Here's a copy of what I posted to this thread on slantsix.com:
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Just a guess, but take a look at all the Fusible Links in the underhood wiring. On my 82D150, most of them are right there on the fender, altho one is right by the battery.
They should be smooth, clean and relatively hard, with no corrosion at either end. If one of them is lumpy, soft or burnt, that's a potential culprit.
Last time I needed one, the local Dodge dealer had them. You have to splice it in where the old one was (which is sometimes hard to do if it melted at a rubber boot, as I found out...). They are color-coded as to Amperage rating. I believe they are really just a down-sized link in the wiring (if you look at wiring diagram, you will see they are smaller than the wires to which they are connected), intended as a weak place in the harness or slow-blow fuse to protect the rest of the wiring without the production fuss of putting in fuse holders and fuses.
I did some internet research a while back and came up with these values, but I don't recall where I got them and I certainly can't swear to them:
10g 30Amp
12g 20Amp
14g 15Amp
16g 7.5Amp
It bothers me that as you increase wire size by one wire gauge step, you double the Ampacity until you get the last one -- seems like it should be 40Amp instead of 30Amp.
One of my future projects is to replace the links with a panel of auto-reset breakers, like the kind used in RV stuf, like brake controllers, chargers, etc.
A second possible culprit is the connection thru the bulkhead connector. I read recently somewhere on this forum that CC has a fix for bad connections that involved removing wires and connector hardware for both sides, drilling thru the connectors, feeding the wire thru from one side and splicing it to the other wire.
Oops! You said you were getting power to the fuse box, so the above is not likely. Might be your ignition switch harness? Replaced mine recently and aside from pulling the steering wheel and needing ring pliers, it wasn't all that difficult. New harness/switch for my truck was about $25 at Advance or AutoZone.
Dunno if you have glass fuses, but sometimes they look real good but are open on one end without looking burned.
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The colors indicate both the gauge and the amperage on the fusible links; my service manual wiring diagram shows the gauge and color of both the fusible links and the connected wires.
My fusible link blew right near the multible rubber connector from the battery, so I had to splice into the red wire on the battery side of the connector.
From some research thru Yahoo a while back, it seems that all a fusible link really is is a smaller diameter wire in a larger wire run (which is all a fuse is, BTW, just that the fuse is shorter). I couldn't find out for sure, but I suspect that fusible links are more of a 'slow-blow' than 'quick acting' fuse.
I recall that the 93 Saturn had two fuse panels, one on the fender (about where the fusible links are on my truck) and one inside the passenger compartment near the driver's right foot. The fender fuse panel had the really big blade (ATC/ATO) fuses in it, so I would bet they are the fusible link replacements.
BTW, I have seen three sizes of the blade fuses. The Saturn had the monster size (aka Maxi) out on the fender and the mini size inside, while my 82D150 has the medium size inside. I think some amperages are available in all sizes.
I dunno the electrical differences (if any) between the various physical sizes, nor do I know the difference between the ATO and ATC types, unless they are just proprietary labels by Littel and Buss.
If you do a Yahoo search for "auto fuse atc ato" you will come up with a bunch of sources for fuses and holders.
Here's a link with pics of various fuses:
http://www.douglasproducts.com/AMT/fuse_page.htm
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First: try pushing the bulkhead in the engine bay, to see if this helps; maybe wiggle it a bit.
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). If it becomes a problem new maxi fuses are still a lot easier to replace then fusible links in my opinion. I also just for some reason trust a fuse to blow a lot more than a fusible link if something happens... but that probably is just a comfort thing.