Hi All,

Just signed on to the forum, so a big hello to all here.

I have a yellow Cinquecento Sporting, with a burnt out fusebox.

How?

Not entirely sure....my wife ran into the house saying the car was on fire. I wen't out to find there was a penny stuck in the cigarette lighter. Tried to take it out, but just burnt my finger. You would expect the fuse to blow before it burst into flames, but it didn't and by the time we got a fire-extinguisher to it, there was plenty of damage done to the fusebox.



The weird thing is that practically everything is still working, except for (I think) the inside light and the radio.

Obviously some of these fuses are melted into the box, but are still working at the moment.

The main issue is that something is still taking current from the battery, or stuck on even when everything is turned off and although it isn't dragging a lot of power, it is enough to drain the battery over night. Could this be the damaged relay - not turning off? What does this one on the bottom right do?

So, I am open to any advice here:

• What are my options regarding fixing this?
• I hope it is worth fixing.....but might it be easier to just live with?
• Is it possible to replace the Fusebox alone, or will this mean getting a whole wiring loom, cutting out the fusebox and then joining it back in wire by wire?

Specifically:

• Which fuses are the right bank of 6, Those that are damaged - especially the lower 2? Does anyone have a plan for them? I can't find anything online. Will it match the Seicento?
• How do you get the Fuse box off the car?
• How much spare length on the leads will there be to allow me to join up.
• Do all the wiring looms use the same colour scheme? If this has changed over the years, it might be a right pain to try and replace?
• Anybody got a spare fusebox??

A very big thanks to all your time on this in advance. I appreciate it.

cheers

eib

ps How did the penny get in there? No idea at all. None of us smoke, so can't remember ever using the lighter since we bought the car, nor keeping any change in the box. It would be easy to blame a child.....but they all look very innocent when asked about this......so a mystery!

Lucky escape!

Well worth fixing -- that car has 9 lives!

I think you'll get away with replacing the fusebox and the damaged part of the loom. Local scrappy is your best bet, 899 and Sporting harnesses are very similar and there are no major colour changes.

The fuse box sort of clips onto the pedal bar -- there's a knack to getting them off (which I don't have, so can't describe!) Ming or Rallycinq should be able to help you.

I think the kids will probably conceed that the monster did it.....................

wow, very lucky escape indeed! A reason to keep an extingisher in your car if ever i saw one - reminds me i need a new one. (had to use it recently - not on my car thankfully!)

Damage looks pretty much localised to the fuse box - should be able to pick one up for couple of quid.

very lucky, you could get another fuse box and remove the pins from the old undamaged fuses ans put them onto new fuse box, ofcourse

the damaged wires will more then likely need to be chopped with a new end on as plastics melted them into place

Ash

pm me, I have a fuse box and most of a loom.

Cheers

D

Yes, indeed.....very lucky!

When we first realised it was on fire, after realising that I couldn't easily smother it out, I was about to get the extinguisher from my workshop.....and was just going to get it, when my wife remembered that she had one in her studio (she does glass lamp-working). That was a nice new powder one and put the fire out immediately, albeit covering everything in white powder, so it looked like we had had a fight with a bag of talc. But for a moment, I really thought we were going to lose it.

Thanks for all your help.

One thing I am still unclear about....

Is the fusebox permanently connected to the wiring loom? Is that what you mean by pulling out the pins? Or a separate thing. I presume connected?

Also....any clues on how to get it out, as I have tried and was rather stumped without any idea of how to make a start.

Thanks Rallycinq......IM is on the way

cheers
eib

edbremner said:

/.../
Is the fusebox permanently connected to the wiring loom? Is that what you mean by pulling out the pins? Or a separate thing. I presume connected?

Also....any clues on how to get it out, as I have tried and was rather stumped without any idea of how to make a start.
/../

Click to expand...

fusesbox connector are crimped (i hope its good word ) almost permanently on wires
try pull out WHOLE fusebx , then cut ans solder wire by wire in some distance from fusebox
separate wires from loom and check specially take look for fat red wire
additionally replace whole cigarete lighter loom
and be happy its simply car
now i working over MB 124C with similar problem

Method of removal should now be clear.

Enjoy your weekend

Cheers

D