need help
05-27-2011, 07:50 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: south bend, Indiana
Posts: 180
need help
I just bought led bulbs for my corner lights. Some how trying to install them, something shorted out or blew. Now my corner lights don't work and also the dimmer the radio button lights, the shift indicated lights, the heated seat lights, and also my taillights and license plated light doesn't work. I just found this out and I'm in a middle of a trip to atlanta.
05-27-2011, 08:38 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: inside my own mind
Posts: 1,506
Start with the fuse boxes in the car and under the hood and see if something blew. Then check the bulbs themselves and see if you installed them correctly. Switch it around and plug them back in to see if that works. I know it's an obvious solution but it's worth a try.
05-27-2011, 10:40 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,625
you more than likely did it while the wires were hot. next time you ever work on an electrical component on your car disconnect your battery.
you blew a fuse. go replace it.
i knew a dude that worked on his car while the battery was still connected. he melted the entire wire and started a small fire burning other critical wires.
two thousand dollars later, and an entire rewire of the car front to back he learned his lesson the hard way.
also invest in a volt meter and get LEDS that are plug n play if your new at it. some LEDs are not friendly if you put them in wrong.
you blew a fuse. go replace it.
i knew a dude that worked on his car while the battery was still connected. he melted the entire wire and started a small fire burning other critical wires.
two thousand dollars later, and an entire rewire of the car front to back he learned his lesson the hard way.
also invest in a volt meter and get LEDS that are plug n play if your new at it. some LEDs are not friendly if you put them in wrong.
Last edited by twentyeggs; 05-27-2011 at 10:45 PM.
05-27-2011, 11:51 PM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,625
yeah, also knew a dude that accidentally triggered his airbags!!! he bought the car the year after it came out ($$$), and totaled it with one wrong move. he cut the wrong wire and the dykes acted as a jumper wire completing the circuit. all side curtain and front airbags went off. it could have been avoided if he disconnected his battery. getting into the electrical is not child's play. you can easily destroy your car by messing with the wrong ones. and you can easily fry wires and start fires by not following the correct polarity, voltage, amperage, grounds, ect...
back when i was 17 and first learning how to tinker with cars i was putting in a venom performance chip in my 4th gen maxima (my very first car) the wires were not universally color coded, and i was lazy and took a gamble on the polarity. i thought eh its 50/50 and i have extra fuses. well the fuse didn't ark fast enough and my 20 min job took 3 days of reading electrical diagrams and taking my car apart, replacing a wire i melted. not a good idea to learn by doing when it comes to that stuff.
it wasn't until i took circuits in my engineering program before i found out how stupid it was to do that. i could have ruined a lot more than just a wire.
back when i was 17 and first learning how to tinker with cars i was putting in a venom performance chip in my 4th gen maxima (my very first car) the wires were not universally color coded, and i was lazy and took a gamble on the polarity. i thought eh its 50/50 and i have extra fuses. well the fuse didn't ark fast enough and my 20 min job took 3 days of reading electrical diagrams and taking my car apart, replacing a wire i melted. not a good idea to learn by doing when it comes to that stuff.
it wasn't until i took circuits in my engineering program before i found out how stupid it was to do that. i could have ruined a lot more than just a wire.
Last edited by twentyeggs; 05-28-2011 at 12:00 AM.
05-28-2011, 12:05 AM
#6
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: south bend, Indiana
Posts: 180
I hope I just blew a guess and nothing serious. They are plug and play. I have leds inside the car I installed with no problems. As soon as I get to my destination i'll start looking at all the fuses. I don't have a fuse box cover for the box in the engine bay. Can someone show me a pick of what fuses are in there.
05-29-2011, 01:51 PM
#9
it's not a fuse, it is a relay. Take it in to the dealer and tell them what happened. Any nissan dealer will know what to do. It is in the engine bay. I did the exact same thing only with my radio. I put ground for the head unit to the black wire on the harness. Wrong.... It needed to go to ground. Needless to say I blew that relay and two other relays at nissan until I fessed up and told them I installed a radio recently, the mechanic knew exactly what happened and helped me fix it. They didn't even charge me for it. I did end up buying everyone pizza at the dealer for it though.
05-29-2011, 05:25 PM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,625
it's not a fuse, it is a relay. Take it in to the dealer and tell them what happened. Any nissan dealer will know what to do. It is in the engine bay. I did the exact same thing only with my radio. I put ground for the head unit to the black wire on the harness. Wrong.... It needed to go to ground. Needless to say I blew that relay and two other relays at nissan until I fessed up and told them I installed a radio recently, the mechanic knew exactly what happened and helped me fix it. They didn't even charge me for it. I did end up buying everyone pizza at the dealer for it though.
don't go to the dealer... you got lucky.
i went in for a relay and they wanted to charge me 180 bucks for it.
i ordered one online and did it myself for 20 bucks
05-30-2011, 12:36 AM
#11
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: El Centro, California "dude its always hot here"
Posts: 2
that sucked right! i did the same thing a while back. its not gonna b the fuse box under ur dash. its gonna b a fuse in ur engine bay . on the left side , there two fuse boxes there . the next to ur battery and another on ur far left (when standing in front of ur car) check there. i found out the hard way . took it in to the dealer , got slapped with a 80$ bill. i just dont get it, the base off the led lights are the same (got the info for the lights off this forum) my taillights work fine , back up lights (all of them being leds ) cornering lights (leds) just wouldnt work TWICE! IF ANY ONE KNOWS WHY PLEASE let me know . i just have my leds just sitting there now . and i would really like to get them working.
05-31-2011, 01:13 AM
#12
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: south bend, Indiana
Posts: 180
that sucked right! i did the same thing a while back. its not gonna b the fuse box under ur dash. its gonna b a fuse in ur engine bay . on the left side , there two fuse boxes there . the next to ur battery and another on ur far left (when standing in front of ur car) check there. i found out the hard way . took it in to the dealer , got slapped with a 80$ bill. i just dont get it, the base off the led lights are the same (got the info for the lights off this forum) my taillights work fine , back up lights (all of them being leds ) cornering lights (leds) just wouldnt work TWICE! IF ANY ONE KNOWS WHY PLEASE let me know . i just have my leds just sitting there now . and i would really like to get them working.
05-31-2011, 01:46 AM
#13
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: El Centro, California "dude its always hot here"
Posts: 2
ya there is . its not that big ,it like 3x8 box at most . like i said left hand side nearest to you . hope this helps . its kinda tucked in . but i havent been under the hood of my car , since i blew it the 2nd time. i really wanna go back and try again . but dont wanna risk any major damage.
05-31-2011, 03:32 PM
#15
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: south bend, Indiana
Posts: 180
ok found the other fuse box and it was the taillight fuse that was blown. replaced that and everything was working fine now. tried to install the led and it didn't work. even flipped it around and didnt' work. anyone knows. i have the vled one.