Changing the fuse in my car

[HummerTuesdays]

This past week the fuse for my radio blew in my car. At least, I assume that's why my radio & cigarette ligher (ok, phone charger) don't work anymore. How difficult is it to change? I have a 2001 Echo, and it seems to be pretty simple according to the owners manual.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Shootr]

Very easy.

1] open fusebox
2] use diagram that should be silkscreened onto lid to id the correct fuse
3] use plastic tweezers to remove old one
4] insert new one

Notes: Most cars are including spares and tweezers right there in the box, if not, buy kit at the parts house that has one in it.

Visually inspect "blown" fuse for obvious breaks. No breaks and/or no worky with new fuse = another problem

[HummerTuesdays]

That's what I thought, and that's what I hoped for. Someone is a Second-Guessing Steve, and didn't think I should mess with it. Any chance I could totally disable my car? I hate having a radio, but I would hate not being able to drive even more. :)

Thanks for the help.

[JoeyDVDZ]

If your fuse is blown, it could be indicative of a bigger problem, but first step is, of course, inspect & replace the fuse. If it doesn't blow out, it could have just been a momentary surge in your vehicle's power that did it. If it blows out immediately, I'd start looking for a ground fault. As for damaging the rest of your car, nah, that's what the fuse is there to do, protect against other systems being damaged by errant electrical problems.

[d0uche_n0zzle]

Time to buy a new car. Make it a Jap one, so you won't have to replace those fuses... :p

[THE FEZ MAN]

stick a penny in it

[HummerTuesdays]

Time to buy a new car. Make it a Jap one, so you won't have to replace those fuses... :p

It is a jap car.

stick a penny in it

The car came with extra fuses. No need for the penny.

As for the fuse blowing, I think it might be the charger for my new cell. I started the car, had the radio on, the charger plugged in, and as I went to plug in the phone, the radio went dead. I will definitely be keeping an eye on it, and be sure to turn the radio off so it doesn't come on as soon as I start the car.

[Ballbuster1]

Not an uncommon problem since alot of manufacturers seem to keep the
radio or it's memory feed and lighter sockets on the same circuit.

If you have the car with you next Sunday I'll take a peek. Many times you can
up the fuse capacity by 1 size and not cause a problem while avoiding this again.

[CousinDave]

Is it a factory installed or an after market radio?

If its an after market radio there may be inline fuses behind the radio, that could have blown as well.

If you change the car fuse and it still doesn't work, it could be an inline fuse.

[d0uche_n0zzle]

It is a jap car.


D'oh! :(

[Turfmower]

You drive a Leaf blower?
http://www.wise4living.com/hgblower/images/echo_pro.jpg

[sniper2323]

:action-sm I am now so disappointed in wackbag, after viewing this.

Radio works fine... Plug in cell phone charger.. all dies......

Try this, replace fuse. try radio again, if works.. great.

Replace cell phone chager with one that does not have a short.

(For electronic people) Cig lighter / power port should be able to charge a cell phone and have the radio on at the same time. If not then there is no point in having it as a cig lighter draws how many amps???? Is she using a Bag phone?

Please the answer is very simple.

[Legion of Six]

Bang on the dash real hard.

[rotten bastard]

This past week the fuse for my radio blew in my car. At least, I assume that's why my radio & cigarette ligher (ok, phone charger) don't work anymore. How difficult is it to change? I have a 2001 Echo, and it seems to be pretty simple according to the owners manual.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

:wtf:

[rotten bastard]

take out the old one and insert a new 50 amp fuse in and you'll never have to worry about again until you make an insurance claim

[Big Dick Mcgee]

You drive a Leaf blower?
http://www.wise4living.com/hgblower/images/echo_pro.jpgThat made me laugh hard.

[THE FEZ MAN]

your best bet is to replace the fuse with a paper clip then wrap the end of your cell phone charger in tin foil, and jam it into the socket, make sure you have a full tank of gas and the car is parked in the garage... ;)

[Big Dick Mcgee]

Just go home and jam a fork in a light socket.

[oandapartycock]

Find yourself a man and have him do it. :action-sm

[Cunt Smasher]

I gotta be the one? Put a .22 shell in it,dummy.

[d0uche_n0zzle]

I gotta be the one? Put a .22 shell in it,dummy.

Newer vehicles did away with that style of fuse, sir.

Please feel free to exercise your toe trigger option. :action-sm

[NotSoFast]

That's what I thought, and that's what I hoped for. Someone is a Second-Guessing Steve, and didn't think I should mess with it. Any chance I could totally disable my car? I hate having a radio, but I would hate not being able to drive even more. :)

Thanks for the help.

Sam, is this you?

Other than putting gas in a vehicle, changing a fuse is the easiest, most straigh-forward thing you can do. :huh:

[HummerTuesdays]

Is it a factory installed or an after market radio?

If its an after market radio there may be inline fuses behind the radio, that could have blown as well.

If you change the car fuse and it still doesn't work, it could be an inline fuse.

I didn't do more than just turn the key to see if the accessories worked, and the radio went on, and my presets are still there. I say it was a success

You drive a Leaf blower?
http://www.wise4living.com/hgblower/images/echo_pro.jpg

Pretty much. hehehe I love my fuel efficient Toyota.

Find yourself a man and have him do it. :action-sm

I'd much rather he cook & I change the fuse. It's less work.

Sam, is this you?

Other than putting gas in a vehicle, changing a fuse is the easiest, most straigh-forward thing you can do. :huh:

Agreed. But, since I'm not mechanically inclined, I wanted to make sure it was as easy as I thought. I've done it before, but that was probably 2 cars ago.


