There is an inline fuse on the right side frame rail near the rear part of the air cleaner that is constantly blowing. It is a brown wire and is getting power directly from the battery. This wire divides at some point and one wire connects to the horn relay and the other to the radiator fan relay. When this fuse blows neither the horn nor the fans work. I thought there may be a short in the horns so I disconnected the horns and the fuse still blew. Can either a faulty horn or fan relay cause this by creating a power surge thereby blowing the fuse? Scratching my head over this one. Thanks for any advice.
I’ll try to post a pic, hope it goes through.
First, do you have the correct amp fuse? You may have a short somewhere in the circuit with a bare wire or connector touching the frame. It’s happened to me.
I hope that’s it. Those fans pull a lot of amps. I replaced mine years ago with modern ones and they would burn out the relay, solved by switching to a solid state one.
I agree. Make sure you have the right fuse in there.
If it still blows, it could a shorted wire, relay or motor
If it blows right away, with a cold engine and AC off, then it s unlikely to be the motor but probably the relay or wiring between the fuse and the relay
Thanks to the both of you. One final question.
The dash drop down panel indicates that all the fuses in the panel should be 35 amps. I checked the manual and I couldn’t find anything on the two in line fuses that tie into the A/C and horn relays. MollyO has already confirmed a 30 amp for the horn relay. Is it safe to assume that they were both 35 amps when the car left the factory?
I believe that is correct. I blew the fuse in question once when I inadvertently grounded the cooling fan wire. If I remember correctly my local parts store did not have 35A fuses, only 30A and 50A. I went with the 30 and have had no problems.
I think mine has 30A as well, but if Its a 30A or 35A fuse Is not the big difference. It will still protect the wiring harness against a short.
Below is a picture I carry with me on my phone, in case I one day have to troubleshoot an electric issue while on tour. I forgot to take a picture of the legends, so will have to do that soon.
Just in case you are not aware, be careful when working with fuse ratings and these cars. British fuse ratings differ from US ratings - or at least, they did at the time. I suggest you read this for more details. It includes an equivalency table that could be useful.
Thank you David, that’s good to know. The 20 Amp (US) fuse that’s in there now blows (seemingly randomly). Maybe I’ll put in a 25 or 30 amp fuse that’s a bit closer to the English 35 amp fuse.
