Fitting a fused battery terminal block

[day66]

The provision for fusing various parts of the E9 electrical system (or lack of) seems to be a common concern, and a while back I thought I'd look for something that would give me more peace of mind by increasing protection for the system as a whole by fusing the main supplies. On more modern vehicles it seems that everything is fused, and an search of Ebay turned up a number of possible options for fused main terminals.

I opted for a Ford part (mine was listed as from a Mk7 Ford Fiesta!), this replaces the positive terminal and has a selection of fused connection points that fall conveniently for connecting to the existing loom. From memory there are 4 heavy duty feeds so I split these between the lower rated fuses on the terminal block - 50 Amp, 60 Amp and 70 Amp. I had no use for the 200 Amp connection but that could be handy if you are running a high output alternator. There's even the option to fuse the starter - 425 Amp, so I figured I may as well try that too and after several month of use, that seems to have no problem handling current drawn the starter.

It's all finished off with a neat plastic cover, so while not a "period" look it is at least an OEM look that also protects the positive battery terminal. It also would be no problem to remove and reinstate the original.

 

[jmackro]

I'm not getting how a single fuse at the battery can protect the whole electrical system. It would seem that this fuse would need to be sized to allow the starter to operate (tens of amps) and as such, it wouldn't blow when an 18 gauge wire shorted out, which would draw only a few amps, but get hot enough to melt its insulation and that of the adjoining wires in the harness.

 

[HB Chris]

There appears to be several fuses on this block.

 

[day66]

That is correct, there are several fuses in the whole assembly. 50 amp, 60 Amp, 70 Amp, 200 Amp and 425 Amp. The lower rated fuses are on the side (photo 1) the starter fuse is on the top (photo 2).

 

[jmackro]

there are several fuses in the whole assembly. 50 amp, 60 Amp, 70 Amp, 200 Amp and 425 Amp.

OK, now I see. So this additional fuse block is there to protect the high amperage wiring to the starter, main fuseblock and any other unfused circuits coming directly off the battery.