Interior fuse box help..

Hi guys, ok, im going to try and explain this as best that i can lol.. so the slot for the 7.5A accessory fuse terminals on my interior fuse box seems to be loose. I was having problems with my stereo going off and on and long story short the problem was pin pointed to the fuse box and to the accessory fuse. With the fuse in if you wiggled it the stereo, clock, usb and cig socket would shut off so therefore i was told the terminals that hold the fuse in were loose. New interior fuse box thru our local Toyota center was over $600 not including labor. Someone at Toyota told us that since that fuse was the only one with a problem we should just run another line for just that fuse? instead of changing the whole box. How is this done? Would Toyota do this? This whole situation is so mind boggling its driving me insane! Any and all suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

P.S. the stereo installer by passed the 7.5 fuse and went to the ignition wire for the stereo to work.

 

If you can get a small flathead screwdriver in the fuse slot you could try to squeeze/bend the contact points closer together. Disconnect the negative battery cable before doing this just to be safe.

Or you could try soldering a bit of extra solder onto the removed fuse to make its contact point wider. Use just enough solder to get a good fit. It might take a few tries but small increments are best since you don't want to push the contacts too far apart. That might get it to fit more securely in that fuse location. Just don't use that modified fuse in any other slot and carry around a spare modified fuse in your truck.

 

As much as I hate to recommend this, you can also "twist" the legs of the fuse ever so slightly to make them fit tighter in the fuse box. It's kind of sketchy, but it's cheaper than a whole new fuse box. I guess I'd have to question how the slot got widened out in the first place, but that's water over the dam right now.

 

A friend of mine did twist the legs a little for now just to get that snug fit and so far so good. He also is going to put a little solder on the legs of another fuse and make them just a little thicker so they fit better too. Is this something that happens often? Can I buy these same fuses at Napa auto parts or o'rielly's? Thanks guys you're awesome!

Oh and apparently the friend I trusted to install my stereo in the first place did a number on my truck with both the fuse box and cutting wires from my stock radio wire harness! Lesson learned for sure!!

 

If the correct fuse type was properly inserted into the slot this shouldn't have happened. Your local auto parts store might stock these. You'll need the low profile mini fuses. Don't use the standard mini fuses since the leads are longer and could damage the fuse box.

If you can't find them in the auto parts store you can order them from Digi-Key (see attached file). My auto parts store only had one fuse value (of course the wrong rating) so I ended up buying an assortment from Digi-Key. I'm sure you can find cheaper fuses on eBay or Amazon but the ones from Digi-Key are Littelfuse which is a reputable brand.

 

Thank you. I got a box of 5 fuses from Napa auto parts. The mechanic did 2 of them with solder and told me to keep them as spares. He also said that since the fuse he bent a little is working to just leave it be. I must say though, those are the tiniest fuses I've ever seen!

 

I'm glad to hear you got it fixed. Yeah, those are some really small fuses.