Electrical 1985 Jeep Fuse Box Replacement

[ralbiero]

The original fuse box, located to the left of the clutch pedal, in my 1985 CJ7 is damaged. Is it possible to replace the box without replacing the entire wiring harness? I am a somewhat barely competent amateur mechanic and am trying to determine if this is something I can do myself. The only fuse boxes I can find are off of original Jeeps, which look in much better shape than my semi-melted box. I'm looking for any advice on how to replace it myself, or if not how to get it replaced without breaking my not so significant bank.

Thank you! - Rick

 

[Patrick]

I am afraid that I have to do the same thing to my rig. I don’t see myself splicing or crimping new terminals to wire ends and then pushing them into the sockets of a used box. Maybe it’s easier to install a new wire harness, I think. I doubt they make one box with the same fitment and affordable. Let’s see what others have to say.

 

[TSB8C]

If you solder the wires, you could get another box (just the box) and splice all the wires by soldering the joints and using heat shrink. It's a little bit of a pain, but doable. I redid my entire harnesses (dash, engine, and rear) on the dining room table, soldering the butt joints and other known troublesome connections, plus adding some additional circuits for grounds and other features (EFI, remote start, alarm, push button start, etc). Not that many wires in a CJ harness, so a few hours is doable IMO. Otherwise you're looking at a new or used harness.

I see fuse boxes only (no harness) on eBay and such for $125 and up. A brand new Painless harness is $400 and up (depending on type). On eBay I see used complete harnesses for $300.

Used harness on eBay

New Painless harness on eBay

CJ fuse box only (NOS)

 

[ralbiero]

If you solder the wires, you could get another box (just the box) and splice all the wires by soldering the joints and using heat shrink. It's a little bit of a pain, but doable. I redid my entire harnesses (dash, engine, and rear) on the dining room table, soldering the butt joints and other known troublesome connections, plus adding some additional circuits for grounds and other features (EFI, remote start, alarm, push button start, etc). Not that many wires in a CJ harness, so a few hours is doable IMO. Otherwise you're looking at a new or used harness.

I see fuse boxes only (no harness) on eBay and such for $125 and up. A brand new Painless harness is $400 and up (depending on type). On eBay I see used complete harnesses for $300.

Used harness on eBay

New Painless harness on eBay

CJ fuse box only (NOS)

Great, thank you for the information! I was hoping I could just replace the box. I've checked the rest of the wiring and it's in good shape.