Continuing with the saga of the fusebox�.
Yesterday, Sunday, I realized that the connector that I had bought previously for the blower motor resistor was very similar, if not identical to the one that needed replacement going into the fusebox. But I didn�t get around to it yesterday, so today I checked, and yep, it�s the same connector. Good thing too, as I checked at the dealer, and you can�t buy a repair kit for this connection. If anything goes, the book says to replace the entire wire harness�the one that runs throughout the whole dashboard. Didn�t sound like something I wanted to get into�so I opted to do a bit of splice-and-patch with the connector for the resistor. It fit like it was made for it�
I took the fuse box out of the car and brought it to my workbench, my kitchen table. (It�s a bummer living on a slab foundation and not having a basement or some place to work on stuff like this�) I took the box apart, because I wanted to see what was inside. Just a bunch of circuit plates made of plastic and metal. I found a bit of melting there, and might have some trouble in the future, but if I do, I�ll know where to start looking. Below you can see pics of the box dissasembled, some closeups of the nasty corrosion and where the plates melted a bit, and some of the cleaned up stuff & the parts kit that fits this connection. Cleaned this up with a bit of the ol� Dremel, some dental picks & scrapers, and some mini files
Just for grins, and for anyone looking at this someday after I broom those pics off my server, the part number for the kit is F5RZ-14A411-CA It�s about $14.
If your freaked out by this level of dis-assembly, then just don�t do it! Otherwise, have fun, but you�re on your own if you screw something up�
Here�s that one edge with the nasty connector pins and the bit of melting. I didn�t really take it apart, since there was not any other circuits in the area. I�m hoping that the heat was caused by the bad connection�which made for poor conductivity, which heated things up. I guess if it blows again, I�d better replace the whole box, but it looks like an expensive part, so I�ll hold off on that.
The inside of the case, where the pins went through also need some work. Lot�s of corrosive stuff here to be removed. Be careful not to enlarge the pin holes too much.
And finally, all cleaned up and ready to go! Now I just have to put everything back together, splice the new connector into place (nice thick wires on the new connector), and plug everything back together.
Be sure you know what fuse goes into what slot when you put this back together�or it could get real sparky down there�
So now I�m off to put things back together, clean up the interior, and just forget about car repairs for a while�I hope. If there are any further developments, or things I find out, I�ll post back in this string to keep things together for future searchs
I posted in jest. But as a follow up to your statement, no, I doubt Ford would remedy the situation (or reimburse you) unless it eventually turns out to be a safety-related recall.