Hey I'm new to the forum but looking for some advice I was wondering I just put in a newer wiring harness into my 86 4runner and I was wondering if anybody had any tricks to waterproof the interior fuse panel so if I where ever to get into a wet situation I wouldn't have to worry... any help would be much appreciated

 

Best way to water-proof is keep things out of reach of water. If I planned to do a lot of water-crossings and I had plenty of time to kill, I would rewire all critical electrical parts (fuse block, ECU, etc) overhead or on the dash - it's just a matter of extending wires. (Ugly but water-proof).

Without removing anything, you can fill fuse/relay socket contacts and fuse/relay pins with silicone (dielectric) grease before installing each of them. That should at least help water off of exposed metal. Fresh water should not cause shorts except on relay or switch contacts that are very close to each other. The more impurities there are on water, the more likely it would cause a short. Existing dust/debris would facilitate shorting. Muddy water would, too. Saltwater would do it even worse.

 

Thanks RAD4Runner yea I figured I should try this while I still had the dash and everything all apart so hopefully it makes it easier

 

yes, relocating all the important electronics to a higher location is usually the go-to fix. aside from dielectric grease, there is stuff called "conformal coating" which works wonders for waterproofing electronics since it's pretty much made specifically for this type of application. not sure how you would use it on connectiors, but on circuit boards it works great.

 

+1 on conformal coating, but once cured it would be a pain to remove in order to replace parts.

I guess ultimate water-resistant vehicle would be a diesel; engine does not require electricity to keep it running. It helps that on our 4Runners, the alternator is higher in engine compartment. On my 2001 XTerra, it was lower.

How abuot a Pelican case to accomodate Fuse Block, then make wires enter it via bulkhead connector?

 

O I'll take a look at that conformal coating stuff... and RAD4Runner yea I was looking at one of those I was also looking at a watertight bag used for kayaking and just putting the fuse panel in there and then have the opening up but the dash and just zip tying the bag to the kick panel