car trouble

[connie8890]

Can anyone give me a heads up on what to look for? 1990 Cadillac Deville, blows fuse(20amp) when turn on heater/ac/fan/defrost. Takes out whole panel. Fuel center, speedometer, but not clock. Think it has something to do w/car overheating once during summer. :help:

 

[Poohdaloo]

Sounds like you have a wire that's grounding out. I'd take that to an auto electric shop. That could be a nightmare to trace down.

 

[WadeTheWise]

you could just run a straight wire in the fuse box, so you don't have the fuse keep blowing out. that should fix it

Disclaimer:
I wouldn't suggest actually doing that, but if you don't know what it'd do, you can go ahead and try a fun little <quite costly> experiment.

In all reality i would agree with poohdaloo, some short somewhere in the system. Electrical problems bug me, that's why I'm going to college to be an electrical engineer.

Anyhoo, if you know what to look for, you could look at the wires going up to the dash, see if any of them have copper sticking out. Check the wires around your fan/heater core/engine compartment, look for any wires that look mangled or meleted or any other adjective that might describe a wire that could short your system. Might checl the switch in the dash too, it could be shorting out too. Or you could just not use the heater any more. That would work too

 

[Visionary]

Can anyone give me a heads up on what to look for? 1990 Cadillac Deville, blows fuse(20amp) when turn on heater/ac/fan/defrost. Takes out whole panel. Fuel center, speedometer, but not clock. Think it has something to do w/car overheating once during summer. :help:

A similar thing happend to me one time. I couldn't figure out why the fuse kept blowing. Eventually I found a loose screw that my wife had found on the floorboard and thrown into the cigarette lighter/power port!

 

[clubchick]

A similar thing happend to me one time. I couldn't figure out why the fuse kept blowing. Eventually I found a loose screw that my wife had found on the floorboard and thrown into the cigarette lighter/power port!

so it's safe to say your problem is because you have a screw loose?

 

[Visionary]

so it's safe to say your problem is because you have a screw loose?

Just noticed... Seems like that is the cause of most of my problems! I will check that first from now on. Thanks!

 

[groove1]

Sounds like a wire short or it could be the transfusable link.

 

[dehawk]

so it's safe to say your problem is because you have a screw loose?

Nope the problem is he has a wife.

 

[connie8890]

I was wondering if it could have anything to do w/car overheating once. Could the compressor going bad make a fuse short out? I am not totally ignorant w/electrical problems, I went to college for electronics for a short time, rewire my own lamps, fix my VCR, etc. But when it comes to automobiles I turn stupid. I know it is either a short circuit or an open circuit, but where to look for it, that is the question.

 

[clubchick]

Nope the problem is he has a wife.

heaven help your future wife. i can only imagine... no, wait... i can't....

 

[WadeTheWise]

Im not sure exactly whats wrong, but here's my suggestions on where to go for better advice than us cheepskates here at spoofee.

Car Talk

Check around this website, there might be a forum you can ask questions to, or just call in to the show on saturday and ask them your question. Not only are these guys very knowledgable on how to diagnose car problems, but they have a lot of fun doing it.

You could try going in to your local car parts place (i.e. Advanced Auto Parts, Auto Zone, O'Riely, Car Quest, etc.) and go in and talk to the guys in there what they think might be the problem. Most of the time the people that work in these places are really nice to talk to and pretty knowledgable. And if you go in when they aren't very busy they'll be happy to talk with ya about your car for a while.

That's my suggestion.

As for how I would diagnose it, per the overheating issue, I'm not really sure how much affect that would have on you're electrical. Although, since it happens when you turn on your fan, it's possible that the wiring in and around the fan is what's causing your trouble. That's about as close as I can guess with what knowldge I have...

 

[WadeTheWise]

heaven help your future wife. i can only imagine... no, wait... i can't....

Yeah, dehawk's never gonna get married. Everytime he gets a woman behind the fence she does the scared asian face and runs away.