I had my 1990 Acura Integra’s ignition switch replaced yesterday. Drove it 2.5 miles to home, then this morning when I went to drive it discovered that the a/c- heater fan motor and radio were dead. No power to either, no power to the antenna mast. These were fine when the car was taken in, but I did not run them when I took the car home. Now I can understand maybe one more thing breaking, but two at the same time? Could they be related?
To replace the ignition switch, they had to take apart the steering column, but could there be wires that were knocked loose during this? The shop checked the fuse, and found it to be working, so are still trying to see what’s wrong
The original a/c fan motor had been replace about 6 years ago. So maybe it just up and died, but it seems odd that power to the radio also decided to quit at exactly the same time.
I just feel like ranting, but any thoughts are appreciated.
Michelle
I really think that the problems are all related to the ignition switch replacement, understanding that all these items you mentioned are powered from the switch. Sounds like maybe a plug or wires were just pulled out of place.
Yes, there are lots of wires that have to be disconnected to replace the ignition switch. I think a few were not re-connected, and they should remove the steering column cover and check their work.
It’s unlikely that the blower motor, antenna, and radio are all on the same fuse. Check the fuses for all three. Something may have shorted out during the repair, especially if the battery was not disconnected first.
Yes, I also figured that stuff had been inadvertently disconnected. I’m not mad at the shop, just want them to remedy the problem and see if something came loose. I left the car with them and they said they checked their work and were confident that it was not due to the initial repair. As for fuses, you’re right that its not likely the radio, antenna mast and blower motor could all be on one fuse. The clock was reading an incorrect time (5:30 when it was actually 10:30 am) so I guess they did disconnect the battery before working on things. I still don’t have an answer as of last eve.
Not re-setting the clock is a indication that sloppy work was done.
I would bet they blew either a couple of fuses, or a fusible link. Fuses can “look” OK when they aren’t. Fusible links almost always look OK even when they are bad. Someone needs to look at this with a multi-meter and a schematic. It should be easy to find and fix.
Thanks for all of the great replies. I will mention this to the mechanics, although they always want to “find” the problem on their own! When I took the car in for the initial problem (see my post " 1990 Integra sometimes just dies while driving"), I kept mentioning the ignition switch, and they were not willing to bet on that until it actually (Finally!) failed for them when I had it towed in a second time. I know they want to look competent, and they really are pretty good, but, as a scientist, I think second opinions never hurt, particularly when troubleshooting.
There’s only a couple of wiring harnesses that get plugged together with the new switch.Its not like 20 separate wires need to be spliced together. usually if there not plugged together nothing will work.I’d bet fuses might be blown or the person putting this together has no clue about what to do