Honda 80 Amp Main Fuse Block 38216-SM4-003

Genuine Honda Main Fuse Block 80A (38216-SM4-003)

The main fuse is the one protecting everything. Every circuit in the car runs through it from the battery, which means when it blows, nothing works. It's also the fuse people can't find a replacement for at a parts store, because it isn't a blade fuse you pull with your fingers. This is the genuine Honda 80 amp block, and it lives in the under hood fuse box.

80A Or 100A? Check Before You Order

Important, because Honda used both and they look similar.

Every one of these cars has a main fuse rated at either 80 amps or 100 amps, and the rating isn't interchangeable. Fitting a higher rated fuse means your wiring harness is no longer protected at the level it was designed for. Fitting a lower one means nuisance blowing.

Look at the fuse you're replacing and match the rating. If it reads 80A, this is your part. If it reads 100A, you need the 100 amp block instead.

Acura owners: the Integra, RSX, CL, TL, and Vigor all use the 100A. If you're working on one of those, the 100 amp block is the part you want.

What A Blown Main Fuse Looks Like

Distinctive symptoms, and they're worth recognizing because they mimic a dead battery.

• No power at all when you turn the key
• No dash lights, no interior electronics
• Car won't crank or start
• No power reaching the ECU or fuel pump
• Battery tests fine but the car is completely dead

That last one is the tell. If your battery is good and the car has no signs of life whatsoever, check the main fuse before you go further. It's a two minute check that saves a lot of diagnostic time.

What It Actually Protects

Worth understanding, because the main fuse does more than the individual circuit fuses do.

Each blade fuse in your box protects one circuit. The main fuse protects all of them, sitting between the battery and everything downstream, including the ignition, the charging system, the ECU, and every accessory.

That's why a blown main fuse means a completely dead car rather than one thing not working. And it's why the rating matters, since this fuse is the last thing standing between a short and a wiring fire.

If It Blew, Find Out Why

Practical advice worth more than the part itself.

A main fuse doesn't blow from age or vibration. It blows because something drew current it shouldn't have, and replacing the fuse without finding the cause means blowing the new one too.

Common culprits on cars this age are a chafed harness grounding out, a failing alternator, or a wiring modification that didn't go quite right. On a swapped or heavily modified car, that last one is worth looking at first.

Fit a new fuse to get the car running, but don't treat a blown main fuse as routine maintenance.

Use The Genuine Part

On the fuse protecting your entire electrical system, this isn't the place to improvise.

The rating has to be accurate and the fuse has to open at the right point. A generic replacement that doesn't blow when it should leaves your harness unprotected, which on a thirty year old car with brittle insulation is a genuinely bad outcome.

This is the exact part Honda spec'd, and it costs almost nothing.

Fitment

1990-1993 Honda Accord
1994-1997 Honda Accord
1992-1995 Honda Civic CX, DX, EX, LX, and Si
1996-2000 Honda Civic CX, DX, EX, HX, and LX
1999-2000 Honda Civic Si
2001-2005 Honda Civic DX, EX, and LX
2002-2005 Honda Civic Si
1993-1997 Honda Del Sol S, Si, and VTEC
2000-2006 Honda Insight
2007-2008 Honda Fit
1992-1994 Honda Prelude

Part number 38216-SM4-003. Located in the under hood fuse box.

Who Should Grab One

This is for anyone with a dead car and a blown main fuse, and for the builder who'd rather have a spare on the shelf than be stranded. It's cheap, it's the correct part, and it's the one fuse you can't improvise around. Match your rating, find out what blew it, and get the car running.

Fits: see the application list above. Part number: 38216-SM4-003. Rating: 80 amp. Location: under hood fuse box. Type: genuine Honda main fuse block. Note: Acura models and some Hondas use the 100 amp block instead, confirm your rating before ordering.