105 Series Spider Fuses

[simo66]

Hey all

I recently purchased a fully restored 1980 Spider (US import) which has been totally rewired and it blew an electric window fuse the other day. My petrol gauge also stopped working at the same time (I think)

When I opened the fusebox I found some unusual looking 'bullet' type fuses of various colours approx 30mm long. I have not seen these before - they are neither the ceramic, glass tube or blade types - they are plastic with a metal 'wrap' at each end and the fuse sections are of various thicknesses. The metal fuse area itself it unprotected. The one that blew was beige-white but no markings on it and was burnt out

I have a few spare fuses: Blue 25A, Red 16A, White 8A and Yellow 5A

After a bit of interweb research I replaced the blown fuse with a red 16A one and the windows work again (I tried a white 8A fuse but it blew straight away). Petrol gauge still not working though...

I have a few questions:

Am I  going to cause any problems putting this fuse 16A in??

Any ideas what these unusual fuses are called and where I can get them?

Any ideas on the petrol gauge - it didn't seem too accurate in the first place however...

Also my speedo tends to go a bit haywire when the car is hot - when cold it behaves itself pretty much except at speeds under 30km/h. Speedo cable??

Thanks in advance

[Paul Gulliver]

I had the same problem with my Alfetta a couple of weeks ago. The indicator return isn't working so parked the car with idicators still going came back an hour later and fuse blown.

You can buy them at Auto Barn. A mixed packet (different AMPS) is about $5.00. THey are called ceramic fuses.

Cheers


Gully

[Gary Pearce]

Blowing fuses = a short circuit to earth somewhere, so take care. A 16 amp in place of an 8 or a 12 should be fine. If it continues to blow on that then you need to locate the problem before continuing. The fuel gauge should not be on the same fuse, but given 30 years of tinkering plus rewiring then there may have been some alterations to your car. The fuel gauges are easy to test from inside the boot (see my other posts on fuel gauge accuracy)
Paul is correct the fuses are called ceramic (or Bosch type) and are easily obtainable.
The speedo is not electric. If it goes off it's brain when hot, this is usually caused by oil working it's way up the cable and contaminating the speedo head. Check the speedo cable seal or see a instrument maker.

[simo66]

Many thanks for the info guys!

I was overseas for six weeks so had no time to reply - just returned and very glad to say the spider started up straight away and is running superbly. I can't believe what a lovely car this is!

Window fuse working fine. Fuel gauge seems to be OK after filling with petrol.

Speedo is fine in cooler weather but I had car parked in the sun for a couple of hours this afternoon (about 20 degrees today) and it went haywire again when I started the car - once it was on the move and cooled down a bit it was pretty much OK again - very strange. Will look into this a bit further...

Cheers