small electrical question

farmboy · Post by **farmboy** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:14 pm

so i was out driving the 02 R/T today and at a stop light about 5 minutes into the drive I noticed none of my instrument cluster guages were working. All were sitting at the 0 position nor was the odometer on. I pulled into the first parking lot and started checking fuses. The #4 fuse, (15A), for the iod, dome light, and (something else...it slips my memory at the moment) was not popped but the contact prongs looked burnt, (for lack of a better term). I cleaned them off and re-installed it and low and behold...everything works again. Now, I haven't hooked anything up in a couple years, but I've been told that this is normal corrosion and to simply clean the contacts or replace the fuses and move on. Is this normal? the car is an 02 R/T with approx 99500 km and has been stored the last 3 winters.

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 3:31 am

Even if the fuse was just loose, the lack of contact area would be known to cause issue. High temperature due to the faulty connection could cause carbon deposits from the air, thus further reducing the efficiency of the connection. This would create more heat and cycle until the connection did not allow an electrical connection, and cease functioning.

In short, make sure your fuse contacts are pushed down and clean.

farmboy · Post by **farmboy** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:37 am

ok. so I will clean them all up and make sure they are in there tight. then just monitor them over the next while to see if the issure happens again. thanks for the information.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:51 am

Tho maybe a little extreme, maybe put a small amount of dielectric grease on the fuse blades to prevent them from corroding. If it isn't driven much the underhood temps aren't there to keep humidity/moisture from working it's craft on unprotected surfaces.

farmboy · Post by **farmboy** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:06 pm

I've actually returned this car to daily driver use. it's no longer a show car and i will be driving it every day year round.