In keeping with some of the magnificent design elements of the Fairway, the fusebox is mounted right below the windscreen which seems to leak on even the driest days. In turn, this means the majority of the electronics are unreliable and the fusebox terminals become corroded very quickly.
If you haven’t seen my article on how to stop a leaky windscreen, you might want to check it out before messing around with the fusebox. However, if you’ve already plugged the waterfall, you may be interested in replacing the corroded fusebox with nice shiny terminals so all the wonderful electronics start working again! In the process I also extended the wiring loom and moved the fusebox further into the footwell in an attempt to stop any water related issues in the future.
The fusebox itself is just a plastic mould where the wiring is inserted into the rear. Each wire has a terminal on the end, which locks into each fuse section with another to make a pair.
There are two options if you are thinking of redoing the fusebox, either you just cut all the wires and buy a new fusebox, or you can spend the time removing the terminals one-by-one, cleaning up the existing fusebox and re-wiring the loom with new terminals. I opted for the latter as I couldn’t find any new boxes, however I do believe they occasionally show up online as they were also fitted to classic Range Rovers.
To get the existing corroded terminals out of their seats in the box, you can either improvise with a thin piece of metal, or buy a set of dedicated terminal removers. I purchased such a kit but it didn’t turn up for a while and I ended up doing the work with a bent circuit board fuse…
As you remove each wire, it might be an idea to take note of where they go in the box. Whilst the wiring diagram does have the information you need, it needs cross-checking against another list before you can determine the position. I drew out a quick diagram of my own when removing them, so it’d be a little easier later on.
When all the terminals are removed from the box, you should have a load of wires and an empty box which looks something like this.
At this point, you could re-crimp the wires with new terminals, insert them in the fusebox and be done with the task. I decided to extend each wire in order to move the entire unit further back into the footwell to prevent any further corrosion issues from water ingress.
I ordered all the various wiring from a company on eBay (incardesignltd) who supply any length of 1mm or 2mm wire in 70 colours of your choice. Also, you’ll need some new terminals for the wires – I’m probably being stupid, but I found these surprisingly hard to find! I think they are now mostly obsolete with car manufacturers using propriety systems and connections for their vehicles.
You’ll need to search for ‘3-4647 terminals’ and you should have some luck. I ordered mine from polevolt.co.uk as they were by far the cheapest. The Fairway fusebox takes about 50 depending on your individual car, and they are priced at 30p each.
Once all the parts arrived in the post, I set to work extending each wire and crimping a new terminal on the end. This was fairly time consuming, but fairly rewarding – bearing in mind the corrosion in the fuse box was the root cause of so many electrical niggles, removing it completely and starting afresh felt something akin to being a surgeon!
For the extentions (and indeed a lot of the other electrical work I’ve undertaken on the Fairway), you may notice I have used crimp connections with ready-to-go heatshrink. These are simply the best things in the world as they completely seal the connection from any damp or water. Search for heatshrink crimp terminal on eBay and you’ll be pleasantly surprised how cheap they are!
All I did now was follow my diagram and put each wire back in the right hole! Fill the box back up with new clean fuses and you’re away.
I also used some cable wrap to neaten up the wiring and routed it around the pedals for mounting in the footwell.
The fusebox was then mounted just behind the taximeter wiring distribution panel and underneath where a couple of the relays sit.
I’m in the beginning stages of replacing my Fairway’s fuse box after one of the fuses for the headlights melted the fuse box. I cannot tell you how useful your website has been. I’m in Canada and would never have found the correct parts as they simply don’t exist here. I found a replacement fuse box on eBay from India for a JCB. I was wondering, where you placed your fuse box? You mentioned you attached it in the footwell? It’s rather crowded there, where did you attach it?
Thanks again, I’m continuing to learn from your efforts.
Hi Henry,
Thank you very much for your message. I’m glad you’ve found my website useful, I always intended it to be a resource for others tackling the mighty Fairway!
I can’t believe I never uploaded a picture of the completed project – silly me!
I have just added a photo at the end of the post which shows where the final mounting position is. I hope this helps. All the best for now, I’d love to see some photos of your project if and when you have the chance – feel free to email me anytime.
Tone
Hi Tone,
I just saw your reply and your new position for the fusebox, what a great location! I was also thinking of putting it there. I’ll send some pictures when I’m finished. Right now in the interest of time I’ve decided to try and clean the existing contacts with lots of isopropyl alcohol, vinegar and water (naturally I’ve removed the battery). The contacts and fuses, like yours, are very corroded and also strangly covered with some kind of oil. I’m also going to move the melted low beam headlight wires to an open spot in the fuse box as a temporary measure. Fortunately only one fuse socket melted and does not appear to have damaged any others.
I’m not sure if you are aware of this little tidbit of information. I had a revelation a couple of weeks ago as to why the Fairway’s wiring system seems to be backwards, as in the fusebox is at the end of all the electrical circuits as opposed to being at the beginning by the positive battery terminal. I realized it is because back in the 50s the cabs had a positive ground electrical system but when they switched to negative ground, probably in the 60s or 70s, they did not bother to redesign the wiring. I figured this out while working on my 1931 Ford Model A which has a positive ground system.
Right now I’m just waiting for my order from Polvolt to arrive so I can get my cab back on the road for the rest of the summer. I also have to have replacement power steering hoses made soon.
Henry