Tail lights, climate control lights, cigarette lighter lights not working

[lazytiger]

I just installed a 4-channel amp in my Vibe. Sounds awesome. One problem - after all was said and done it was nighttime, and I noticed my automatic lights (all the stuff that comes on via the light sensor) don't seem to be working. They don't come on automatically or intentionally (turning the stick on the left side of the wheel). Everything else seems to be working fine.What have I done? I had my center dash console completely out while routing the wires to the amp; did I leave something unplugged? Any idea what plug being unplugged would cause this behavior?Thank you!!

[ragingfish]

Gurantee you blew a fuse.Check all your under-dash fuses. Primary suspects would be any of the following:AM1ECU-BGAUGEIf it's neither of those, do the 'ole "pull each one till you find the blown one" trick. But the above seem to tie into systems that you notice the problem with.

[lazytiger]

Forgive my ignorance, I've never looked at the fuses before, and I noticed that the photos in your previous post about them are broken. It's kinda late to head out to the garage again tonight, but any help you can give about the location of the box, how to identify the particular fuses you mentioned, and how to test them would be appreciated. Do I need any special tools? If so, I probably don't have them. Thanks.

[damronjr]

Either under the dash on the drivers side or under the hood behind the battery.

[ragingfish]

Just look at them, you can tell if they're broken or not.There's a fuse puller in the underhood fuse panel. Use that.

[joatmon]

The fuse blocks are labelled, but there are diagrams showing the which fuse is which in the owner's manual.One of my few gripes about this car is that the fuse block that is up under the dash is a pain to get to. It is located behind the storage bin in the dash to the left of the steering wheel, but you can't get to it by pulling that storage bin, you have to look up from under the dash. I only mentioned the dash storage bin to indicate the location of the fuse block so you know where to look when you are on your back looking up under the dash.When you look at a fuse, you should see a thin silver metal band inside the transparent plastic body of the fuse, and a blown one is usually pretty obviously blown. Instead of a continuous thin band of metal between the two contacts there will be a break or a melted gap in the metal. If a break isn't obvious and you want to be sure, then you can use an ohmmeter to test the fuse, a good fuse acts like a short, a blown one is an open. Usually though, if the fuse looks good it probably is. You said everything else seems to be working fine, I assume that includes the radio and the new amp. How about the wipers? Which center console did you remove, the one around the shifter or the one between the seats? Where did you tap in for power for the amp?

[Boredstiff]

I just had this exact symptom after installing my Sony HU, my culprit was the 15 amp Tail fuse, once replaced all seemed normal again. The fuse box is placed in an interesting although slightly painful to access location, if you get on your back and look upwards towards the left hand side of the dash you'll see the fuse block directly above you. Hope this aids you and take care.Bored

[lazytiger]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »You said everything else seems to be working fine, I assume that includes the radio and the new amp. How about the wipers? Which center console did you remove, the one around the shifter or the one between the seats? Where did you tap in for power for the amp?The wipers work, the radio definitely works. I removed both consoles you speak of. Routing that power wire was a pain in the (removed), but I figured if I'm going to the trouble of installing this myself, I should do it right. No wires show anywhere, and no mods to my Vibe, except for another hole in the firewall for the power wire. Which answers your last question - the power wire for the amp goes directly to the battery.I'll be heading out to the garage soon to investigate the fuses.

[lazytiger]

Yep, it was a blown "tail" fuse. I was going to check all of them to see if any others were blown, but I grew tired of that after about 3 fuses. Forgive my ignorance once again - where would I look for a new fuse? Hardware store? Auto parts store? - gasp - The dealer?Thanks, guys.

[lazytiger]

OK, I just realized there are spare fuses in the engine fuse box. So I went ahead and replaced the fuse and now everything seems fine. But my question still stands - where to get more fuses?

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by lazytiger »OK, I just realized there are spare fuses in the engine fuse box. So I went ahead and replaced the fuse and now everything seems fine. But my question still stands - where to get more fuses?Should be able to get those type of fuses from any auto parts store in your area, i.e. Autozone, Pep Boys, Carquest, Kragen, whatever.

[joatmon]

glad you got it fixed, and that it was inexpensive. Take the blown fuse in when you go to get more, those shape fuses come in different physical sizes, I think the Vibe takes the smallest so having one with you will make it easier to be sure you're getting ones that will fit.