Hello All,

I have a beloved 240GL which has what is apparantly a "classic" 240 problem: corrosion of the fuses at the drivers feet leading to starting problems. This has been a problem in rainy times ever since I got the car 5 years ago. My solution was either to twiddle the fuses, or to replace the fuses and clean the contacts with sandpaper. Until this year, this always worked. Several times in the past month however, I've been left stranded when the car wouldn't start, and no amount of twiddling would help. I then replaced all the fuses, using Buss glass fuses for some of the positions, and dremeled the contacts to a shiny surface. After adding the fuses, I sprayed wd-40 to "prevent corosion". The car started fine and was ok for a day. Then this morning, the car wouldn't start again. I looked more closely at the fuse panel again and saw that there was a lot of corosion on the back of the panel. I especially noticed the number 7 fuse (fuel pump) back connector was green. So (after some challenges to unscrew the fuse panel), I cleaned the spade and replaced the female connector. I sprayed wd-40 on the whole back pannel to again "prevent corosion". I put everything back together, although the fuse panel wasn't screwed in as tight as it could be. But the car fired up immediately so I was very happy. I drove to work and 3 minutes into the trip the car died at the light. After much praying, fuse twiddling and key turning, the car started and I limped home.

Any suggestions of next steps? I was thinking about getting a new fuse panel, and changing all the female connectors at the ends of the wires that connect to it. Was the wd40 a mistake? Was the panel not being tightly screwed in a mistake?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Changing to the glass type fuses is a good start. For me out here by the beach in CA I had a lot of problem with corosion on the fuses. I would clean and tinker like you, but in the end the corosion would win. I did do two things that have really helped me. First I would make sure my AIR Ducts were closed at night. Not only the ones that are to left of the driver and to the right of the passanger, but I made sure the panel vents were also closed. I also made sure the reciculation button was pressed in so the air from outside couldn't get into the vents. Finally I used di-electric grease. This helped not only keep the electrical connection good for all the fuses but it has been doing a good job at keep off the corosion. I hope this info helps you out. Good Luck!

Sincerely,

Nickvjr
1979 264GL 119,900

Make sure fuel pump relay (s) are good, no cold solder, if so resolder or replace.

If the fuse connections are corroded and green, then you likely have water leaking down somewhere, maybe from the bottom of the windsheild, try to find that and take care of it, or this will always continue to persist.

Bend the fuse contacts to tighten. Remove the wire clips at the back and clean both ends, crimp the clips so they are tighter upon insertion.

For insulating all electrical connection just use di-electric grease, use this everywhere you have wire contacts, apply a thin coat to protect.

Greg Mustang
Montreal - Ottawa
Canada

Any chance there is a water leak around the windshield, door, or air vent. Changing to glass fuses helped me too. Also note that one contact for each fuse is bendable while the other is very solid. May want to make all fuses the same tight fit. I think WD-40 is only temporary as it evaporates.

I think you are doing the right thing with the fuses (BTDT). Other possibilities are the main and fuel relays just above the passenger's feet. I'm not sure if your car has two relays like my '80 or if they have been combined into one relay. I had to replace one of these on my '80. You also have the wiring harness with crumbling insulation. This can give all sorts of problems. I've had several 240's with this harness and have been able to get by with just replacing the wires which run under the front of the engine. Others have reported they had to replace the harness.