Club 80-90 Forums

Which fuse board for which model engine ?

Not that Im being pedantic (me!)

For eg

Top picture tells me slot 7 is for the rad fan

Bottom picture tells me slot 5 for rad fan

The bottom pic is correct for my van btw








Many thanks in advance

fuse boards are year related.. not engine related.
they are both correct

I donot understand the question...
If the bottom one is the same layout as your van, then the bottom one is correct for your engine, as its fitted in the same van.

fuse boards are year related.. not engine related.
they are both correct

I know that now, perhaps it should be on your wiki page stating what years they are for...just a thought.

what years for which then ?

perhaps my post tittle was misleading.

It doesn't matter what year - it is simple enough to equate the board layout to your own particular van. Leave it at that.

sternal wrote: what years for which then ?

As far as I know the change was in 85/86. The earlier fuse boards used ceramic fuses, the later use blade fuses.

ghost123uk wrote: As far as I know the change was in 85/86. The earlier fuse boards used ceramic fuses, the later use blade fuses.

Is it a difficult job to fit a newer board in place of the older style? Idle question really, but I don't like my ceramic fuses at all - too easy to touch the live bits accidentally, I've known them to overheat and melt, the prongs tend to relax so that the fuses drop out, and if you tighten them up it's too easy to knock the end caps off the fuses when replacing them!

And anyway, changing a few bits to confuse the next owner seems to be standard practice.

Never had a problem with the early fuse box. Never had a fuse blow, a short, a shock from it or one fall out.

Cruz wrote:Never had a problem with the early fuse box. Never had a fuse blow, a short, a shock from it or one fall out.

I'm pleased for you

I've had all of those things, apart from the shock (but I'm still nervous when replacing a faulty fuse - I can never remember which end is live). I drove out of a campsite one morning to find that the wipers didn't work. Checked the fusebox and the corresponding fuse was gone - not blown, disappeared. The wipers had been working the day before.

I've got an Alfasud that has the same type of fusebox, and I'm forever removing the cover to rock the fuses just to get them to make a good contact.

The one that puzzles me though is the melted fuse. If the fuse is rated at, say, 10A, then it should be able to cope with 10A without heating up so much that the end caps melt into the plastic material. If there's a fault in the circuit such that there's more than 10A going though the fuse, then the fuse should blow.

Ceramic fuses are rubbish, and I can see why VW changed the fusebox. It's STILL an idle question (the list of other jobs is still too long) but does anyone know how practical it is to change the fusebox for the newer style? If I want to make the fuse order match the book for the newer style, are the circuits still the same, and are the terminals still spade connectors?

Why on earth ( ) are you worried about 12v electrickery?

As in, you cannot get a shock off 12 volts, 90 volts is the point at which you can start to feel a very slight shock.

The heating up of a fuse is caused by a poor connection at one or both ends. The poor connection results in a restriction in the flow of current, known in more technical circles as "resistance". Current flowing through a resistance generates heat.

I don't know if anyone has changed to a later fuse box but I suspect it would be a bigish job as I doubt the many plug blocks on the back will be the same.

None of the plugs are the same!
It's a complete loom change job, pointless waste of time energy and money IMO!

Although it sounds like a lots of the rest of the wiring is in a poor state as well

I'd stick with the original fusebox TBH. It's easier to maintain by reterminating onto new spade connectors.

I have the older fusebox in my T25, but have the later one in my Mk1 Golf Cabriolet (they share the same layout of fuseboxes)

The later one has pin like connectors that the connecting plugs connect over and onto.

The pins tend to wear and effectively reduce in diameter, just enough to cause High Resistance Disconnections (HR Dis) on some of the circuits.

So speaking from experience, you're best to leave as is.

Oldiebut goodie wrote:Why on earth ( ) are you worried about 12v electrickery?

ghost123uk wrote:As in, you cannot get a shock off 12 volts, 90 volts is the point at which you can start to feel a very slight shock.

Well I didn't realise that - good to know. Won't stop me feeling uneasy about shorting something while I'm poking about in there though.

ghost123uk wrote: The heating up of a fuse is caused by a poor connection at one or both ends. The poor connection results in a restriction in the flow of current, known in more technical circles as "resistance". Current flowing through a resistance generates heat.

Makes sense. From memory it's one of the higher current circuits (wipers/washers/blower) - I guess I'll make sure that all the spades are making good contact then.

Mocki wrote:None of the plugs are the same!
It's a complete loom change job, pointless waste of time energy and money IMO!

Although it sounds like a lots of the rest of the wiring is in a poor state as well

Chunksta wrote: So speaking from experience, you're best to leave as is.

Thanks guys - after appearing briefly near the bottom of my list of jobs, this one has just dropped right off. The wiring's not in bad shape actually - I got rid of a lot of superfluous dead wiring when I first got the van, and renewed a fair bit of the camper-related wiring. Touch wood, most things seem to work as designed.

ghost123uk wrote:As in, you cannot get a shock off 12 volts, 90 volts is the point at which you can start to feel a very slight shock.

Actually, are you saying it's safe to touch both terminals of a 12V lead acid battery at the same time?