How much will it cost to fix an Eletrical Short Circuit In My Car?

Question

Here's what happened. My radio and cigarette lighter went out. I check and I see a fuse is missing, I went ahead and replaced it, the radio still didn't work, so its gotta be a short. Now I'm just wondering how much it will cost to get it fixed. The clock works fine.

My radio and cigarette lighter went out in my car. I've already checked all my fuses and my fuses were all fine, none of them were burned. I am assuming it is a short.

Answer 1

It sounds like a common thing done by someone who is selling a used car.

Have you just bought the car?

The previous owner probably had a big stereo in the car and when he sold it, he decided to keep it. Pulls his stereo out, cant be bothered to wire up the stereo he's putting back in. Pulls out the fuse for stereo/cig lighter, sells the car and if a question is asked, he'll say something like 'oh, the fuse just blew, I pulled it out and found out I didnt have a spare'

The person buying the car goes and replaces the fuse and the radio still wont work.

I'd say that your radio and clock arent actually wired up. If it was a short, the fuse you put in would have blown.

Im not sure where you are, or what sort of car you have, but it cost me $70AUD to have a new stereo wired into my car. if that helps.

Answer 2

any short will burn a fuse. but there are sometimes shorts that are very small in current and the fuse will seem as its not "burned". there for, if you were to look at it, the fuse will seem as its fine and not missin or having a "gap" in the middle.

to be sure all the fuses work fine, use a "testing light" which is a device that connects to the battery and has a metal spike that you use to touch a fuse post. if there is current of a post of the fuse, a "beeep" and a red light will show to let you know theres positive current on it. then you test the other post of that fuse and if the same beep comes up, that means the fuse is working fine.

you might want to test the fuses with this method which will give you a better result than just looking at the fuses.

for the radio, most radios have a fuse in the back,usually 5A, check that fuse to see if its not burned too.