[alfa] Re: '88 Spider Quad Blowin' Fuses

["skippatnode" <skippatnode@xxxxxxx>]

Dan,
    Sounds like you have a dead short between that fuse and the fuel pump.
Maybe you didn't have a good ground for your meter when you checked it?
    I made a special tool years ago that has saved me a lot of heartache with
blown fuses.  I made a real long jumper wire with a 7.5 amp circuit breaker in
the middle which I use in place of a fuse in the suspect circuit.  Sure a lot
easier to reset a breaker than to keep hunting for fuses.
    I don't know exactly where that wire is routed but, I'll bet if you chase
it down you will find it pinched where you bolted something up during the
engine installation.
    While you are at it, replace that fuse holder with a new type bayonette
fuse and holder.  Those long plastic ones get corroded just from the
environment they live in and when the fuse blows it usually melts the fuse
holder as well.
Skip Patnode
67 Duetto
Norfolk, Va




Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 05:32:21 -0500
From: "Dan Lewis" <lewisdk6@domain.elided>
Subject: [alfa] '88 Spider Quad Blowin' Fuses

  Short background here... I just re-installed the motor/trans after
rebuilding.  After getting my wiring correct, it started and ran fairly good.
Took 'er out for a short drive and after about 7 blocks, it just "died".
Tried crankin' it and checked all connections.  It turned over OK but no
start.  Got it home and started looking close; found the fuse behind the
passenger seat was blown.  Don't know if it blew as/when the car died, or
when
I tried re-starting it.  All other fuses check out alright and everything
else
works.
  OK, it's actually only one fuse that keeps blowin', not "fuses", but that's
the problem.  It's the in-line (red 12-Ga wire from battery) 10-Amp fuse
behind the passenger seat, in front of the ECU, and it blows when I try to
start it.  I've metered it to ground, showing no continuity on either side of
the fuse, so I'd say that particular line isn't shorted out.  I have removed
the main fuel pump (it ops checked good) and disconnected the in-tank fuel
pump.  With both pumps out of the electrical loop, the fuse still blows, so
it's not the pumps themselves.
  Without a wiring diagram/schematic, it'll take a lot of skull-sweat to
trace
my way through there; then it'd be more of an educated guess that something
was "wrong" somewhere.  Plus, I just may go broke buying 10-Amp fuses!!  Does
anyone out there on the web have a wiring diagram for an '88 Alfa Spider
Quad???  I haven't been able to find one yet.  Or, failing that, does anyone
have some similar experience and have gotten it fixed?  I would greatly
appreciated any and all feedback/guidance/directions on this one.  I have a
fair amount of electronics maintenance in my USAF background, so, given
procedures and targets, I can follow directions and hunt down a fault
alright.
I just need to know where to look!
  Thanks, any and all, for your assistance.  Dan
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