Hi Guys,
Common problem on
Hi Guys,
Common problem on Italian Cars and Older German Cars for that matter.
Generally the problem/s can be traced to High Resistance across a circuit. Heating of the connections in the fuseblock area, from the crimp terminals to the fuse itself indicate resistance heating is taking place (Ohms law at work)...the worse the connection the more heat is generated. When properly designed and built, intentional resistance heating is a perfectly acceptable way to make heat...like in a toaster, but when it occurs unintentionally in a car's electrical system, it can lead to smoldering connections or insulation or worse melted fuse blocks and complete circuit failure.
Heat due to resistance:
Looking at the P = V x I equation, we can see that any time we pass current through a conductor, and there is a voltage across that conductor we will have a power generated. This is also called resistance heating, or I²R loss. If we have a solid connection through wire and connections of adequate size, the resistance is so low, that we can pretty much call it zero, hence no (significant) voltage is across the connection and we have no (appreciable) heat generated.
If however we continue to pass current through a conductor when that conductors "cross-sectional area" has been diminished (which is why I like the 'larger' Gold Plated Fuses in some instances)in some way (a nick in a wire, a loose rivet on a terminal, a worn contact in a switch, or through years worth of corrosion), at some point, we do start generating a significant voltage across the conductor and the resulting heat at the poor connection.
One of the easiest ways I've found to determine if the Fuse Block is the High Resistance culprit is to clean the in and out female terminals and with a new solid double connector temporarily connect the wires together without a fuse and see if the circuit still heats up appreciably. If you now find that the temp has noticably dropped then it's a sure bet the old fuses and fuse block are the main culprit.
There are several ways to go about fixing or upgrading the Ferrari fuse blocks. The only fix I haven't found effective is is trying to repair the old pieces. One the spring clips have been heated to excess they tend to become tempered and lack enough pressure to work effectivly.
HTH's
Regards, JRV