FIRE IN THe TRUNK!!!!

[R22tech]

Help! I almost cooked the carrera! Evaporator blower motor was noisy and stopped a couple of weeks ago. I pulled it out and lubricated the bearings-no problem, worked well and quiet. Tonight, I smelled a burning rubber smell coming from the vents (a/c). Of course, being the technician that I am, I immediately turned it off and the smell subsided. When I got home, I pulled back the carpet to take a look inside the smugglers box and check the fan motor for heat or smell. It was cool and no smell. So I turned on the blower and the carpet above the fuse panel lit up! Yes my carpet was on fire. What was burning is an inline fuse that must have been added by P.O. for the blower motor. The #2 spot on the fuse panel is vacant, so I guess the orange and red wire seperated by the 30 amp fuse that was on fire must go on the #2 terminals. The owner's manual states that fuse as a 25 amp fuse so I guess that is why it went on fire. My question is: can I insert a 25 amp fuse in the panel and connect the orange and red wire to the #2 spot and what do you think I need to check as far as shorts go? It seems the blower motor and the power seats are on the same circuit breaker. My guess is the fan motor is shot, but I would like more info. on other areas to check.

It seems the orange and red wire are one in the same-they must have just added the orange one to accept the inline fuse, so do I just connect the one red wire onto the panel? Does it matter whether I put it on top or bottom? Am I Missing any wires? If anyone would be so kind as to go and look at your fuse box and tell me what you see on the #2 position(closest to the rear of the car) I would appreciate it. MY CAR IS A 1985 CARRERA TARGA!

[This message has been edited by R22tech (edited 07-11-2001).]

[R22tech]

If anyone has a wiring diagram referencing this area and could post it that would help too. Thanks

[R22tech]

What a f#$king idiot to put a 30 amp in fuse where a 25 amp is required! All should take note as to WHY there is a max fuse requirement! This applies to EVERYTHING with overcurrent protection. Just Don't Do It!!!! If I was a lay-person I could have lost the car tonight..........think about it.

[Early_S_Man]

Looks like your theories are right. How about a 25A circuit breaker?

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

[Rustbucket]

Must be a reason he went to the trouble of bypassing the fuse panel and installing an inline breakpoint.
I'd check for some other suspicious looking things too.

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Clint
73T mfi coupe

[R22tech]

O.K. I wired it back with an original 25 amp fuse in the fuse holder and the red wire to the fuse. Everything is fully operational and no fires! It seems though that the fuse holder has lost some of its' integrity as the fuse is loose compared to the others. Maybe the p.o. was having this problem so rather than replacing the fuse holder he just eliminated it. Did I say p.o.? I meant p.o.s.! Anyway, I am going to replace the fuse holder for good measure. You know, that fire was damn close to the fuel. I guess I just got lucky. Thanks for the diagram- maybe I ought to get a complete wiring diagram book and check out what other little presents he left for me! The new carpet is going to cost me $165.00. Expensive little fuse, huh?

[jsmarcus]

Bently's Manual.

Got mine last week, love it so far!

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Josh
Black on Black '84 Carrera

[Oliver911]

I think original fit interiors has the carpet for either $50 or $70. I purchased some from there and the fit waas excellent.

Dante Oliverio

[Roland Kunz]

Hello

Well I can´t follow but one tidtbit is about the fuse flow.

The power juice flows from the upper posts to the lower posts. So the upper row wires are the "unfused" while the lower side are the fused circuits.

Grüsse

[fred cook]

I had a similar problem with my 1980 911SC. The 25 amp fuse for the evaporator fan would get hot enough to discolor the fuse body and had caused the fuse retaining spring to lose some of its ability to clamp on the fuse. I measured the amperage being drawn across the circuit and found the evap. fan to be drawing a steady 15 amps. With a rated fuse of 25 amps, it should be within safety limits and operate ok. But it didn't, it got too hot to touch the blocks at the ends of the fuse. I think the problem is a one of "ampacity", that is the contact area for the original fuses is too small. Trying to pull that much current through simply caused an overheating situation. As an interim solution, I installed a current style "flat fuse" holder (connected to the top or in side of the fuse block) and a 25 amp fuse to power the evap fan. It is working ok and is not getting hot like the original German style fuse was doing. The new flat fuses have a much greater contact area when plugged in, thus coping with the load better.
Ultimately, I will probably change out the original fuse block for one using the "flat" fuses. Not stock, but probably safer.