New Mondial 8 Fuse Box Project

Like many others, I have had problems with the fuse box circuit board and connectors for the fuel pump relay on my Mondial 8. After helping me repair my fuse box circuit board for the second time, a friend of mine said he would be willing to build a new, heavier fuse box for my Mondial 8. I told him this is a common problem and he might have a small market with other Mondial 8 owners. He is interested in pursuing the idea. A few questions:

- He will need a fuse box to copy. Does anyone know where we can get a spare Mondial 8 fuse box? It doesn’t have to be working or in good condition. Has someone swapped one out and willing to donate the bad one to the project?

- What would be of more interest, 1) you send him your fuse box and he sends you a rebuilt but heavier unit, 2) he builds just a new, heavier circuit board and you install it yourself, or 3) he manufactures a complete replacement?

- What would you be willing to pay for each of the options above?

- Is the Mondial 8 box the same as the QV and 3.2? If so this would give him a larger market to reduce prices.

 

price is probably going to have to be comsurate with the oem box, i think it is something like $600 or so.

the wiring diagrams i have for the QV and 3.2 are the same for the box on my mondi 8 so i think the'd be indentical.

i complete replacement would be best as i have found out that the oem one is NLA so a semi working box is better than a non-working hydbred, no offense to your mates work or talent. just a caution for the stock boxs'. beside a new box can incorporate new blade fuses.

i think there is a box floating around just for this reason.

i hope this one comes to fruition as the rest never seem to see the light

 

Steve / Swissmondial currently has the one I've donated for this project

 

Hi Doug I sent you a PM, I have one
Charles

 

There's one for sale on ebay. Looks like it had a problem, though.

 

About a year ago I loaned a spare box to someone else who was hoping to do the same thing. That project has fallen through and I have just been assured I will get my box back in the next week or so. I will be happy to let him use it. It is/was a working when I lent it out a year ago, not working real well, but working

The box is from an 86 3.2 Mondial with the blade type fuses. The same box will fit all Mondial's from 1980-1988/9 (everything except the Mondial T and it "may" even fit that but I am not at all sure).

Let me know if you need it.

Paul

 

Just chiming in so I'm on your list... the other projects seem to have fizzled, and I want to replace mine when one is available.
Thor

 

1) The Mondial fuse box for sale on Ebay clearly has had problems with the fuel pump fuse - it's melted like everyone else's & the seller wants $150 for it.

2) Like many Mondial owners, I too have wired in an external fuse for the fuel pump circuit which solves many ills.

3) Personally, I think a totally new fuse box (complete replacement) would sell much better & be more appealing to most owners than the other arrangements mentioned.

Please keep us posted.

 

Looks like we have access to one or two fuse boxes, thanks Charls and Paul. Let's see what the interest level is before shipping them around.

From the responses it looks like:

1) the fuse box will fit Mondial 8's, QV's, and 3.2's. That's good as it will help volume to keep cost down.

2) there is more interest in a full replacement

3) target price should be around $600 or less (don't know production costs yet)

Another question - any interest in beefing up the connectors or should we stick to the existing so it will pop right in?

 

I will buy one for my '86 mondi3.2

 

Will the Birdman fuse boxes help in this case. Jonathan Bird makes these I believe.

 

i wish we could, but alas we can not as the fuse panel on the 308s is a seperate affair. the fuse/realy box the mondial is large and loaded. the mondial sports alot more electronics and relays thant the 308. the mondials stickered in the 60~70k range when new in the early eighties and if you compare one to the 308/328 you can see the difference in the amount of luxury options. just look at the idiot light box, or even the engine bay.

 

Can someone post a picture of one of these fuse boxes? Both sides would be good.... I have a t, so that is no good as a reference point, but I am curious as to why these fail and what can be done to improve them. I tried to find the one on ebay but no luck. Anyone got a link?

The company I work for makes PC boards and.... well, it's an electronics company I'd be interested in giving our engineers some info to work with and see what they have to say.

