Ok this is what I found today looking in the fuse box. First shot is bottom left white connectors. 5th spot from the left has blue wire with black stripe. 2nd spot has a solid baby blue wire. Then I went removed the bottom right side white connector and found the second shot. the 5th and 4th slot from the right very badly burned. 5th spot is a solid brown wire 4th spot a brown wire with black stripe. Do you happen to know what these operate? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The "2nd and 5th spot" in the j connector -- A (light blue) and AN (light blue/black) -- are for the water fans. The really bad "4th and 5th slot" in the y connector -- P (beige) and PN (beige/black) -- are for the fuel pumps. All known troublemakers Image Unavailable, Please Login Your AC connection doesn't look that bad -- is your AC blower fan still not working at any speed, or does it only run when set to full speed?
Thanks very much Steve! Well thats funny. Nothing to do with my A/C or interior light problems! Ha ha! The PO said he recently replaced the fuse box with a new one (about a year ago)...so I wonder if he didn't change the connectors out and just changed the black part of the fuse box because the fans and the fuels pumps seem to work fine. There was a coatiing of like clear silicone stuff one the burnt connectors (fuel pumps). Like it was put there to lubricate or make better connection. The male parts looked fine. What do you think I should do about these??? Seems to run great. If the cars dies of fuel starvation I sure wouold know where to look first.
"Your AC connection doesn't look that bad -- is your AC blower fan still not working at any speed, or does it only run when set to full speed? " The A/C fan works great. When you turn it right or left on the dash it slows the fans or speeds them up just like it supposed to. Never had a problem with that....just the other day when I turned the fan down a bit cuz it was too cold....the heat started to come through the vents! Looks like I will have to keep my passenger seat out and drive it around and make it go hot by touching the fan knob or stopping and restarting and then check to see if there is 12 volts at the solenoid right?. If there is no 12 volts I'll know the ecu for the a/c is either sending a bad message or the ground is bad. If thats the case (ecu bad) I think i'll run a hot lead to it evrytime the key is on so the solenoid never lets hot water into the evaporater. Does that sound like a reasonable fix since I never use the heater or defroster? Keep in Mind that i'm cheap too. !!
You can get the female contacts from Ricambi: http://www.ricambiamerica.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=12278744&osCsid=er7599vdci1diehjbjnia9n5a0&x=9&y=9 if yours are "toasted". That might last another ~20K miles if you check them occasionally (and the male pins/PWB are in good shape). They've got the white plastic parts as well (although that really isn't a functional issue). For a permanent solution, you really need to bypass these connections (either yourself or the Dave Helms' modification). If you do a search on "TR white connectors", you should get the majority of the prior threads where people (including myself) have posted possible solutions.
Hey welcome to the club! Too bad that's going into a new fuse box too. There are lots of options for you to research, including newer "complete solutions." I think the main take-home point if you're just getting started is that the general consensus is that the bad contacts are burning up the fuse box, not the other way around. So at a minimum you've got to deal with those connectors (and maybe a lot more according to some). Or very soon Steve M. is going to be helping you diagnose why your engine "isn't running right."
The Dave Helms modification solves all the fuse box connector issues.. What you dont want to do is allow the frying to continue. You do not want the adjacent connectors or the inside circuit board to become worse and spread the love. The quicker and sooner you take action the better off you'll be from having to buy a new or used fuse panel along with connectors.... I sent my box to Dave Helms and all is good.. R
Steve, I pulled the top left connector and couldn't believe it, the connector looked exactly like the picture you posted. I cleaned the connection, crimped it and put some grease on it and voila...heat and ac! I also noticed the same pin on the plug below it (which from your latest diagram is rh cooling fan) repaired that also, the fan was working but probably on it's way out. I have not looked into the speedo issue yet. Thank You Steve! Your posts are invaluable ! Greg
What I also noticed is that the pins that were brownish burnt...all of them seemed to have less gripping/clamping. They were slightly more open than the good ones. Does that mean they are bouncing around arching here and there, and thats what is causing the burning??
