Fuse Box. Engine compartment, lower level.

[ausable]

The engine compartment fuse box apparently is double stacked and I cannot for the life of me access the lower portion. Seems incredibly awkward, at least for me, to access a simple thing as a fuse. Sigh. I'm after fuse #64 and it's down in the depths.


Anyone been "down there" yet? Any tips on removing the upper portion? The owner's manual has a couple of really crummy sketches but not a lot of help. Thanks.

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[ausable]

Well, with some help and encouragement from some folks, got it done. Getting in is a horrible job, just for the sake a simple fuse. May you never need to do it. Putting it back together is pretty simple.

 

[dmeyer302]

Got any tips for the record?

 

[ausable]

Got any tips for the record?

First, a gripe. The owner's manual is of almost no help.

Disconnect negative battery cable.
Remove the two lever release power cables from top of case. Tuck them, as best you can, back toward firewall out of the way.
Loosen red wire bolted onto back of box, tuck it back out of the way.
Remove the "T" shaped top cover.

Next comes the worst part. Using a stubby flat screw driver, find the two main tab releases. PITA. One is on engine side the box, the other on the rear. There is a third spot with a through tab I also loosened that isn't described but is in lower corner of firewall side.

The "trick" is to pull up on top portion SOMEHOW. You need upward pressure constantly. Can't really describe were to grab, but find places to keep upward pressure. This is where you'd like to have 3 hands. As you release a clip, upward pressure must be maintained as the top will want to gravitate back downward. The firewall side must elevate first. You'll find the lid constantly falling back down and the clips snapping back into locking position. But eventually, you just have to win.

Once the top layer is remove, the fuses you seek are inside. The bottom of the lid has a door and it too will be released with three clips.

There it is. Almost none of this is mentioned or described in the manual. They train surgeons with a methodology called "See one, do one, teach one". Unfortunately, I had never seen anyone "do one" before, so the learning curve was frustratingly tedious. But now that I have done one, so I teach one, that is I share what I did. Hope it helps someone along the way.

Why the double stack box? My F-150 doesn't have it. First, fuse boxes used to be tiny as cars didn't have THAT many circuits. Today's high tech, mobile electronic, computerized nightmare require dozens and dozens of circuits. There just wasn't room, I suppose, for a larger, one level power distribution box. But the nightmare that is this engineered space saver is an absurdly difficult solution when a simple thing like a fuse replacement is required. The average driver is going to have to return the vehicle to the dealership for an hour of shop time for a simple $4. fuse replacement!!! Sad. Here ends the Op Ed portion. Best to everyone.

 

[ausable]

what fuse blew that you needed to replace? I know #64, but what does it do?

.

The manual DOES have a nice fuse chart, for which I was grateful. Overall I'd not give the manual very high marks. #64 is a 30amp, M-case mini, labeled "Trailer Brakes". I assumed this meant the circuit which feeds to the hidden four wires Ford taped in by the driver's side kick panel. While Ford's been beat up enough about the lousy decision NOT to put a ready plug for brake controller, they honestly deserve the criticism. Bad enough they touted the Ranger's 7500 lb towing capacity but failed to mention that they did not install a built in brake controller option. It's 2019 for heaven's sake!!!!

Then, they further botched up the launch with not even having a "plug and play" socket on the wiring for after market brake controller install. It's unconscionable in this day and age. Four stubbed off wires, that's it. To add to the cruelty, the wires are absurdly short and access to them require contortionist skills beyond measure. Ask anyone who has wired in butt connectors down there.

Long story short, I discovered my brake controller's plug had cross contact and blew the #64 fuse. So the joy just kept on giving. It's all fixed now and all is well, but what a nightmare of design, manufacturing and marketing decisions. There's no reason for Ford not to address these in the coming months and years.

 

[Toytec]

veeery helpful post. I was looking at that box and doing a head scratcher as well. Good to know.

 

[dmeyer302]

Well, I got caught by this failure of engineering this week. Requiring tools to replace a fuse is just completely unforgivable. This isn't something I would want to do in a parking lot. It's not something I wanted to do in my garage.

If you're the type who likes to keep spare fuses on hand (like me), you'll also want 10 and 13mm sockets, and a variety of fuse types. No, they couldn't make it simple. The various trailer tow circuits use 2 or 3 different types of fuses. Just another knife in the back.

Anyway, I made a video.

 

[meistreguy]

Well, I got caught by this failure of engineering this week. Requiring tools to replace a fuse is just completely unforgivable. This isn't something I would want to do in a parking lot. It's not something I wanted to do in my garage.

If you're the type who likes to keep spare fuses on hand (like me), you'll also want 10 and 13mm sockets, and a variety of fuse types. No, they couldn't make it simple. The various trailer tow circuits use 2 or 3 different types of fuses. Just another knife in the back.

Anyway, I made a video.

Very helpful video!

 

[Hethern]

Well, I got caught by this failure of engineering this week. Requiring tools to replace a fuse is just completely unforgivable. This isn't something I would want to do in a parking lot. It's not something I wanted to do in my garage.

If you're the type who likes to keep spare fuses on hand (like me), you'll also want 10 and 13mm sockets, and a variety of fuse types. No, they couldn't make it simple. The various trailer tow circuits use 2 or 3 different types of fuses. Just another knife in the back.

Anyway, I made a video.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this video!!

 

[GitRDone]

So odd finding this post now after changing out the #71 fuse yesterday (trailer running lights). I ran into the same issue locating the two release catches for the lower fusebox. Other surprise: That tiny fuse is relatively expensive, and my local auto parts store had only one in stock. I made sure to find and fix the short in my trailer wiring before I replaced the fuse.

 

[WOADKIL]

I accidentally snapped off the two clips towards the firewall..... So I have a small bungee holding the lid closed. DOAH!

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