Hello South Bay residents! What a beautiful day here in California. Take a nice car ride with the windows down and the wind in my face. But wait, you may be driving along and find that suddenly your radio stops working. There are no numbers on the display. Then, when you get home, you notice the garage door opener doesn't do a thing when you press the button. Hmm, this was working just fine this morning. Are the two problems somehow related? Let's start barkin' and find out!
No, your vehicle doesn't need an exorcism. This has all the signs of an electrical issue, and when you experience symptoms like those, you've probably blown a fuse. Most vehicles have fuses, just like most houses have circuit breakers (some houses still have fuses). They cut the power when it reaches a pre-determined threshold that could cause major damage if it was allowed to continue. You might say fuses take one for the team.
Most modern automotive fuses are plastic with a thin strip of metal in them designed to melt when a calibrated amount of power passes through. The philosophy is it's better for an inexpensive fuse to be destroyed than your sound system or your engine's main computer.
It can be tricky to figure out what fuse has blown and why. Modern vehicles have many computerized electronic components; they can easily be damaged if too much electricity gets to the wrong spot. At Allied Auto Works in Los Altos, we have technicians trained to trace which fuse has blown and why.
While sometimes a simple fuse replacement will fix the problem, other times, some other electrical components may have failed, causing the circuit to overload. Our technicians have special equipment to track down where the power problems are, get to the root of the problem, and fix it at the source.
Keep in mind that fuses are there to protect your vehicle. When they shut down your radio, garage door opener, vanity mirror, or anything else, just be thankful they're doing their job. They may have saved you from a much more expensive repair. They've sent an important signal to you about your electrical system. That's why it's good to keep up with "current" affairs.
I leave you with this thought today,
“The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” - Albert Einstein
Duke
Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
650.968.7227
http://alliedautoworks.com