Has anyone else bypassed the Littelfuse Mega 175 with a standard battery terminal?

[iPlan]

Has anyone else bypassed the Littelfuse Mega 175 with a standard battery terminal?

So ~ my first post.

Car died on side of road ~ no power to anything.

Battery checks out good.

I figured it was corrosion on the battery terminals, so I addressed that issue.

Rehook everything, and still no power to anything.

Still on side of road (within walking distance to Advance Auto Parts Store).

Get on my phone and see everyone is having trouble with the negative battery terminal ~ so I went to AZ and got a standard battery terminal, and replaced the faulty OEM terminal.

At this point, I realize that the positive terminal will no longer lock down on the positive battery post any longer ~ I guess I went crazy with that battery cleaner tool on the terminal and post. So I needed a new battery terminal for the positive cable.

So back to AZ.... They don't have the "OEM" replacement terminal either.... so I get a standard terminal, chuck the 175 mega fuse, and cluncky assembly that goes with it, and wire it the way you would "old school."

It runs perfectly.

So ~ what "was" the purpose of the 175 mega fuse, and am I okay running the vehicle without it?

It seems all it does is cause problems, but I can't get a verification that it is "okay" to eliminate it.

I have searched and searched, but can not find an answer to this question, hence the post.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

iPlan

 

[kbuskill]

It's not really necessary as long as you don't mind your truck burning to the ground. Not to say it will, but it could and if it did and the insurance company found out it was removed they would deny any claim. It's your truck so it's your call. I would not run it without it. My 2 cents... YMMV

 

[iPlan]

"Truck burning to the ground?" Do you have a supporting link?

 

[kbuskill]

"Truck burning to the ground?" Do you have a supporting link?

No... just common sense. The factory puts them there for a reason, not just to spend money on something that is unnecessary.

If, as an example, your battery cable leading down to the starter were to get up against the exhaust manifold and the hot manifold melted the insulation off causing a direct short to ground what do you suppose would happen without a fuse to blow?

 

[iPlan]

This is my first GMC/ Chevy..... I have never seen a fuse at this point in the chain on any other vehicle, and the part seems to be the source of plenty of electrical problems.

(comments in the video ~ assuming you watch it on youtube.com ~ are better source of information).

 

[kbuskill]

Not sure which model truck you have but that fuse is located on the firewall on the Suburban and Tahoes. The Escalade puts them on top of the battery for some reason. Most vehicles have some sort of main fuse or fusible link in this location to keep from burning anything up.... unless someone has removed it. Again, your truck, your choice... I personally think its a bad idea but I am just some guy on the internet.

 

[iPlan]

^2013 GMC Yukon Denali (my vehicle)

 

[kbuskill]

I'm guessing yours is in the same location as the Esky since they are basically the same truck. Again, if it were mine, I would just clean the connections at the fuse really well and put a little dielectric grease or something on them to make sure they don't get corroded and make sure they are tightened to German specs and call it good enough. I would also replace the battery cables. You may as well take the opportunity to do the BIG 3 upgrade. That's what I did. I made up my own cables from marine grade OO gauge tinned copper wire, soldered all my lugs on the ends and used marine grade heat shrink that has adhesive inside to seal them up really well. Yes double O gauge is way overkill considering the stock cables are about 4 gauge but I got a really good deal on it and wanted to go bigger. I replaced the wires from the alternator to the battery, battery to engine block, battery to mega fuse, and I made a ground cable from the engine block to the chassis of the truck (which these trucks didn't come with) and I repurpossed one of old cables as another engine block to body ground cable to go along with the ground strap on the drivers side rear of the engine.

 

[PG01]

13 went to battery no firewall any more

 

[DStarr02]

The reason for is as kbuskill stated is if you know much about batteries, when a hard short happens, the battery will start flowing as much current as possible, this makes the battery get hot and the hotter it gets, the more current it will flow eventually going into thermal run away causing a fire or explosion of acid. Neither one is fun. I learned about this stuff working with aircraft batteries, much bigger but same chemistry.