elfroggo
15+ Year Contributor
- 440
- 6
- Mar 30, 2006
-
Palo Alto,
California
Hi, I need some help. I have only had this car for about a week now, and I have a problem. Yesterday I let my friend drive my 98 GSX manual for a little while and he took off pretty hard in 1st and 2nd gear. Soon after that, there was a smell of burning plastic. Since we weren't too far from our destination, we drove slowly there. When we arrived I popped the hood and the Fuse Box was smoking pretty badly.
After taking off the fuse cover, the alternator fuse and the area around it was melted. The back wire of the fuse was ok, but the front was very hot and the plastic was deformed. However, the fuse was still intact and did not break.
Here are the changes that may have caused this problem.
1) The car recently got a CEL and after retrieving the code it turned out to be the O2 sensor. I replaced the O2 sensor but while doing so, I had caused a short. I didn't bother to disconnect the battery while doing the O2 sensor. After this, the car had weird electrical problems. After doing a search on here, I traced it back to a blown alternator fuse.
I replaced the fuse and the car returned to normal. Fuses shouldn't have a direction they are to be inserted in right? I replaced the fuse with one of the same size, 100A.
2) I had been washing the engine bay and did remove the battery during this. I also removed the ground for the battery for cleaning. There was quite a bit of corrosion on the ground wires and battery posts. Afterwards, I screwed the battery ground back into the firewall of the car. Is it possible that there isn't a good connection there causing a short?
3) During the O2 sensor replacement, I removed the right side fan, which I believe is called the AC fan, that shouldn't cause this type of problem right?
4) The only other thing I can think of is when my friend drove the car hard that possibly another ground was knocked loose, maybe the starter ground? Is it possible to overcharge the alternator by driving the car hard?
Lastly, how difficult is it to replace the fuse box? I haven't had the chance to look at it yet, but I imagine that it is simply the wiring harness interface into some fuses and back out again.
What is the recommended source for OEM parts like the fuse box?
Thank you for your help
After taking off the fuse cover, the alternator fuse and the area around it was melted. The back wire of the fuse was ok, but the front was very hot and the plastic was deformed. However, the fuse was still intact and did not break.
Here are the changes that may have caused this problem.
1) The car recently got a CEL and after retrieving the code it turned out to be the O2 sensor. I replaced the O2 sensor but while doing so, I had caused a short. I didn't bother to disconnect the battery while doing the O2 sensor. After this, the car had weird electrical problems. After doing a search on here, I traced it back to a blown alternator fuse.
I replaced the fuse and the car returned to normal. Fuses shouldn't have a direction they are to be inserted in right? I replaced the fuse with one of the same size, 100A.
2) I had been washing the engine bay and did remove the battery during this. I also removed the ground for the battery for cleaning. There was quite a bit of corrosion on the ground wires and battery posts. Afterwards, I screwed the battery ground back into the firewall of the car. Is it possible that there isn't a good connection there causing a short?
3) During the O2 sensor replacement, I removed the right side fan, which I believe is called the AC fan, that shouldn't cause this type of problem right?
4) The only other thing I can think of is when my friend drove the car hard that possibly another ground was knocked loose, maybe the starter ground? Is it possible to overcharge the alternator by driving the car hard?
Lastly, how difficult is it to replace the fuse box? I haven't had the chance to look at it yet, but I imagine that it is simply the wiring harness interface into some fuses and back out again.
What is the recommended source for OEM parts like the fuse box?
Thank you for your help
the fuse box was melted. I stopped their work and had it towed home. I replaced the burned connector with new ring terminals and connected it tight. It seems working for now. Even after test driving, the wire is cool as a cucumber.
