Alternator Fuse Stuck In Fuse Box - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Rickisan · 09-10-2008, 10:43 PM

I washed down the engine bay pretty good one day and since the alternator was gunked up pretty bad with oil buildup I scrubbed and hosed it down pretty agressively with water and degreaser. Note: Degreaser is kinda of like "Deplane! Deplane!" but he was actually a character from the movie West Side Story... well never mind...

Started the truck up and drove around the block for 15 minutes to dry everything real good. All seemed fine.

Next day it started up fine but the Alternator/Brake lights were on all the time driving to the store. They never came on while driving before. Also the engine idles high all the time now instead of slowing down to the correct idle speed after 5-10 minute warm-up like it used to. I never sprayed any water on the Carb either so that one really baffles me.

Figured maybe I got grease in the Alternator and have now replaced the brushes since the commutator inside was very black but the brushes looked long enough to make contact so not sure yet if that will help. Installing that back in tomorrow to see what happens there.

That's the history... my problem/question is...

Thought maybe the water could have blown the fuse but when I try to pull the 80A fuse out of the black fuse box inside the engine compartment it won't budge. The adjacent fuses came out with reasonable force using fingers only. So using pliers to get a little more grip managed to remove some of the plastic and clear cover from the Alternator fuse but it won't come free of the socket or move any at all.

Decided to spray a little Boe-Shield in there to try and loosen it up. Maybe over the years the fuse has gradually "welded" itself to the socket? It is passing 40 - 50 amps at times? Or maybe my water fun caused an unusually high current to have an immediate "welding" action from an alternator malfunction during my "dry out drive"? Any ideas on how to get this fuse to release? Will the fuse box itself come loose so can push from underneath? Or any other way to ease it out with out destroying the fuse and the soceket? thanks for any ideas

skunkboy · 09-11-2008, 02:26 AM

I've never removed mine, but on my Geo Metro the alt. fuse has a screw/bolt that goes into one of the prongs on the fuse holding it in place. Might be worth a peek to see if there is a screw on the bottom side.

boypilot · 09-11-2008, 10:32 AM

Yeah you have to unbolt the fuse box, flip it over, and take the bottom off it. Then you can release the little block that the fuse is mounted to and there are two screw's holding the fuse in. Once you get the bottom off it's fairly obvious.

Rickisan · 09-11-2008, 05:27 PM

Thanks boypilot! My alt tested good at Advance Discount and I took a look at their fuses to see what was up... and the only 80A one had the big spade lugs with holes coming out either side. So I was hoping mine was the same as I was seeing in the store and your reply pretty much confirms it to be the case.

Kind of a crappy fuse box/fuse design when the two fuses right next to it just pop right out and LOOK identical from the top side. Ah well I didn't mangel anything up YET

***IronNam*** · 09-11-2008, 05:57 PM

=] working from behind something always works

Rickisan · 09-11-2008, 09:58 PM

Although this forum is, for the most part, refreshingly free of sexual double-entendre and commentary just this once I must agree with you DubVipers! Wholeheartedly! Or is that be Hole-Hardedly?

***IronNam*** · 09-11-2008, 11:20 PM

hahahaha I prefer to express both in different situations!

Rickisan · 09-14-2008, 04:26 PM

Okay I replaced the infamous brushes in the alternator with the pre-assembled factory part from Toyota. when I installed them I stripped the screw on one side of the brush holder. It is the screw that everyone cautions against stripping when you read about this procedure

Mixed up a little jb weld and made sure to get some on the screw and some down in the hole good. Let it sit over night, took the alt to Discount Auto and it tested fine on their bench tester.

Checked out my fuse box and finally figure out how to get at the bolts/screws holding the 80A fuse but the smaller of the two screws wouldn't budge so I just tested it with the ohmeter and it is good so put everything back together. All seems fine now. NO red lights on the dash. Thanks for everyones input. cheers