i took out my stereo the other day, actually it's been a while i just haven't made the time to fix it, but i was working on it when i accidentally touched two wires together, and sparks flew and my reading lamps went out. i checked the fuses and none seemed bad. i can't seem to figure out this problem. my dash lights still work, but my reading lamps don't. also my keyless entry and that alarm that goes on when you leave your lights on don't work either. can someone tell me what i might have done so i can fix this problem. i already left my lights on once and had to have my car jumped. do you think a shorted wire could be the problem? any input will help. thanks a lot.

kearn

 

definately sounds like a fuse this happened to me once when the harness on my rearview was broken and 2 wires touched only my radio went out.....id check the fuses again u may have missed something

 

It's a fuse. I think it's one of the 25A ones. If not 25, one of the 20's. If I remember correctly, starting at the top left, it's the 3rd row across, 3rd or 4th fuse down that powers the headunit.

 

i changed a few of the fuses in my car and still nothing. the way i tell a bad fuse from a good one is the piece in the middle is broken, right? is there any other way? thanks

 

Use a multimeter and set to resistence. Touch one probe to each of the blades of the fuse. If you are reading "OL" or many meg, then your fuse is bad. If the meter instantly drops to 0, then your fuse is good.

 

The fuse could also be half blown. Instead of 12 volts you could only be gewtting six. The metal strip in the middle doesn't necessarily need to be broken. I have had it happen a bunch of times in different cars. Best idea like said above is to use a multimeter.

 

okay, sorry for updating so slow. so far, i've changed out every 25, 20, and 15 amp fuse in the fuse box on the side of the dash. but still nothing. i've checked the other fuses and they seem okay. does anyone have any other ideas or know of something that i overlooked? any help would be appreciated. thanks