What's going on with this fuse block?

Wow. That's a mess.

The connections at the top of the fuse block are the "supply" side of the fuses; connections at the bottom are the "load" side. In other words, power comes in from the top, goes thru the fuses and then powers the connections at the bottom.

So, at the top, there will always be basically one "feed" line -- where the power comes from. The factory also decided (like a handful of other OEMs at that time) to also tap off the power coming off the top connectors to supply other loads...completely unfused. They usually went to relays and such--but something you'd rarely see about 10 years later automotive design.

A long list of enterprising POs and shops over the years have decided to follow in those footsteps. At least in your case, it would appear they chose to put inline fuses in place near the block--so while a bit of a mess at least it was safe.

I'm assuming you have a fuel injected 308 (double connectors at L1 & L2 supply side). My best guess:
- In the L5 position (left block, 4th fuse circuit), the black wire coming in is from the key switch and is ACC power. The blue crimped connector was feeding off ACC power, going thru that inline glass fuse and then into that 2 wire cable, where the other wire is grounded on the metal plate to the right. That sort of cable (looks like speaker cable) is very popular with the alarm/stereo installers of the world, as are those crimps.
- The L6 position looks to be left empty (hard to tell from the picture), but that connector is shorted to L7 -- So add it *could* have used that connector instead of installing the splitter.
- The L7 position has one red wire going to it...that is live battery (always on). From the photo, the yellow wire going thru the black enclosed relay seems like one leg of the double crimp after the fuse goes to the 15A fuse on the left side, which if the color is to be believed after the splice (brown) is your fuel pump lead. That would have originally come from the L3 position, which was also originally supplied with live battery at the top (also a red wire). If correct, then that means your fuel pump is "double fused": once in that black enclosed inline fuse (yellow wires) and again in the 15A blue fuse on the left. You can also see the original fuse block in the L3 position is pretty tired, so not surprising this was setup this way. The other leg of that double crimp is a mystery. Your original window motor supply lines are those blue/black and white/black -- I'm not sure how they would have wired up something to boost the power to the windows. Also, this is *live* power, so that's definitely different than the original window wiring (which is only energized when the car is "on").

I'd suggest the following:
- With the car off, try the window switches. They shouldn't actuate. If they do, then good suspicion that leg of the wire is responsible
- With the car "on" (not started, just on), try the window switches. Make a note of how "fast" they go up and down
- Turn the car off, disconnect the double crimp connection (where the two red wires connect to the yellow fused wire). Turn the car "on" (note your fuel pump likely won't turn on), and try the window switches again. Do they still work? Do they go up and down at the same rate?

That'll hopefully shed some light on how your window switches are wired up.

Also, I would personally endeavor to remove as many of those inline fuses as possible. Ideally, I'd also get rid of all the splitter connectors on the fuse box. Splitters are not particularly safe b/c they add an add'l connection in the circuit (and opportunity for voltage drop and heat to accumulate). They also don't look particularly nice.

Lastly, is your car a Euro spec? I'm trying to compile a list of diff't fuse load configurations -- and generally the NA spec cars have the left-hand window motor (white/black) in L8 position while the Euro spec cars have the left-hand window motor in the L9 position. Your fuse label matches the correct wire coloring, so it seems like that was stock--I'm wondering if your car was a Euro spec or if the factory just decided to shuffle some parts around.

Good luck!

 

Oh, here's a wild theory as well:
- That mystery 2nd leg isn't for your side window motors relays per se, it's also tied up in your headlight and horn relays

There's normally a little distribution bus bar (AMP Terminal Board) that provides live battery power to the Window relay, the Headlight relay, the horn relay (just the control) and the Fog_v_Main Beam relay (just the control). It's possible that was damaged or weak, so they ran a direct line off of L7.

If this is the case, then I'd expect not only for your windows to stop working when you disconnect that red double crimp, but also the horn and the headlights (your headlight motors will still work, tho).

 

And after a night of sleep, I realized the PO could have just tapped off the live 12V battery to create the "Enhanced 12V" in this mod:
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/slow-window-relay-modification-on-positive-and-3-switch-cars.324575/

For the driver's side, that mod routes primary power thru a relay instead of the switch -- reducing voltage drop to the window motor. Depending on where you provide the ground tap, it can also cut down on the voltage drop on the ground path.
For the passenger's side, that mod not only routes motor power thru a relay instead of a switch, it also significantly reduces the 12V path by not routing from fuse to driver side and then to passenger side. And again, benefit from the ground path (depending on where the ground path occurs).

Lastly, since the switches are still powered from the original relay which is only powered on ignition switch, your windows will still continue to only work when the car is on.

Then it would also make sense that you see two wires coming off that crimp w/2 reds coming off of it (one to driver side and one to passenger side)

 

Three options:
1) Keep it the same: Continue to use the splitter at the top of L7 to tap off Live 12V power and use the existing inline fuse. Least amount of work, but it involves a splitter (which I don't like) and doesn't look as clean
2) Move tap to top of L6: The supply side of L6 and L7 are shorted together (or should be...I'm not 100% positive in the Birdman fuse block). If that is the case, then rather than using the splitter on L7, just move the yellow wire over to L6. That gets rid of the splitter, but you'll still have that inline fuse.
3) Run it thru the fuseblock. Split those two red wires coming out of the crimp and put one on the bottom of L8 and the other on the bottom of L9. L8 & L9 are intended to fuse the window motor, so it's already sized correctly. The mod should only add a small amount of add'l current to power the coils in 4 add'l relays--I'd guess ~0.5A for each window and those fuses are 16A. Then you can get rid of the inline fuse altogether.

