Bad night last night, was tinkering with my 86 GL-10 EA82T and when I turned on the ig switch the steering column starting smoking and the 1.25 black fusible link blew. What system is the black link for? I replaced it with a "wirewrapped" link and opened the steering column and found a melted wire from ig switch. I separated the 4 wires (from switch) and turned on the ignition, my digidash came back on but when I tried to start it the dash went black and everything else too. I need some help bad, any direction to go before I start tearing open wiring harnesses.

 

I'm not sure if I caused the problem or it was just extreme coincidence, I was checking out the factory wiring for foglights but had not even disconnected anything.

Check to see if any of the fuses failed. If all the fuses are good, seems to me wherever the short is it has to be in a circuit not fuse-protected. Thinking headlights?

 

Do you need anymore fusible links? I probably have some I could mail you.

Thanks John, yeah I could use another black fusible link if you got one.

PM Sent. I'm hope the short was actually in the steering column since I had tightened up the column trim the other day (I might of pinched/crushed a wire) and since that where the wire smoked. I'm charging the battery now and will try again to start it later (maybe it was too weakened to turn over the engine). Does anyone know the circuit that the black 1.25 link feeds?

Problem fixed I should of known something was up last week after tightening the steering column shroud when the wheel tilt didn't "tilt" anymore. Anyway she's back running again. I reinsulated the affected wires and carefully put everything back together again. Oh and the black 1.25 fusible link pretty much feeds everything in the fusebox i.e. most of the vehicle.

I had that one go too. My nephew got a free subie that way the owners could not figure out what was wrong with it all it was was the fusable links. (one of the cylinders is not firing either but a free running subie....)

Problem fixed I should of known something was up last week after tightening the steering column shroud when the wheel tilt didn't "tilt" anymore.

 

Yeah, the tilt mechnism can pinch the wires for the ignition switch if they aren't routed just right.