Jump to content

Climate Control/cigarette Lighter Blowing Fuse


Recommended Posts

What could be causing the climate control system to blow the cigarette lighter fuse? Sometimes it blows immediately, sometimes after a couple of days, sometimes a few hours or few minutes (I've been through a lot of fuse's!)

Checked the cigarette lighter socket for coins or anything that could be causing a short in there. Found some burnt debris which I scraped out but that didn't help. Would it be worth the effort to change out the cigarette lighter before going to the repair shop?

It definitely seems to do with the climate control system. If I can get the climate control off before the fuse goes it doesn't blow with just the lighter socket being used. I use it for my XM Radio and Phone battery charger.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

PS Is there a write up on how to change the cigarette lighter?

The fuse blow even if the climate control is off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't confirmed it yet but I suspect it is the cigarette lighter itself. I think it's old and weak and because of the high temperatures we've been having in Nor Cal lately the cigarette lighter circuit thinks a lighter is in there exceeding the heat range?

This morning, while the temp outside is reasonably cool it is working fine.

By the way, if you have a similar problem, leave the fuse cover off and use a circuit breaker while you figure it out. It will save a lot of fuse.

I'll post when I have the final solution

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Usually it has been related to something metal falling down into the cig lighter such as a coin or something.

The only other thing I have seen is with after market stereo's. Sometimes the wire gets pinched during the install and eventually grounds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still isn't fixed but is working? After blowing about 10 fuses, I put in a circuit breaker, it tripped about 30 times (10 times per incident) and hasn't tripped or blown a fuse in awhile. I'll pull the circuit breaker soon and see if a fuse will hold up.

I never unpluged the cigarette lighter because it's hard to do and it didn't really make sense. I used a multimeter to check continuity in the socket and it was OK.

It really seems to be a bad climate control unit. I'm watching one on Ebay right now. I tried all the configurations I could think of and it was still blowing the fuses, ie: A/C off, Climate Control off, Recirc Mode On and Off.

I think one of the Modes went bad, whenever it is in the Floor only position, it doesn't seem to work at all. In any of the other 3 or 4 positions the fan will come on automatically.

Plus there is a quite a delay it going from Cold to Hot, ie: I park in the afternoons and it's 95 degrees out, get up at 4:30 AM and put the heater on and it may be 1/2 hour before I start getting heat.

Wish me luck with the Ebay bid and product. Local junkyard is out of climate controls for the SC400

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think LLS may have called it. I couldn't really find anything so I purchased a control unit off E-bay ($175 w/shipping). While waiting for delivery I thought I would get everything disassembled so when I did get it I would go right in and not sit on my work bench for the next 6 mos or next car whichever came first.

Anyway, while getting ready I thought I might as well pull all the wiring from the previous owners aftermarket stereo install. Well part of it ran off the cigarette lighter circuit and on that wiring run I found a short to ground. Fourtunately it must have fixed itself because the circuit breaker I installed hasn't tripped in awhile. I'll put fuses back in today to see how they hold up.

The control unit is still going to get changed out. The screen is going black and I'm not sure if all the times the circuit blew it didn't damage something in the control unit. Besides, it's paid for. Biggest beef I'm having now is it takes almost 15 minutes before hot air starts blowing. Now that it's cooling off and I drive alot at night. It's a PIA.

By the way, if your unit is giving you problems here's how to check the codes: While pressing the ON/AUTO button and the RECIC switch while turning the key to ON, the display will flash four times and and if you have a problem it will display a code. I am not going to post all the codes but if you respond in this forum I'll look it up for you. While in this diagnostic mode if you press the other side of the RECIRC swith for Outside air, it will run a actuator test on all the output modes and fan speeds.

After I install the new control unit if I'm still having issues I will go the cabin air temperature sensor which is what I should have done first.

Or, if anyone has already gone through this, let me know what their fix was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...

Forums


News


Membership