For Option #3, unfortunately with the Birdman fuses, this means you'll need to add two splitters at the bottom connectors on L8 and L9 (this was one of the main reasons I built the new fuse block design -- to get rid of those splitters). But you're already going to be adding lots of splitters at the bottom with the Birdman fuse block, so it won't look that much different from the other circuits.

The one downside of #3 vs the other two is that you're adding one additional relay in the circuit (the main power window relay), so you'll have a bit more voltage drop. However, you should be able to easily test it today:
- Turn the car on, raise and lower the driver side window and note how "fast" it moves (maybe time it with a stopwatch)
- With the car off, disconnect the double red wire crimp and make a small jumper to connect it to either the 2nd bottom connector on L9 (if your original block has double connectors) or disconnect the blue/black wire from L8 and connected it to L8 (if your original block doesn't have double connectors on the bottom of L8 & L9). If you do the latter, your passenger side window won't work--but this is just a test. Turn the car on, raise/lower the driver side window again and see if it's changed in speed. My guess is you'll lose less than 0.5V from that relay and it won't make much (if any) difference in the speed.

If you try out the experiment, curious to hear the results!

 

Can't think of any reason a splitter was used instead of L6, other than damage to that connector or lack of knowledge of how the fuse block is architected. Also can't think of any reason to not go ahead and try out using L6 right now.

I'd do two things:
- Verify with a volt meter that L6 is in fact "live power" (car off, does it have 12V?)
- Once the connector has been moved to L6, with the car on, actuate the windows (do them both at the same time) and measure the difference in voltage between L7 and the L6 crimp while the windows are moving (you might need an assistant). So long as it's small (< 0.3V), then you've got a good connection between those two terminals.

 

That's great! Glad you were able to get rid of a splitter

On the wire going to the fuel pump, I'm guessing that the brown wire at the bottom left of your last picture is the fuel pump wire (it's currently spliced into that black wire w/the inline fuse). In the schematics, the fuel pump wire is a brown wire, so I'm guessing that's the original. If you have enough length, I'd just put a female blade connector on it -- it's already sized from the factory.

On the feed for the fuel pump fuse circuit (L3 top conn), you might want to trace back the red wire feed in L7 to the 12V power distribution block (not sure where it's at in an '85). The original feed came from the *exact same* distribution block and you may find the wire just hanging out, ready to be used. Or, even more likely, where is the black inline fuse being fed from? That is likely the original factory red wire that fed L3. If you can confirm that it's live power, then I'd just put a connector on it and put it onto L3.

In other words, I think you have a *really* good chance that your original wires (feed and load) are still in the car, right next to the fuse block and just need blade connectors put on them.

If not, then the factory schematics call for a 2.5mm^2 wire (which is about 14awg). However, having been around wiring harness for a good chunk of my career, I'd say that the factory schematic is "generous"--those wire gauges look more like a 16awg to me .

Two more safety notes:
- DEFINITELY disconnect the battery when you put the crimp on the fuel pump feed. That is live and unfused. It will make a nice little plasma ball if you touch it to the wrong place and you will be very sad. Same thing goes for when you put in the new fuse block. Take the extra 10 minutes to disconnect the battery. That is time well spent.
- On the spade connectors, make sure to insulate them -- no exposed metal. I haven't found a good source for those nice white plastic housings (anyone? anyone?), so you have two options. The first is to purchase spade connectors that have a full plastic covering for the connector as well as the crimp. Personally, I find them kinda ugly (but I'm a wiring snob). The second, is to take a 1.5-2cm piece of heat shrink and (after crimping) put it over the connector + crimp + a bit of the wire and heat it up (lighter or heat gun). Personally, I do this with all my spade connectors. You can see an example in the L6 position in the photo of the fuse block in my car (honestly not my best work, but I didn't have smaller diameter heat shrink when I did it).

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Oh wait, I just re-read your question -- I think you were asking about the connector, not the wire. Sorry.

Yeah, I'd put the 14-16awg connectors on those two wires. Make sure you have a good crimping tool.

 

On the connector housings, these folks seem to make one that looks close:
https://www.arc-components.com/blade-terminal-connectors.html

But they're all the way in England and I haven't found a domestic source.

On the A pillar, I'm eagerly waiting for a response as well (don't know how it's removed), but for the opposite reason. I just installed a bluetooth radio and want to locate the mic next to the rear view mirror -- need to *put* a cable into the A pillar.

 

I think these are the correct type of covers. I bought some a while ago but can't recall if it was from this source or not.

 

In my next digikey order, I'm planning to order a bunch of both of these:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/280232-8/A128657-ND/5124694/?itemSeq=340242900
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/926539-1/A106354-ND/1152359/?itemSeq=340242985

I'll report back how they look and what I find.

 

Congrats! Looks great.

And as you can see from the picture of my fuse block area in my 308, I'm a huge fan of the label maker!
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