were caught between eras when it came to the electrical systems. Like they were all a part of a kind of transitional period between the old ways and the new way. It's pretty easy to figure out, but a pain if you don't understand what you're looking for. Anyway, the gauge of fusible like I keep burning out is 20ga. I replaced it with a 16ga. mostly because I couldn't find 20 anywhere. Really, the 16ga. would only make it better. I am also not burning out any fuses with this problem, which I think isolates my short somewhere between the link and the fuse box. I'm going to comb it over with a volt meter first chance I get.

 

I heard the fuseable links were to keep you from having an underhood fire if the short was between the firewall, and the battery, not to SAVE the fuses in the fuse box. So I replaced the crap inline fuses the PO put in with some quality fuse holders right by the battery so if I have an underhood short, the fuse blows and the truck doesn't burn down.

 

If you guys are still interested in info on fusible links, lots of info on slantsix.org.
http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewto...=138145#138145

Dave