Wiring Harness / Power Distribution Center Question

[JeremySmith]

The other night, my wife left the lights on in her xj. I gave her a quick jump, and she was up and going - for about a mile, them the lights starting dimming and it eventially stalled out. At this point, I think the alternators toast and jump her again to get it back home, then notice smoke coming from the power distribution center. I pop the cover and blow it out. The 60 amp fuse that runs parallel with the block caught fire. I'm looking in the chiltons - and there are two 60 amp fuses in parallel to handle the 120 amp alternator? So, I go back and check the other 60 amp, and its blown. In my mind - the alternator was running full power to charge up the low battery, and popped the first (who knows how old) 60 amp fuse, and the other one for whatever reason caught fire instead of blowing too.

I picked up the new base for the PDC, and notice there aren't any terminals. I get back on the phone to see if there is a subharness or terminal block for the PDC - and the parts guy says there is only one harness for the whole vehicle? My SJ (full size cherokee) has three separte harnesses, so that didn't make a whole lot of sense.

So - the main question is - is there some terminal assembly, or am I left to hack, splice, and patch my way back to a non-melted assembly? Regardless, the two 60 amp fuses will be getting replaced with a circut breaker. Thanks!

 

[5-90]

I would think that the entire engine bay would be one subharness (including the PDC,) so that might be what he's thinking of.

Subharness organisation I can see as follows:

Forward Lighting (may be included in engine bay SH)
Engine Bay
IP Subharness
Body & Rear Lighting

Granted, these may be combined - but it would be foolish to have to replace the entire vehicle harness for, say, a taillamp subharness malfunction. Many vehicles even have a "front-to-back" subharness that runs down the driver's side frame sill, which can also be replaced separately.

The upside of all this is that I think you're going to be reduced to a "hack and plice" job replacing your PDC - fitting that thing without some sort of "quick-connects" was foolish. It was probably designed properly by an engineer, and then the QDs were eliminated by some damn beancounter...

5-90