Chrysler Repair: Electrical system, uncooked spaghetti, fuse panel

Question
Have '88 Dodge Dakota.  Just cut-off.  Found 1/2 of panel, (on right rear side of fuse panel not receiving elect. power).  No electrical schematic available.  What could possibly be cause? ("V6)

Answer
Hi Joe,
I don't claim any expertise on trucks (the Dakota is a truck, correct?)but Chrysler engineering probably is consistent throughout the domestic lines. Can you tell me what the "1/2 panel (on right rear side of fuse panel not receiving elect. power") looks like, or at least what are the constituents of this panel? Is it 1/2 of all the fuses, or is it a engine controller, or a relay block, or?
I believe that if the trucks are like the cars that in '88 you should find underhood, behind the battery, in the main + cable there will be a split in to a package of single colored wires that are loosely wrapped and appear like uncooked spaghetti. These are the fusible links that when a major current draw is experienced will be sacrificed in order to save the wiring harness from melting down. Each of these links feeds one or more of the fuses in the fuse block. Have you checked the components in the dead 1/2 panel to see if anything there looks fried? When the fusible link blows the resistive center wire is consumed and it becomes floppy, so you can pull on them one at a time to find those that are blown. To replace them you buy  fusible(s) of the same color(s) at an auto parts store, trim out the blown links enough to reach good-wire stubs at both ends, then splice in and solder the replacement link in place, having slipped some tubular insulation over the stub or new link prior to coupling and soldering so that the splice can be then electrically insulated against shorting out. Before doing any splicing though I would check with a digital ohmmmeter on the downstream end of the blown fusible to see what the resistance to ground is of the circuit that is being fed by the blown fusible. It should be at least a reading an ohm or you may just re-blow the replacement link. If not then you have to figure out which fuses are fed by the blown link  and see what is wrong with each of their circuits such as to over draw the fusible link.
Roland