I noticed the same thing. I think the reason they are burning is because they are not clamping tight enough and arching, I'll bet the size of the connector isn't the issue, it's the fact they don't have enough clamping pressure.
It's not really arching, the problem is that the failure works in a "positive-feedback" manner -- i.e., IF the contact point between the female tongs and the male pin develops even a very small resistance (like just a few milliohms from natural oxidation), the I^2*R heating is quite large because the current, I, is quite high, which raises the temperature, causing the material to lose it springiness (which decreases the clamping load raising the resistance even more) and to oxidize even faster (again raising the resistance), so the I^2*R heating increases in a vicious circle until either the connection goes open from damage to the female contact or male pin, or the nearby solder/PCB trace gets damaged (metals are good heat conductors, so, even though the heat is actually only being generated at the contact point between the female contact and the male pin, enough heat can get conducted into the PCB trace/solder to cause damage there too). The designers were stuck between a rock and a hard place (and erred a little in the trade-off). An individual connector, that would be more appropriate for these large (8~15A) currents, would require such big forces to connect/disconnect that it would be near impossible mate-unmate a 10-pin connector like these. You know how hard it is sometimes to get the 5-pin relays out -- these 10~11 pin connectors would require 2X that force if each pin was a 1/4" spade connector).
Heres a picture. Mine are open wider that this one and all the other good ones. I tried squeesing them back together but had no luck. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sorry about my ignorance on mechanical things but just checking. To replace the bad contacts, you have to push the metal tabs back so the burnt contact will slide out of the white connector. -Then cut the old clip off -Strip about half inch of new wire -Crimp the folding tabs of the NEW clip over the stripped wire -Then slide it in the white connector-and you should hear a click when the metal tab passes some point to hold it it in right? Or do I need to put solder on the connection before crimping it? Thanks...i'm trying to be mechanical anyways. Also, on the connector on top of the water solenoid. I tried pulling really hard to get it off but no go. That "is" a connector on top right?? It's made to come right off the top of the thing if you pull hard enough right? I didn't want to destroy the thing by forcing it. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You've got the right idea on the female connector replacement -- but you might have to bend the metal tab outward a little on the new one just to make sure it engages the step in the plasitc connector shell well. I'd crimp and solder -- JMO. Image Unavailable, Please Login Not specifically familiar with the TR water valve electrical connector, but usually there is some form of mechanical interlock feature that has to be squeezed/lifted/deflected/etc. to unplug.
That's the connector and mine did come off. But I can't remember whether there's a locking tab that you've got to press first, maybe on the back? Hey, how hard was it to pull the seats out. I haven't checked on it thoroughly, but it looks like it's just a few bolts? I don't want to go back in there until it's removed, as I think I came close to hurting my driver's side seat trying to dig under the dash there. Coincidentally this weekend is the time to finally bypass the "problem" connections on the fuse box for me. Fortunately I've known about my problem for a long while, so I already knew what I was in for. But figure I'll have the box out for a week while I slowly get things done.
James The passenger seat came out really easy. going back in might be another story! Two bolts on the front and two allen heads on the back in the railing. The inside allen one doesn't give you much room though. Can't use a socket on that one...just the old fashion "L" type allen wrench in 16mm. cleaned and conditioned the seat today and looks alot better. I'll tackle the drivers seat next weekend. It's a lot easier to condition the seats when they are out of the car. You can really get the blind sides and the rear of the seat better. I'm using Gliptone conditioner.
Steve On the two wires coming off the water solenoid. One is bro the other is bro with a white stripe. Which wire is the positive lead??? I was thinking of leaving it in place and "T" off the positive lead from a power line that is hot when the key is turned on. Thanks! You are da best!
See post #6 in this thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213406 for a description of the voltages on/between the M (brown) and MB (brown/white) wires connected to the TR hot water valve solenoid.
I am replacing a few of the terminal pins listed above, I would also like to replace the burnt holders they clip into but can't find them on the Ricambi website. I thought I remember seeing them posted here but after doing a search can't find it. Any ideas?
Thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for. I remember seeing it but did a search and couldn't find it.