Thanks for all the help, especially from you, Fezman. :)

[Cunt Smasher]

Newer vehicles did away with that style of fuse, sir.

Please feel free to exercise your toe trigger option. :action-sm
The guuuuurrrrl didn't know it.Bit ruiner.:action-sm

[Glenn Dandy]

I'll bring my cutting torch to the Dinner next Sunday... We'll fix er up. Its best to just cut torch the entire fuse box out and run 8 gauge cables from everything in the car right to the battery.

I should torch the roof off to just in case your charger sparks so as to not suck all the oxygen from the vehicle killing you.

Just buy me some beers we'll call it even.

I would prefere the beers before I start.

[Razor Roman]

Shoulda just called me. I woulda told ya its easy to change the fuse, and when you mentioned it went out when you plugged in your new charger for the first time i'da told ya there's possibly somethin wrong with the charger. Then you would have told me to come over and look at it and I would have had dinner with Steve instead of at KFC tonight.

Stupid grrls.

[HummerTuesdays]

I'll bring my cutting torch to the Dinner next Sunday... We'll fix er up. Its best to just cut torch the entire fuse box out and run 8 gauge cables from everything in the car right to the battery.

I should torch the roof off to just in case your charger sparks so as to not suck all the oxygen from the vehicle killing you.

Just buy me some beers we'll call it even.

I would prefere the beers before I start.


Ooooo! I always wanted a convertible!

Shoulda just called me. I woulda told ya its easy to change the fuse, and when you mentioned it went out when you plugged in your new charger for the first time i'da told ya there's possibly somethin wrong with the charger. Then you would have told me to come over and look at it and I would have had dinner with Steve instead of at KFC tonight.

Stupid grrls.

Be nice. I can arrange to have someone spit in your food. :action-sm

[HummerTuesdays]

Ok, so it's definitely the car charger that's tripping the circuit. The fuse looks like these:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/theldyguin/Fuse.jpg

And it says "15" on it. Can I use a 20 or a 25 to stop the phone charger from tripping it? Or is my phone charger just fucked up?

[jackjack]

It's a bad charger. Don't put in a higher amperage fuse, especially if your're going to plug the defective charger back in.

The charger should only use an amp or so at 12v, there's plenty of capacity left in the cigarette lighter circuit to run that without tripping the fuse.

Do one last test to prove that to yourself, see if the cigarette lighter works as a cigarette lighter once you put in a new 15 amp fuse. They use ten times the power of a phone charger.

[THE FEZ MAN]

It's a bad charger. Don't put in a higher amperage fuse, especially if your're going to plug the defective charger back in.

The charger should only use an amp or so at 12v, there's plenty of capacity left in the cigarette lighter circuit to run that without tripping the fuse.

Do one last test to prove that to yourself, see if the cigarette lighter works as a cigarette lighter once you put in a new 15 amp fuse. They use ten times the power of a phone charger.


DO NOT PUT A CIGARETTE LIGHTER IN A POWER PORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

use some other type of charger or power do dad i would bet that your charger is bad, if you put a conventional cigarette lighter into the power port plug you will melt the inside of it and cause more problems than you had before

[HummerTuesdays]

DO NOT PUT A CIGARETTE LIGHTER IN A POWER PORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

use some other type of charger or power do dad i would bet that your charger is bad, if you put a conventional cigarette lighter into the power port plug you will melt the inside of it and cause more problems than you had before

No worries. It is a cigarette lighter, not a dedicated power port. It even came with the old-school cigarette lighter. I don't have an extra power port, either.

I am convinced I've purchased a shitty phone charger. I will be buying a new fuse in the morning, and a car charger this weekend. Although, I really want a solar powered cell charger. Time to internet shopping. :)

[sniper2323]

Ok, so it's definitely the car charger that's tripping the circuit. The fuse looks like these:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/theldyguin/Fuse.jpg

And it says "15" on it. Can I use a 20 or a 25 to stop the phone charger from tripping it? Or is my phone charger just fucked up?

This only works if you are my Father-in-law, and have good fire insurance.

[THE FEZ MAN]

No worries. It is a cigarette lighter, not a dedicated power port. It even came with the old-school cigarette lighter. I don't have an extra power port, either.

I am convinced I've purchased a shitty phone charger. I will be buying a new fuse in the morning, and a car charger this weekend. Although, I really want a solar powered cell charger. Time to internet shopping. :)
oh ok , its rare that a new car has a real ciggerette lighter the power ports are plastic on the inside and if you put a heating element in there it can fuck up the inside of the socket


oh and here's a solar battery charger.. you might end up needing an adapter or some such thing to make it work right, dig around the site and there might be something in there
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41427

[jackjack]

if you put a conventional cigarette lighter into the power port plug you will melt the inside of it and cause more problems than you had before

Are there actually manufacturers that make the sockets out of plastic now?? That's insane, who does that? FYI, I checked my 05 Dakota, it's a metal socket and the owners manual says its ok to use a 'cigar lighter'.

I have no doubt you've seen it be a problem, I'm just curious what company would do something as stupid as make a socket out of plastic that can accept a heating element.

[rotten bastard]

I'll bring my cutting torch to the Dinner next Sunday... We'll fix er up. Its best to just cut torch the entire fuse box out and run 8 gauge cables from everything in the car right to the battery.

I should torch the roof off to just in case your charger sparks so as to not suck all the oxygen from the vehicle killing you.

Just buy me some beers we'll call it even.

I would prefere the beers before I start.

TRUST HIM. HE DID AN EXCELLENT JOB AT FIXING MY HEATER.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w243/arble9/Funny%20Shit/Cars/Car_Fire.jpg