R_W_B
Senior Member
If any of you ever have the necessity to remove your fuse blocks so as to totally remove the side Electrical caddy, then this will help. I recently did this and found the whole affair to be quiet ambiguous as far as any real help from the repair manual.
First off the TSSM module comes off easily enough. It unclips and slides out the to front far enough to reach in behind it and remove the deutsch connectors from the TSSM module. The TSSM then comes out the front and the deustch connectors go out thru the back of the caddy. Pretty much the same scenario on the ECM plug and data link.
The main fuse comes out realitively easy, by inserting two screwdrivers into (one each) slots on either side of the main fuse. You then have to pry the screwdrivers simultainously against tabs on the main fuse block to release it and then (also simultainously) push the fuse itself towards the back of the Caddy and out the rear. Even if you release the tabs you will have to give it a push or it won't move.
However on the two fuse blocks at bottom things start to get a bit more interesting. First off here is a pic of the the two bottom fuse blocks. Notice under each one is a wide (but very short) slot.
Now the manual says, insert a small flat blade screwdriver to the back of the slot and pry the release tab. Well first off I have some pretty small screw drivers but the jewelers screw drivers were not long enough, so I got out my smallest 1/8 inch wide blade standard. The shank on it was too thick to go into the slot past the blade.
So I went shopping for a 1/8 inch blade screwdriver with the smallest (narrow dia) shank I could find. And I found one that was pretty small, but when I got home it would just barely go into the slot and since it was against the top and bottom of the slot hole it did not allow me to tilt it downward to get at the bottom of the tab.
So I got out my 4" grinder and ground both sides of the screwdriver's shank so as to make it more manuverable in the slot. And then with still some difficulty I was able to get the two bottom fuse blocks to release.
When I got everything off and could actually SEE what the scenario was, I think next time I will be better able to to know exactly where to press the screwdriver and when to twist it (since the distance back in the slot tends to loose any prying up with bending of the ground down shaft. I am disappointed in the design of this whole affair BTW.
Anyhow to show you what you will be up against here are some more pics with explanations.
This is the bottom of one of the (two) fuse blocks. Notice at the end of my thumb is a plastic tab that comes down off the bottom of the fuse block.
This tab (will show drawing more clear later) sits just inside another reverse position tab on the Caddy housing itself. The tab on the Caddy is the one that flexes downward when the screwdriver is twisted after being placed at the bottom of the junction. A 1/8 inch blade BARELY produces enough twist lift to get the tab down far enough to clear. A wider blade would be in order IF you grind down the shaft thin enough to get it into the area.
First I want to show you the Caddy part of this scenario.
You will notice at the end of the flashlite beam is a tab coming up from the slot. That slot IS the access slot for the screwdriver removal. That slot actually flexes downward when you pry or twist with the screwdriver. The fuse block does not move except to slide back and over this tab.
A more clear scenario is in this cad deptiction that I quickly created. The yellow color is the fuse block, notice the little tab on it's back bottom (as seen in first photo).
The cyan (lite blue) color is the Caddy housing flex tab (shown in second photo).
The red is my flat blade screwdriver (with ground flat shank) inserted at the proper position to twist the flex tab down and SIMULTAINOUSLY push the fuse block out the back of the caddy. As said an 1/8 inch blade barely separates the two tabs enough to allow exit. So SEEING what is going on can help a lot.
Now when you go to re-install the fuse blocks into the caddy, be aware they slide into two guide rails for alignment. The guide rails are shown in this next pic, my thumb is on one and the other is on the other side.
The whole affair slides in and out as shown here
Hope this helps someone someday. I sure would have loved to have known everything that is shown here when I first started trying to remove the fuse blocks.
First off the TSSM module comes off easily enough. It unclips and slides out the to front far enough to reach in behind it and remove the deutsch connectors from the TSSM module. The TSSM then comes out the front and the deustch connectors go out thru the back of the caddy. Pretty much the same scenario on the ECM plug and data link.
The main fuse comes out realitively easy, by inserting two screwdrivers into (one each) slots on either side of the main fuse. You then have to pry the screwdrivers simultainously against tabs on the main fuse block to release it and then (also simultainously) push the fuse itself towards the back of the Caddy and out the rear. Even if you release the tabs you will have to give it a push or it won't move.
However on the two fuse blocks at bottom things start to get a bit more interesting. First off here is a pic of the the two bottom fuse blocks. Notice under each one is a wide (but very short) slot.
Now the manual says, insert a small flat blade screwdriver to the back of the slot and pry the release tab. Well first off I have some pretty small screw drivers but the jewelers screw drivers were not long enough, so I got out my smallest 1/8 inch wide blade standard. The shank on it was too thick to go into the slot past the blade.
So I went shopping for a 1/8 inch blade screwdriver with the smallest (narrow dia) shank I could find. And I found one that was pretty small, but when I got home it would just barely go into the slot and since it was against the top and bottom of the slot hole it did not allow me to tilt it downward to get at the bottom of the tab.
So I got out my 4" grinder and ground both sides of the screwdriver's shank so as to make it more manuverable in the slot. And then with still some difficulty I was able to get the two bottom fuse blocks to release.
When I got everything off and could actually SEE what the scenario was, I think next time I will be better able to to know exactly where to press the screwdriver and when to twist it (since the distance back in the slot tends to loose any prying up with bending of the ground down shaft. I am disappointed in the design of this whole affair BTW.
Anyhow to show you what you will be up against here are some more pics with explanations.
This is the bottom of one of the (two) fuse blocks. Notice at the end of my thumb is a plastic tab that comes down off the bottom of the fuse block.
This tab (will show drawing more clear later) sits just inside another reverse position tab on the Caddy housing itself. The tab on the Caddy is the one that flexes downward when the screwdriver is twisted after being placed at the bottom of the junction. A 1/8 inch blade BARELY produces enough twist lift to get the tab down far enough to clear. A wider blade would be in order IF you grind down the shaft thin enough to get it into the area.
First I want to show you the Caddy part of this scenario.
You will notice at the end of the flashlite beam is a tab coming up from the slot. That slot IS the access slot for the screwdriver removal. That slot actually flexes downward when you pry or twist with the screwdriver. The fuse block does not move except to slide back and over this tab.
A more clear scenario is in this cad deptiction that I quickly created. The yellow color is the fuse block, notice the little tab on it's back bottom (as seen in first photo).
The cyan (lite blue) color is the Caddy housing flex tab (shown in second photo).
The red is my flat blade screwdriver (with ground flat shank) inserted at the proper position to twist the flex tab down and SIMULTAINOUSLY push the fuse block out the back of the caddy. As said an 1/8 inch blade barely separates the two tabs enough to allow exit. So SEEING what is going on can help a lot.
Now when you go to re-install the fuse blocks into the caddy, be aware they slide into two guide rails for alignment. The guide rails are shown in this next pic, my thumb is on one and the other is on the other side.
The whole affair slides in and out as shown here
Hope this helps someone someday. I sure would have loved to have known everything that is shown here when I first started trying to remove the fuse blocks.
