Hi,
Just joined the forum today. I have a 89 F-150 with an electricial problem. I have no power nothing! lights horn starter whatever. I look at my repair manual wiring diagram and I see "fuse links" where are they?

Regards, Vern

 

check the ground on the battery and the frame.

 

The fuse link is a short length of special high-temperature insulated wire, integral with the engine compartment wiring harness. It is typically several wire sizes smaller than the circuit it protects. One quick way to test is to pull (gently) on the link - if the jacket stretches like a rubber band, then the link has failed. There are several used in the '89, so I doubt that the failure of any given link would cause the problems you describe.
If you haven't done so already, I suggest to first verify the battery is charged (the simple things always seem to trip me up!), then to check your battery connections, and also the grounding connections.

 

well after you see if the fusable links work, on my truck I went to the wire block by the brake booster and also and was trying to comfirm that they still had power I found that there was a break in 3 wires that were wrapped in factory tape one had a joiner that went from one yellow wire to 2 yellow wires was basically green with oxidization and totally not making connection then after that I found another one that with a gentle tug came completely out of the wiring loom I had to remove the air box to reconnect it, I bought the truck from a guy that thought that the steering column needed to be relaced I am a electrician so I knew where the prob would be but it still took time to find the problem .. also use a 12v test light on the wires I tried using a meter and I had 8-10v on these lines until they went to take a load then they would not work so a test light is a good thing good luck

 

Hi Again,
Many thanks for the ideas here is an update, ground cable sound. Battery voltage was 9volts. Soooo, charged battery ( new battery), truck starts, runs acts normal. Drive approx 1 mile, note battery is charging. Shutdown will not start. Battery voltage is 9.8 volts( measured with DVM across battery). Disconnect battery voltage is 13+ volts reconnect 9.8 volts. Thoughts?

Regards, Vern

 

Two possibilities that I can think of offhand.
First one - unknown load drawing down the battery.
Second one - bad battery.
For the first one - this becomes a 'divide-and-conquer' mission - basically, start disconnecting, unplugging, or pulling fuses until the source of the voltage drop is found.
For the second one - find a local garage or parts store do a battery load test.
Given what you've described, I would lean more toward a bad battery cell. An unknown amperage loss required to pull a good battery down 2 - 3 volts long-term ought to be showing up somewhere, most likely in the form of smoke. Plus, one failed cell out of the 6 cells in a 12-volt battery would be about 2 volts' worth.

 

Hi,
A quick update found fuse links all looked OK. Did battery capacity check, battery NG bought new 7/05, sooooo, will return tomorrow, again many thanks to all.

Regards, Vern