Blown fuse - things not working

[boris1]

Hi. I'm asking on behalf of my husband and would appreciate some advice.

The car is a TVR CHimaera. I went to open the boot (push button under the dash) and it didn't work, didn't even click. I tried it a few times and nothing. I then went off to do a couple of things and when I returned to the car to go home, it started fine but I noticed that the battery light was on but the heater wasn't working, the dash dials and the mph/rev counter dials weren't working either.

Do you think a fuse has blown because of the boot lid not working? My husband is at the airport on his way to scotland and has asked me to post for some help as he's not back until Wednesday. He's been driving it all day and it was fine until I dropped him off then needed to open the boot.

Any advice would be grateful. Thank you.

[hut49]

boris1 said:

Hi. I'm asking on behalf of my husband and would appreciate some advice.

The car is a TVR CHimaera. I went to open the boot (push button under the dash) and it didn't work, didn't even click. I tried it a few times and nothing. I then went off to do a couple of things and when I returned to the car to go home, it started fine but I noticed that the battery light was on but the heater wasn't working, the dash dials and the mph/rev counter dials weren't working either.

Do you think a fuse has blown because of the boot lid not working? My husband is at the airport on his way to scotland and has asked me to post for some help as he's not back until Wednesday. He's been driving it all day and it was fine until I dropped him off then needed to open the boot.

Any advice would be grateful. Thank you.

OK, there may be several things going on here.

Step 1. the dash lights not working is probably because you may have pressed the dash lights on/off button switch under the dash by the driver's LEFT hand knee (the boot release button is under the dash by the driver's RIGHT knee.
Battery light on is a separate issue I think. Let's try and resolve the dash lights first....

Edited by hut49 on Saturday 2nd December 17:47

[boris1]

sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear. the dash dial lights are working, the dials themselves are not working (ie petrol, oil, temp) and the rev counter and mph counter are not working, nor is the heater. these are things I have noticed, I haven't gone through everything. The lights are working fine. Thank you.

[ATG]

Could be a fuse, but I'd hazard a guess that it is a "bad earth", i.e. one of the cables attached to the chassis (which itself provides a path back to the battery) has come adrift. Tends to knock out several circuits simultaneously or make them behave strangely.

[boris1]

thank you. Just seems a bit odd it's all happened since the boot switch didn't work

[spend]

The model has many different layouts of the fuse box, do you have the car handbook handy - this should have the correct layout for your car. I guess the fuse to check will be labelled instruments..

Dave

[boris1]

spend said:

The model has many different layouts of the fuse box, do you have the car handbook handy - this should have the correct layout for your car. I guess the fuse to check will be labelled instruments..

Dave

the book I have is called TVR chimaera & griffith 2nd edtion. the fuse sections shows various layouts dependent on the year of the vehicle.

Before we left for our journey this evening, I put a bag in the boot, perhaps it's caught itself in the mechanism and when I then went to press the boot button (a few times), perhaps i've blown the fuse?

Edited by boris1 on Saturday 2nd December 18:29

[bga]

A 30 amp fuse controls interior instruments + boot opener on my '98 4L
It blew a while back & only took 10mins to identify the offending fuse & replace it. It blew again a few days later but has been fine for the last 10 months

[blue_chim]

I had problems with the boot release fuse blowing on my '95 Chim (see here). I don't know if yours is the same problem but the cause of mine was due to the electric mirror switch being wired up wrong after a dealer did some work in the door.

It blew the fuse each time I adjusted the mirrors. On my car this is the 10A (red) fuse that is number 16 counting from the left (check your handbook for your particular fuse layout). Also make sure you pull back the carpet a bit to see all the fuses. The fix entailed taking the speaker out of the driver's door to access the mirror switch (a temporary fix was to replace the 10A fuse each time it blew!)

[Boris1]

Thanks for all your help. I'm going to buy a selection of fuses today then my husband can fix it when he gets home Wednesday evening.