Auxillary Fuse Box Burnt Out Leaves Ignition Dead

[Calorgas]

My 1999 Galaxy Mark 2 has suffered the familiar 'auxilliary fuse box burn :blush: out' . Now, with the help of this forum I am normally fairly successful with car problems so I have taken the unit out and replaced with a new completely new one.

Unfortunately the car now absolutely refuses to start :) : with the key turned in the ignition, I get no ignition lights, no horn, no indicators, although the head- lights, hazards and radio will still work: which at least proves the battery still functions! I've even tried jumped starting it withe the same result!

I have checked all the fuses in both fuse boxes and they are all OK.

Do you guys have any ideas what the problem(s) might be?

This car has been as good as gold for years but this one has me stumped.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!

[chrispb123456]

Little confused with your model/year MK1=1995-2000 MK2=2000-2006 auxiliary fusebox by the battery fitted to MK2

Was all services working prior to changing fusebox and did you replace the crimp terminal by soldering on new terminal or replacing cable.

[Calorgas]

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.

The car is a MK2 (X reg year 2000) and the problem started with the auxiliary fuse box by the battery heating and melting together the first two leads

All the services were working prior to changing fuse box ( a few days earlier I did wire up a towbar and that was working perfectly too) but I have not yet replaced the crimp terminal by soldering on new terminal or replacing the cable.

[chrispb123456]

It is the high resistance on the two black lead crimps that cause the meltdown in the first place, your new fuse box wont last very long if you leave it.

Don't know how bad your crimps are,you may get away with soldering them with a blow lamp if not will need replacement

[SilverBeast]

Here's mine after repair

 

 

Apologies if you already know, but you area aware that the flat metal plates between the bolts are fuses to aren't you. They have their rating stamped on them, but aren't neccesarily very clear if they are corroded. I transferred mine from the old box as the second hand ebay replacement (that also came with the cable to the alternator - left in pic, but top from the front of the car) must have been from a different model as it had wires to all five of these heavy duty fuses.

If I remember I believe the second wire from left in the picture goes to the Central Junction Box (fuse box by the drivers knee). If you have a voltmeter, it may be worth checking that there is a voltage at each of the output terminals on the Auxillary Fuse Box first. Then check for voltages on each of the fuses in the Central Junction Box (ignition on). I assume you disconnected the battery when replacing this. If you removed the earth, check that the "extra" wires connected to the ground clamp, (two on mine) haven't become detached.

[Calorgas]

I want to have a go at repairing the two charred leads to F107 and F106.

Do you know if I can buy the leads from Ford for a reasonable price?

The parts guys I spoke to at Fords don't seem too sure and quoted me 45quid for lead(?) from alternator to the BJB.

If they are part of a loom them the answer for me has to be cut back and replace with new 16mm cable and then butt crimp/solder this to the remaining lead. Then heat shrink and tape.I might have to do this with both

It would be good to see those ingnition lights on again!

[chrispb123456]

If I was you I would get some suitable crimps from somewhere like Maplins or auto electrical retailer, solder on the new ones, you will need a small blow lamp to do this as you wont get enough heat quickly enough with a soldering iron.

[Calorgas]

I have used a voltmeter to check that there is a voltage at each of the output terminals on the Auxiliary Fuse Box first and there is; its 12V on both sides of each of the fuses and (into the leads too).

But I don’t know which fuses I should re check in the Central Junction Box (ignition on) to try and figure out why the ignition does not come on. Can you advise on this please?

I would like to have this checked out too so that when the leads are done I know the car will be good to go!

Thanks again

[Calorgas]

Decided to get a tow to my local garage to investigate the lack of ignition.

Turned out the starter relay had blown and when replaced the car came back to life.

Both the faulty leads have been recrimped soldered and replaced.

Having got it home though, I'm still a bit worried as the second lead is still too hot to hold, although the first lead is cool to touch and seems fine.

What might be the cause of all the heat?

Should I be worrying? :45:

[SilverBeast]

If it's too hot to hold it's faulty and your problem may recurr. I take it you mean the second one down from the top when viewed from the front (second from left in my picture) The heat is caused by damaged failed conductors in the crimp/wire. This increases it's resistance which causes the current flowing through it to generate heat. (The power generated is the square of the reistance multiplied by the current if you are interested). A secondary effect is voltage is dropped across the length of the wire so you may have a reduced voltage which may possibly cause other problems with trying to power other electronics from too low a voltage.

 

If it is the fuse I mentioned this supplies the Central Junction Box (fuse/relay panel by drivers knee).

 

Can you feel along the wire, it is probably just the section near the fuse that is heating up. You may just need to clean up the contact. Disconnect battery, disconnect terminal and clean up with emery/sand paper and reconnect. See if the wire is cooler after that.

 

You may need to replace the crimp terminal and a section of the cable, I believe others have had to replace a foot or so. You can get butt connectors, crimp terminals and welding cable (this can handle the current and should be flexible enough to route) from ebay. You'll also need a crimp tool hetashrink tubing (to cover joint) and probably a blowtorch and solder.

 

Good luck

[acecard]

I check mine every week now since it happened to me - all electrics failing within several minutes on a dark lonely road - wonderful to see the power gradually flickering off. Whats the situation on the MK3, have Ford sorted this problem?

For heavy duty leads, see the spec for the Galaxy class starship (pictured) - unsure if they would be obtainable on ebay but may solve the problem once and for all :45:

[Sher]

Galaxy III is a different car altogether. Put together by Ford in Belgium. I've just sold my 130,000 mile VW built Galaxy 115bhp 1.9TDi Ghia 2002.

 

I know why Ford pulled out of the deal. It was the most unreliable car in the Ford range. The Galaxy II came 68th on the reliabililty table, the Sharan 78th.

 

Why was the Ford model more reliable?

 

Some had Ford engines gearboxes etc.

 

My recently 2008 Galaxy III Auto has a Peugeot/Ford 2.0 TDCI and 40,000 on the clock. Its sister model the S-MAx shares everything but the shape and is the most reliable car in an index here:-

 

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/ratings/best/MPV

[Calorgas]

Thank you Silver Beast.

The hot cable has now been sorted; cut, recrimped and soldered and everything is now nice and cool.

I'll be keeping an eye on this in future.

Great Forum Guys; this is a fantastic resource and I'm a big fan!

[munny]

Hi,

 

I have a similar overheating issue with this fuse box. I''m going to replace the box with a new one, but I need two new strip fuses for the top two (leftmost in Silverbeast's photo) black wire terminals.

 

Can someone let me know what the fuse ratings are because they have corroded badly and are unreadable?

[acecard]

The rightmost black cable as you look at it in the fusebox (leftmost in the pic) is to the alternator and is 150 amps.

iirc the other black one next to it is 100 amps

Edited January 19, 2013 by acecard

[munny]

Acecard, thanks.

 

150 amps! I can see why that might get hot if the connection is bad...

 

The AA guy said I need a new alternator, and I've already bought a new battery, but reading through this brilliant forum, I'm hoping that replacing the fuse box will sort out the problems and that the alternator will still be intact...

[acecard]

Acecard, thanks.

 

150 amps! I can see why that might get hot if the connection is bad...

 

The AA guy said I need a new alternator, and I've already bought a new battery, but reading through this brilliant forum, I'm hoping that replacing the fuse box will sort out the problems and that the alternator will still be intact...

The alternator may be fine but do check/replace the alternator cable which may have caused the problem and check fusebox regularly for signs of overheating

Edited January 20, 2013 by acecard