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Fuse box loom - Chewed by MOUSE! suggestions much needed
So I left my S203 standing outside my house, woke up to find no ignition turn over whatsoever, look inside the fuse box and the cables have been minced!
Image's attached.
Three solutions I can see at the moment:
A. Contacting a Merc dealer and ask for a quote, Does anyone have any idea what it would cost to have cables repaired?
B. Pull out the fuse box (somehow) and rewire the cables delicately by hand and re-insulate them?
C. Find a Merc breakers and hope to find a similar loom intact?
If anyone has aNy other solutions or suggestions I am all ears!
Thanks in advance
Fuse box wires chewed up!
Photo taken from behind inside the dash, looking towards where the fusebox wires go to /\
Last edited by BillianBenz; 10-12-2019 at 08:57 AM.
Reason: wrong word
Redo each inidiviual wire.
find nice place along wire and splice in a new wire of similar color (get from junkyard maybe)
Use solder and heat shrink on wire splice....
Be patient and take your time....
One of the most tedious repairs ever and all it takes is one mess up and car does not work when done... and you have to start over.
make sure you know where each wire goes before taking apart...
I’d work VERY hard to source OEM wire.
For the specific resistance.
I know when I built my Solar and Smog harness with a friend who is an Electrical Engineer - he worked to replicate anything and everything as close to OEM for voltage and data accuracy.
That said, I’d contact an online or local wrecker and try to source (that SAM doesn’t pull out too far) as MUCH loom as possible.
Good luck.
It’s a tight area, get a GOOD wide band headlamp...
And a good third hand/clamp set up...
Please fill in where you live (at least the country). Otherwise, imho, the advice you get is mostly worthless.
A number of things:
In terms of having a mechanic fix it - mouse/etc damage is VERY COMMON. Again, if you live on Jupiter, you're F*****ed anyways.
Mouse damage varies Greatly dependent on Exactly where someone lives. The same with a mechanic's experience with mouse damage.
Here in New England, along with Southern Canada, it's very common. These areas where settled by Europeans many hundred of years ago. So, not many garages, and a lot of people per area.
All humans have an extremely small genetic difference. Much much much much much much much much less than most animals.
Yet, look how much humans differ in food tastes, temperature desires, etc.
Now, multiple that by billions and billions. And, you start to have other animals.
The point is that the though that any one thing prevents/deters mice, cats, dogs, etc is laughable.
What a person has to do, is test and see what works to prevents/deter the pests/etc that they are dealing with.
As for wire, power wiring is different than automotive wiring.
There is an organization called SAE. Imho, they rule just about anything/everything vehicle related. Yes, I am biased - live with it!
Alpha SAE J1128 Ratings and Approvals:
Voltage Rating: 50 volts (** or better **)
Operating Temperature: -40°C to +125°C (** or better **)
Search for SAE J1128.
If you're in US, and not a PITA, you can order from digikey. Digikey is used by people like me (engineer) and companies.
Note that you want the same gauge (wire size).
Try the following link: https://www.digikey.com/products/en/...=1&pageSize=25
As said, you MUST SOLDER - period.
Crimps WILL FAIL over time.
You also need to use heat shrink tubing over the solder joints.
I forgot to add, since mouse/etc damage is common, check with a local independent to see what the cost might be. You can go there and show them phone pictures to try to get a very general ballpark figure. Are we talking $100, $500, $1,000, $2,000, $80,000, etc. My guess is that you're looking around $300 to $1,500.
Again, the prices on Jupiter are outrageous, so you're screwed.
And, a little fyi, mechanic prices even in the USA on Earth vary a lot!
10-12-2019, 08:51 AM
