close call...now need a little 85 QV electrical help please

What’s does the old OEM fuse box lid say ?
Radiators front fan motors are far right of the right hand side pair iirc ?
If it is the fan motor feed those wires look a bit inadequate , needs to be thicker .

 

I'd suggest you get a (readable) wiring diagram/service manual. I downloaded it for my 328 years ago from a link on this site so I'm sure it can be found here somewhere. Absent the diagram, couldn't you just trace the two smaller (burnt) wires to see where they go and then decide what to do about it. Obviously, if they DO connect to the fans, leaving them disconnected is not an option. But why would anyone replace the factory fan wires with smaller gauge wires in the first place. Makes no sense...but so much electrical "makes no sense" stuff is done by folks... Some of it is just amusing but other things - like what someone did in your car - is hazardous.

Does your car have an alarm? Aftermarket alarm installation/wiring is, from my experience, the FIRST in the list of usual suspects for any troublesome electrical issues.

 

From memory, I think the radiator fan wires are green. Your fusebox should easily handle the current draw - plug them back in

 

"Another reminder of why it's always important to carry a fire extinguisher."

To me it's a better reminder to check/ensure electrical wiring is correct when dealing with a previously owned/unknown car, especially a car that seems so prone to PO 'upgrades' that are actually screw ups!

 

I think the two fans up front draw or can draw ( the somehow increase there resistance as they age ) a pretty hefty current .
That with those OEM fuses leads to “ up grades “ some decades later .
I have a GT4 purchased last summer .
Perusing thought the documentation I noticed a well known W London official F dealer had fixed an inoperable fan compliant.
In mine those two RHS wires had been replaced using separate blade fuses with quite heavy gauge wires .
Far thicker than any OEM .As a result the OEM block has been bypassed for the fans and the rhs spades disconnected .They made good the fan spades after a clean up too .
I guess that’s where the issue starts corroded fan spades being exposed = inc resistance and the extra heat melts the what was ok ish guage fan wires when new ?

I carry a fire ex it sits between the rear seats ( easy cubby in GT 4 ) for potential carburettor fuel fires 1/2 the reason and the other 1/2 in sympathy to the dodgy Italian electrics dictum .

It’s all part of he 70 ,sF car ownership experience that sets them aside from Porches Carrera 3.0 , Mercs SL , and BMW,s 2002 Turbos .
Which catching fire is low down in the psyche of the ownership.

 

And the moral of the story is: Before replacing fuse boxes, check all connections and especially aftermarket botch.

What I see on the pictures is no way "part of he 70 ,sF car ownership experience"
Mike, I second your statement about aftermarket alarm systems. I had one installed by an official Bosch service and the car was never so unreliable before. I tore it off two years later and did a proper repair of the electrical harness with new wires.

Best from Germany
Martin

 

And further, going with the assumption that the wires here are indeed radiator fan-related, you need to get down to the core issue: Are your fan motor pairs drawing more amperage now than they were designed to do?

Very easy to surmise that, with time, the pair of fan motor's armature shaft bearings have gone tight due to loss of lubrication.

Give each blade set a spin by hand, comparing one to the other, and listen for any grinding, also noting any resistance to the free spin.

Under the assumption that you will find something amiss, a tear-down of the motors and a drop or two of lubricating oil on each armature end will address the problem the correct way, instead of simply masking it by efforts to bodge around with the wiring.

DM

 

Dave80GTSi is correct that you should see if the fan motors are drawing more current because in general they are old and ignored, but probably a dodgy connection got finally got the point of no return.

The fuse didn't blow because the circuit wasn't a short to ground. It likely wasn't drawing more power than before as the windings in the fan motors are still in place to act as a current limiter. It was, however, not putting that power where it should go. As the connection became worse it was actually drawing less power, but some of that power was going towards heating the connection instead of powering the fans. And it feeds itself from there. A warm connection starts to oxidize and increase resistance a bit, and it gets a little hotter.

 

On my car, each radiator fan is on a separate fuse. And, this does match the label that's on the fuse block cover.