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Posted by: weird_looking_cactus May 4 2004, 04:14 PM

I just got my car out of the shop after it would not start. It works great as of now. My car got flooded somehow. He showed me my old spark plugs and they were black and covered with gas. So he put some new ones in that way I wouldn't have to pull my car home and do it my self.

Plus he found a bad ground wire to the computer. He also told me that really nothing is grounding my engine so told me to get a nice big thick wire run it from the battery to the the fan housing to help it ground more.

Im want to clean up my relay board so I want to replace the two fuses but there so old I can't tell what color they are. Plus I want to replace the relays and wondering if anyone has some extra new one around I can buy. I also have a problem when I turn my fog lights on it burns out my fuse withen a couple seconds. Im using the red 16 fuse which it says to use. Thanks

Posted by: lapuwali May 4 2004, 04:28 PM

There's supposed to be a braided ground strap between the bottom of the trunk and the transaxle, back near the transaxle mounts at the rear of the car. If that's not there, you need one, but it's the easiest place to mount one since that's where the factory put it. If your mechanic was right and there hasn't been a dedicated engine ground all this time, then it's most likely been grounding through the throttle cable and the heater cables. If your throttle cable housing looks melted and burnt, that's a sure sign.

Posted by: Lawrence May 4 2004, 10:29 PM

If you want to clean up the relay board.. that's a good project. The bottom of the board is covered with a tar-like compound that protects the thin rudimentary "wiring" connections. You can do a simple cleaning of the board by wiping it down and using some spray contact cleaner on the connections.

Remove your relays one at a time, and clean up the pins. No need to replace them if they're working.

The ceramic fuses can be had from most any import auto parts store, HPH, Pelican, etc. It's been a long time since I've played with the fuses, but I think they're white fuses on the relay board (8 amp). I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

If you're going to replace fuses, do the ones under the dash, too (they're cheap), and be sure to clean up the little metal tabs that hold them in place. No use putting new fuses into corroded tabs.

If you have a bad or questionable engine ground - DON'T add more grounds. That will only cause more problems in the long run. Clean your battery posts. Check your negative battery cable and clean where it attaches to the car (good metal to metal contact). Use some type of electrical contact grease to keep the connections nice.

IIRC, there should be a cluster of brown wires near the center of your engine, on the top. Those are grounds. Gently remove them, polish the ends up really good, make sure the attachment point is clean, and reattach.

There is also a set of often neglected ground wires BELOW the relay board. You'll often see them covered in dirt, rust, paint overspray, etc. Get those cleaned up all shiny and use some type of dielectric grease on the connection to keep it from corroding back up.

Lap is right about the transmission ground. Sometimes that ground strap takes a beating because people don't know it's there when dropping the gearbox. Give it the same treatment... clean up the wire and the ground point until they gleam. A dab of dielectric grease, and put it back together. Use a fresh washer and nut if you're paranoid like me. Replace the ground strap with a generic one from your FLAPS if it's questionable.

Hope this help some, plus a bump on your fog light question.

-Rusty