okay so I can’t upload any photos but on my 2008 Chevrolet aveo5 LS there’s an engine block fuse panel that has a fuse on the far right hand side that is rectangular whitish beige and has melted. this fuse is causing my tail lights and tag light to not function and push has come to shove and I must get this fixed. There is also a recall on my car for the daytime running light dimmer switch that is completely separate from this melted fuse issue but my recall cannot be addressed until first issue has been. Can anyone tell me what this rectangular fuse would be because I can find no diagram of any such and would anyone be so kind as to point me in the right direction of finding a replacement fuse panel, for all my attempts are futile. This car had been mine for 6yrs from brand-new with NO major problems EVER. I love my egg and want it to be in best shape when my friend who really needs a car is able and ready to purchase it from me.
Even the dealer has no parts? The car is only 6 years old, so I find it hard to believe. Most manufacturers keep replacement parts available for up to 10 years, even tho some may need to be ordered from a central warehouse. My Toyota dealer has parts available for my 22 yo Celica. And, if the car is under a recall, the manufacturer is legally bound to fix the recall issue. If that means fixing this issue first to perform the recall fix, he is legally bound to do so. Recall issues are Federally enforcable for safety issues. Call the regional Chevy office if the local dealer is dragging his feet.
As the owner of older cars, there is another option to fixing a bad fuse circuit. The circuit can be removed from the damaged fuse box and re-routed with an external inline fuse. I am surprised yhat option has not been offered.
Remove the fuse(?) and take it to a parts store. Match it from the display. But are you certain that the toasted part is a fuse? Maybe it’s a diode. Or possibly a relay.
It sounds from the description it may be the fuse block itself. This may be a item where you have to purchase an entire harness to get the block. A lot of GM fuse blocks are replaceable separately. Have you tried contacting a wrecking yard?
A Recall is limited to exactly what is spelled out under the terms of the Recall; nothing more. Any outside issues are on the customer dime even if indirectly related.
Without a wiring schematic I cannot tell you if this problem is related to the Recall which involved the Daytime Running Lamps module.
Does the owners manual not show a fuse block layout? If not, that would be very odd.
Unfortunately, this may come down to your having to pay up to track down and repair an electrical issue and it can be near impossible to provide an estimate on something like this as it may take half an hour or it may take all day with the bill accumulating the entire time.
A melted fuse means there has been a substantial, ongoing current draw instead of a dead short.
The buster miles dealership doesn’t know what the “fuse” is. My owners manual has a blank for it. I believe its a fuse because it doesn’t have the box thang like my relays do but I really don’t know. I can’t find any wrecked aveos and the dealership hasn’t contacted me either. I know this isn’t a part of my recall but I also have no clue what this is or how to get it fixed. The salvage yards and even pull a part are empty handed.
It may be helpful to post a picture of the fuse and fuse block location in question. You can use a free online image uploader and then post the link (tinypic is a good site)
If not, can you point out where it came from on here (I believe the '05 have the same fuse blocks)
The dealership should know what it is, especially one of their mechanics. Though I’ll echo ok4450, the fact that it’s melted is concerning. Either there was a major overdraw or that fuse was replace before with the incorrect one (if it is a fuse )
There’s probably a work-a-round solution an experienced auto-electric tech could come up with if you can’t find a replacement fuse box. Are you certain the fuse box even needs replacement? Be sure the original problem causing the over-current condition is fixed of course before installing any new parts, otherwise they’ll just get melted too.
I believe George and the others are correct . . . a work-a-round is needed
I’ve done so a few times
There’ve been a few times when the fuse box itself was partially melted, but it was only affecting one single circuit. So I just routed external wiring, fuse and relay. These vehicles have been soldiering around for years with these repairs. It may not look pretty, but it works. As long as you make good electrical connections, such a repair is legitimate
Great find there @knfenimore. You have come through again with more great information. Before I saw the info you posted I was thinking that the piece in question may be just a connector. I see this splicer has several separate circuits tied to it though rather than just a single wire as I was thinking. It seems a lot of people have had the same issue the OP is dealing with.
Ebay has some new and used fuse panels like the one pictured above for sale at this present time. A new panel without the fuses or relays is going for about 56 dollars.
Concur, that’s a great link. Sort of confusing why it is on an integra-themed website though. But the instruction look like they would work fine.
I’ve never seen a splicer part like that used on cars. I mean something that all it does is connect wires together with no fuse using the fuse box. Usually that would be done inside the fuse box with bus bars, or using harness splices where several higher current wires come together are soldered together then clamped inside some kind of heavy duty crimp connector then wrapped with electrical tape. And I guess the reason these splicer gadgets aren’t seen more often in cars is because they aren’t as robust as solder splicers. The proof is in the pudding.
It’s not that splices never go bad. My Corolla had a bad wire splice, but that was a freak thing caused by a leaking battery, and the battery acid decanted down the harness and dissolved the spice crimp. But this Aveo splicer problem, it’s one of those things that are sort of hard to understand how the car’s design engineers didn’t realize it would become a problem and stop it before it went into production.
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