Dave

 

Doug,

Beefing up the connectors would also solve many problems. One thing I have noticed is the contact patch for each female connector is a single small point on each side of the blade protruding from the fuse panel. Even if the fuse panel itself could stand the electrical load the connectors cannot. A proper female connector, if one could be found and made to work with the existing white connector block, would be great.

Paul

 

I am interested.

 

I agree, but this means a significant amount of work to change the ends on the harness. I'm game, but is everyone else?

 

The fuse panels fail in several ways. The internal circuits heat up and melt, the layers of the circuit board de-laminate, etc.... but almost all of the burnt areas on the white connectors are due to a poor connection at the fuse panel, a direct result of the poor connector design.

It WOULD be a pain in the butt to change 60+ wire ends but I think most folks would do it, or have it done, at least on the major problem circuits (A/C, rad fans, fuel pump, lights). It would be optional.

Paul

 

Here you go. Shows the patches I've had to put in place to jump out the problem areas.
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Just spoke to my friend. He is willing to move forward with the project, but there doesn't seem to be enough interest to justify the cost of tooling and manufacturing a new box. Here is what he agreed he would do:

- Reverse engineer the circuit board and fabricate a new one using heavier traces that will be sized to handle the load properly.

- The new board design will incorporate newer fuses

- As suggested by Paul it will use the same connectors to ease installation, except for the problem circuits. For the problem circuits a heavier (or additional to the original) connector will be used that will accommodate the higher current draw.

- Since we will not be tooling to fabricate a new box, he will go the labor intensive way. You send in your box and he will rebuild it with the new board, and fuses, using your existing relays. He will also replace the relays with new ones if you request it.

---- or----

He will sell you the circuit board, new fuses and connectors and you can rebuild it yourself.

Prices haven't been worked out yet, but it should be reasonable. He is willing to invest his time reverse engineering and fabricating the new board, so there is no up front cost to us. We therefore don't need to do a group purchase. The only thing we need to get started is a sample box. Charles, Paul, I'll PM you with my address if you are still willing to send the boxes. We would like to see both to ensure they are exactly the same since we are hoping this will fit the 8, QV and 3.2. Boxes will be returned to you once we have had a chance to test out the new circuit board.

Here we go! Wish us luck.

Doug

 

Please tell the person working on this not to tease us if he's only going to abandon this project in the near (or far) future. I think most Mondial owners recognize that, for the most part, it's mainly the fuse box that stands between us and a fairly reliable exotic.

Zertec (sp?) was one of the last folks I had heard who was working on this project, and a recent thread said he was getting back on it.....would it be of any benefit to this new person to consult / collaborate with him for support? Bottom line is: there are a lot of us out here who surely would like to have a new, updated fuse box, and the first person who can produce a quality product at a "respectable" price will likely have a path (albeit, not from a large a herd) beaten to their door!

 

Doug,
PM received and reply sent.

I will send you the box the moment I get it back from the F-chatter that currently has it.

Once again I am beginning to get excited.

Thanks,

Paul

 

Doug,

Here are some pictures of what I will be sending you. Ignore the black wire you see on the back. That was the PO's attempt at repairing a circuit.

The first is the panel with just the relays taken off.
The second is the panel taken out of the case.
The third is the back of the panel.
The fourth shows how the circuit board layers are de-laminating in mine.

Paul
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Just to chime in and say that I would be interested in a replacement fusebox too or having mine rebuilt.

Patrick

 

Anyone out there needing a rebuilt or replacement Mondial fusebox, please make yourself known. I know if I were in the shoes of the person proposing to rebuild / recreate these items, I would be more motivated to move this project along if I knew I had a bunch of "pre-sold" units just waiting on me to deliver them......

I'm VERY interested in one!

 

we could always start a list...
1. scott `81 mondi 8
2.
3.
4....


i like the updated fuses on the 3.2 my 8 does not use spades. the rest is the same though right down to the delamination i also had to rewire the fuel pump relay out of the box along with the A/C.

std. SNAFU!