Won't start. Blew 80a fuse. Cluster dead

[cressida killer]

Hey guys.
My car wouldn't start.
Only headlights and door chime working (I think they're not connected to 80a fuse).
No response from instrument cluster.
Tried charging the battery and swapping another one in.
Towed to my mechanic. He replaced the 80a fuse and said it ran.
Went to get it and it won't start.
Any ideas? Thanks.

The cluster makes me think it is ignition related.
The fuse blowing makes me think of a wiring harness short or an ecu issue.
Also my radio was dead prior, hope that doesn't matter.
The first time I looked at the fuses but didn't check them w/ a multimeter.
It was also during the VA storms.
Also, wondering if it is factory alarm related.
88 Mazda 929, 165k, well taken care of, 3rd owner, 1st was old army guy that had it 20 yrs. 2nd was the son of Mazda service manager where it was sold/maintained. And it's my 4th car on this chasis.

[Matsuda 9]

had alternator go out that way, but my headlights blew together with the 100A fuse (Luce has 100A instead of 80A) although the headlights didn't work my foglights (where 929 has high beams) worked fine

so from my end, i say check the alternator

[cressida killer]

thx, i'll have the mechanic check.

[sim_rx3]

80 amp fuse supplies power to the alternator B+ and also the ignition switch power and secondary fuse box under dash behind kick panel.

first place i would check is disconnect the cable off the alternator and see if the fault has been cleared.

cheers

[older929]

Hmmm, this sounds strangely familiar. I recently had to do a lot of work on my 89 929, timing belt, water pump, noisy wheel bearings etc. I though the car was pretty much perfect. My wife took it to work and it stalled on her, all the dashlights went on, engine off so no steering or power brakes. Over the phone it sounded like it broke the belt again so I called a tow for her. About ten inutes later she calls and says it's running again (not the belt anyway) and she drove it home. I've been driving the car and it hasn't done anything bad but now I'm wondering if I disturbed something when I took out the battery to make for more room working onthe belt. Where's the B+ connector on the alternator? Is it that hard to remove connector on the back? Maybe the alt is getting ready to die, car has 102,000 miles on it which isn't much for this particular car but I guess an alternator can go for many reasons.
Another thing I noticed, the clock was way off. I am 99.9% sure I reset the clock after I connected everything at the end of the timing belt change. That would sort of indicate a pretty basic all power shutdown but the dash lights still worked and the car di start after a short time.

[NoD]

maybe a bad connection from battery-starter-alternator-main fuse box. b+ is on the back of the alternator, round contact, secured with a 10mm nut if i remember correctly.

[older929]

Great and Thanks. I'll do a carefull check relative to the battery to solenoid/starter and check the back of the Alternator. I did move the alternator around a lot while I was screwing with the timing belt. It's been 3 weeks and nothing's gone wrong since other than I think I cheaped out on the wheel bearing too much, one is starting to make noise again. I didn't think to re-grease them even though they were new. they only cost $17.00 each so I got what I paid for :-)

[nine2nine]

Yep, my 80amp fuse blew because the alternator cracked it. Pretty much the only thing powerful enough on the car to blow an 80amp fuse.

[sim_rx3]

Originally Posted by nine2nine

Yep, my 80amp fuse blew because the alternator cracked it. Pretty much the only thing powerful enough on the car to blow an 80amp fuse.

you would be suprised as to what would take out an 80 amp fuse.

[cressida killer]

Thanks everyone. Car is fine now. Just needed the new fuse and a battery recharge. My mechanic had it for a while. I didn't want to tow it more than once. I should just get AAA.