wiring harness specifics, what AMP fuse? 1987 K5
 

As the title says, fixing this harness from an 87 K5. See the area circled in blue coming off the 12V junction, looks to be orange 14 gauge to a fuse then 12 gauge red. (my guess) i want to know what amp that fuse is or is the whole orange wire the link. Wanting to fix the varmit chews, but would rather replace that fuse with something more common. My local autoparts carries fusible links, but prefer to make it a replaceable.
All the harness diagrams I found on line just state that it is a fusible link.
thanx, Crossy

Re: wiring harness specifics, what AMP fuse? 1987 K5
 

Where does that particular wire go? Guessing anywhere from 20-30a at least, given the size of the wires.

Re: wiring harness specifics, what AMP fuse? 1987 K5
 

This is all I could find on the orange wire. I’m thinking the whole orange wire is a fusible link.

Re: wiring harness specifics, what AMP fuse? 1987 K5
 

The small wire is the fusible link, it's smaller than the wire it protects so it melts before the main wire does. The black part is just the connector.

Re: wiring harness specifics, what AMP fuse? 1987 K5
 

so what would be the melting amperage of the orange wire? lol

Re: wiring harness specifics, what AMP fuse? 1987 K5
 

That's a 1mm fusible link. The plastic is molded over the splice between the fusible link and the actual wire by whomever GM had building these harnesses... Precision, Blaylock, ....
That looks just fine.

That could be one of the main cab power connections, your AC blower HI power wire or one of your alternator connections.

Re: wiring harness specifics, what AMP fuse? 1987 K5
 

There's a reason they use fusible links and not a fuse.

Re: wiring harness specifics, what AMP fuse? 1987 K5
 

Fusible links are ultra slow blow fuses that are more difficult to replace than fuses by design... for lack of a better description.
They have a specific design purpose that they are uniquely suited for.

What Am I saying?
They are time consuming to install on purpose. This forces the owner to discover what's causing the large current draw instead of slapping a larger fuse in place and eventually setting fire to the vehicle. This is not the main purpose of using them just a happy side effect...
These circuits also usually contain "high inrush current" devices like tungsten filament lamps and electric motors that draw significantly more power on startup than they do while running. Alternators fall into that category as well since a fairly depleted battery sucks up a big slug of current when charging starts before nearly instantly settling at a lower charge current. Look at your battery charger analog Ammeter needle. It swings high and settles down lower almost instantly when you switch on the charger.
Those large inrush currents will burn out regular fuses after several (10-30) cycles and circuit breakers don't like it either if they aren't rated for electric motor duty. Fusible links can be rated a lot closer to the running current of the attached devices without being overly stressed by a second or less of high inrush. This way when the circuit starts to draw more current continually than it should it will burn up the link rather than the attached wiring harness or device.