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maybe, maybe we went the long way to be sure. I am more confident now

Gannon wrote:So maybe we can substitute colour for colour?

I hope this is the case - I've lined up all the fuses ready to go!

Gannon wrote:It also stands to reason that our 65A alternators are protected by the 1.25 FL, which if we go by the current rating of the white wire supplying it, is about 51A, but if we go by the fusing time of the factory FL, it can take an 80A FLF

What's the go here if you're running an EJ alternator with more grunt that the factory L series unit? I'm still looking at a larger alternator - but that's another story!

Cheers

Bennie

Well technically to run a bigger alternator, you should run a bigger cable from the alternator to the FL, and then a bigger cable from the FL to the battery. It appears that EJ's run 2 large cables right to the FL's from the alternator, but they also have a 1.25 FL

So maybe replace the sub circuits FL's with plug in FLF fuses, but leave the alternator as a 1.25 FL.

Somebody with a working L series and an ammeter should measure the current drawn by each FL with everything in the car switched on

Gannon wrote:Well technically to run a bigger alternator, you should run a bigger cable from the alternator to the FL, and then a bigger cable from the FL to the battery. It appears that EJ's run 2 large cables right to the FL's from the alternator, but they also have a 1.25 FL

Yeah I don't remember the EJ alternator wiring being any larger than the L series stuff that I spliced it into.

But that is good information! I'll keep that in mind as I'm thinking of going for something near the 110amp mark

Cheers

Bennie

I have an 80a Hitachi alternator on my L RX and it still runs the std FLs , never had a problem with them .
One thing I did years ago with the carby Bluebird (converted to an EFI FJ20ET twin cam) was run all the extra electricals ie computer/ignition/EFI pump directly off the alternator though with individual fuses for everything - close to the alt too . Never fried any fuses and it was all very fuss free .

A .

But you dont have any more load than you used to, so you'd be lucky to ever draw more than 60A

God help anybody reading this thread, I keep changing my mind.

Comparing the size of the red wire that feeds the L series ECU to the yellow/green wire that feeds the EJ ECU, the EJ wire is larger, and the EJ is protected by a 30A fuse, so Im inclined to stick to my original theory of protecting the cables by their current rating.

So really that means a 20A, a 30A a 20A and a 40A or at a push, 50A for the alternator feed

Its very confusing aye, I wonder why the ratings are so cryptic? Even the narva fusible wire just lists continuous raitings : http://www.narva.com.au/products/browse/fuse-link-wire
surely the 1.25 link is larger than a 24 amp fuse
and the replacement links dont list the colours anyway:
http://www.narva.com.au/products/browse/female

also found this... http://www.b2600turbo.com/truck_fuselinks.htm

mention was made recently of the part numbers looking something like FFL - the second F and the L are easy to work out (for most of us ) , the first F is for female (and most of us can work that out too )

I was going to add - if it ain't broke , don't fix it. But after a moments thought on it and remembered the crap I went through after my main black one ended its serviceable life and near put my GLTA off the road permamently due to electrical damage under the dash - it really would not be a bad idea for some older subes to at least have new FL's or have them checked for corrosion and decay.
Very surprising how the ECU survived it all- not as sensitive to electrical surges as often thought !!

to anyone that cares, heres the part numbers for the OEM wire links:

Good find Nev

Just for now, ive stuck with the wire fusible links, I have the engine running, but I want to get an ammeter and measure the current through each link with every electrical device in the car running, to get an idea of what fuses may be needed

Also found this out of the wiring section of the FSM, talking about max. recommended load on loom wiring:



and this about the burnout ratings of the links:

Then I had a brain-wave...I checked out the FSM for the Liberty, with the newer type, AND they also have a 1.25 black link too, heres what I found :



All the wiring diagrams are drawn like this, with the 1.25 FL feeding the loom through a 'SBF' which I think is what they call the fuse links, as pictued here:



We need someone to check an EJ fusible link / relay box, but it looks like the FL feeds directly into the other 'SBF's so we should be able to conclude that the 1.25 protects a 45amp circuit? or perhaps ALL the 'SBF's in parallel?

Edit: found this:



So it looks like the biggest replacement link, in lieu of the 1.25 black wire should be around 45 amps? I guess that lines up with the Narva replacement 1.25 wire continuous rating of 23amps...



Maybe we should start at 45 amps for replacing the black link, then work backwards in comparable size for the others, if any of them blow in operation, upsize them a little until we find the correct 'Ausubaru certified' ratings, I think I would start with the EJ ratings of the 'SBF's...



Maybe since the other 'SBF's are 30 and 45, we should start with 30's for the green links, 45's for the red links and 65's for the black links? I think that's what I'll go for, Gannon, what do you think?

Um, in experimenting could you use a 35A, then 40A and a 45A FL in series in a circuit to protect stuff and if it blows you'd work out a suitable A size ?

Jono, with the 3 different fuses in series, the 35A will always blow first.

Nev, the 1.25 fusible link only protects the alternator from the battery in the case of a short in that wire or in the alternator itself.
But in reality, how often do these FL's cause issues? We know Jono had issues with his, and I can recall one other instance where one has blown, but its rather uncommon

Yeah, I dont think it's just for the Alt aye, I had one go on me the other day, nearly left me stranded at a shopping center - no power to the car. I managed to fiddle with it to get it home, but it was arcing and it was well & truly burnt out when I got it home. Judging by the 3 new ones that were in the glovebox of the silver RX when I bought it, they are a common thing to go...

All the EJ diagrams show it feeding the IGN switch... so yeah, pretty important link...

Well after weighing-up all the above information in this thread from the Nissan sources, Narva's link wire info and Gannon's research I decided to swap them colour-for-Narva colour (I believe some brands differ but this is something I was told, not saw)



I had to order the Red,50a as no one stocked them, Repco, Autobarn, Super cheap auto. Anyway, I've had them in for about a month now with zero noticable difference to the wire links. They look good, the fusebox lid closes, Im happy.

They are around $6 ea from Autobarn, the red one is available, just get your chosen supplier to order it.

I'd say it's a very common problem as well. Nearly everyone with a lseries over here had issues.

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