I live in MI and my driver side mirror quit de-icing. Dealer says it’s the fuse block and $800, but not necessary until other fuse issues come up which may not happen anytime soon. I’m driving from Mi to FL soon and concerned about car trouble while traveling. I have less than 50,000 miles on my car and am retired. What should I do?
Get a second opinion. I think the bad fuse block diagnosis is bunk.
I agree with missileman.
How/why would the entire fuse block of a 2-3 year old car need replacement?
I would suggest looking in The Yellow Pages for an auto electrical specialist, and having him diagnose the problem.
To fix it just need to pull the rubber that cover the cable and you will see the broken cable. I bet that s not only the window but the door sensor and the speakers. I suggest to go by the autopart and pick up Wires connector. Need a lot of patient as there is not a lot of room and the cables are very short.
Has anybody verified that the heating element for the mirror is even getting power?
I’d check that first
if there’s now power, then check the fuse
I’m not where that heating element is grounded, but check that also
The fuse block itself is about the last thing I’d expect on a 3 year old vehicle
GM has had issues with their fuse blocks failing. I just had a Buick we sold awhile back come in stalling intermittently and the problem was the interior fuse block. From what I was told it is a know issue and the fuse blocks have been redesigned. I would ask you dealer if they can provide any type of factory assitance.
@SteveC76
That Buick you mentioned . . .
Was the fuse block partially melted?
I ran into that awhile back, but it was on an older GMC truck. Some circuit wasn’t working. It turned out that the fuse block was partially melted. I did a work-around, because the truck wasn’t worth a new fuse block. I ran the fuse and relay external of the fuse block. It’s been fine for a few years now
Yes the terminals for the fuel pump relay were burnt. I was going to disassemble the block and never did. It must be pretty common since the local Buick dealer had the fuse block in stock.
The Buick problem sounds like the old VW problem where the fuse blocks would burn. The high current draw of the fuel pumps through the small gauge wiring would overheat the pins in the fuse block connectors to the point where the fuse block and connector would practically weld themselves together.
Often leading to an inoperative fuel pump and the tow truck of course.