BG Auto: Busted fuse question

[Lbelle]

So my headlight is working, but my tail light and dash lights stopped. I'm thinking it is a busted fuse, because this kind of thing has happened before. I used to have spare fuses in my car, but some dickhead broke into my car a few weeks ago and stole my spares that were in a little box, but a few were left that had fallen out, although not the right size.

I decided it might not hurt to try a size 15 fuse in the slot for the tail lights, when it requires a size 10 fuse just to see if that really was the problem, and voila! they turned on. However, 5 minutes into driving home everything went dark again. I went to an autozone store to get the correct size fuse, and now the size 10 won't work.

Did I bust the circuit by putting in the size 15 fuse? I honestly don't know what the fuck I'm doing and could have easily just caused a lot of damage. I wanted to get BG advice on how to move ahead with this, as it's extremely dangerous and probably illegal for me to drive at night with my car in this state. Should I go to a mechanic or a dealership, and for either what should I say to not get ripped off or whatever?

Please help!

[kuronosan]

You should never put a larger amp fuse in the circuit because you always run the risk of blowing it out. You will probably need to replace the circuit now. Just buy the correct size fuse next time.

Secondly, you may want to take your car to the dealership and see how much damage was done (or take it to a Tires Plus). There isn't much else you can do.

[Cadsuane]

The "size" you're referring to refers to the amperage the fuse will take before it melts. Putting a 15 amp fuse into a circuit that's only designed to take 10 amps means 5 extra amps of current on a surge, which will probably destroy parts of the circuit. Sounds like that's the case, so go get it looked at.

[*Shinzon*]

Electrical problems can be a bitch, just hope the circuit was the only affected area.

[Mohoss]

cancer


amidoinitrite?

[Melena]

not even close.

Yea, get it checked out, you probably fried the circuit though, so expect to pay a decent chunk of money to get this fixed.

[Lbelle]

god dammit. Okay thanks guys.

[Plow]

Next time, if you must, try smaller, not bigger. It may just blow right away, but at least you'll know if the fuse was the issue, and it won't fuck up the rest of it.

[Militant]

Next time, if you must, try smaller, not bigger. It may just blow right away, but at least you'll know if the fuse was the issue, and it won't fuck up the rest of it.

This. Always go smaller if you must, never bigger.

Also, what kind of car is this? Some cars are notorious for the dash lights going out and it tends to be a harness more often than a fuse.

[Cyn]

God damn BG Doomsayer Squad.

In many cases with fuses the amperage of the fuse is well below the amperage that the wiring and parts are capable of bearing. If you put a slightly higher amperage fuse in and it blew in 5 minutes, there's a decent chance that most of your wiring is intact.

The real problem is what's causing the fuses to blow... if you blew a higher rated fuse that quickly you've probably got a short somewhere in the wiring that's allowing the electricity to run in a loop or to ground. Pretty much just a wire touching another wire or the frame of the vehicle when it shouldn't. But unless you know how to remove enough of your dash to get to the wiring and hunt the problem down, you may as well take it in to a mechanic to get it fixed.


Edit: And don't put a smaller fuse in instead for fuck's sake. A smaller fuse will blow REGARDLESS of whether you have a short circuit or not, making it more difficult to diagnose the problem. The same size is obviously preferred, but testing the circuit with a slightly larger fuse won't kill it. Just don't put one in that's like triple the amperage, and don't leave it in there, get the correct one in ASAP.

[Lbelle]

Well, turns out it had nothing to do with the fuse at all, and it was the wiring. One of the wires towards my rear license plate was exposed and was causing the problem. They had to rewire the whole fucking thing. Bleh.

[Cyn]

Should have just gotten it diagnosed and asked for advise. >.<

Hope they didn't charge you too much, replacing a small section of wire is easy and only costs a few dollars. Replacing the entire wire that runs through the entire vehicle because it's bad in one easy to get to spot is silly...

[Lbelle]

They charged a lot.

[Cyn]

Ah well, live and learn.

[Fhqwghads]

Must be that time of the year for auto problems. I got home today after a 20 mile drive and had smoke pouring out from my left front wheel well, and the stench of that smoke was unbelievably horrible. Something's wrong with the brakes, which was serviced by the vehicle's dealership a few months ago. Have to get it towed to them, because I sure as hell am not risking something catching on fire under there. All I know is they better not try to bullshit me into saying it's not their problem. They replaced the shoes & pads, turned the drums and replaced the disks when it went in. A little too coincidental for me.

[*Shinzon*]

Must be that time of the year for auto problems. I got home today after a 20 mile drive and had smoke pouring out from my left front wheel well, and the stench of that smoke was unbelievably horrible. Something's wrong with the brakes, which was serviced by the vehicle's dealership a few months ago. Have to get it towed to them, because I sure as hell am not risking something catching on fire under there. All I know is they better not try to bullshit me into saying it's not their problem. They replaced the shoes & pads, turned the drums and replaced the disks when it went in. A little too coincidental for me.

It's possible the brakes heated up and burned off some of the lubricants and chemicals that were on the brakes if you were using them aggressively very soon after they were replaced, though I can't say I've ever seen that in a regular car. Mostly trucks and heavy duty, or high performance vehicles.