I know what a fusible link is and where it is, but what is it made of? Is it a special type of wire or just various guages of wire?

 

One of the fusible links in one of 'rus had a loose spade connector and the car died on me this afternoon. Apparently it's been arcing for a bit because the insulation is cooked. (The fluctuations in the voltmeter should have told me something, but I know what that means now.) Well, I tracked down the problem and made a street fix but when I went to O'Reilly's to pick up a replacement link (and a few spares for the other links "just in case"), the only links they had were listed by wire guage (16 or 18) and the suckers were $2.99 each, which seemed kind of expensive to me.

 

So, can anyone fill me in on "Zen and the fusible link?"

 

OOHHHMMMMM, Shanti! OOOOHHHHHMMM, Resistance!

Both. The circuit being protected from excessive current has a "fusible" link.............an odd name, since it is meant to fuse open!. They are usually made of aluminum-coated copper wire to give a faster "rise time"..........the material fails faster to protect the circuit. The guage of the "link" will determine how much current a particular circuit is intended to handle before the the link overheats and fails..........preventing an overload or worse, a fire.

 

I am speaking in general, of course. I don't know what material Subaru used for their "links", but I noticed they are color coded on mine...........maybe a trip to a wrecking yard is in order?? Match the colors to maintain circuit protection.

Chances are that the connectors corroded on one end or the other, causing greater resistance (heat); which in turn left your fusible link to fail as soon as the material in it could take no more..............

 

Just curious; what circuit was it on?

<<Just curious; what circuit was it on?>>

 

Main, I guess. It was the blank fusible link. The voltmeter kept jumping everytime I put on the A/C. I just figured the needle bounce would be normal given the high draw.

if you blew a link there is a problem. it takes a lot of amps to pop one of those.

2.99 expensive? thats less than one drink at a bar or a hot dog at a ball game.

I would be concerned about what the problem really is. that may be the expensive part.

 

you say the voltage kicks when you turn on the A/C? is that when it blew?

The link never blew. The problem was a loose connection at the link box -- the spade connector wasn't fitting tight. Apparently it's been arcing for awhile because the arcing weakened the connector and dry-fried the rubber insulation.

 

The voltage kicks down a volt or two when I turn on the A/C. If I cut the blower fan, it'll go back up.

 

Ooops ... had a typo in my second post, wrote blank and meant to type black.

they are a composite of glass, rubber, and metal, with amp ratings of 100-180

at the jy the only way to test is with an ohmmeter, check for an open

jy is also a good place for oem fuses