OT for home repair??

Two problems at once.

A friend in a 2002 Nissan Frontier pickup skidded on wet leaves in
the rain, and hit the guard rail with the front right corner of his
car. The right front turn signal went out, and so did his tail
lights, dashboard lights, and the beeper that beeps when he leaves his
headlights on.

We took out the light cluster on the right, and the turn-signal bulb
glass was smashed, and the filament missing, but the two metal posts
that held up the filament were not bent. We replaced the bulb and
the turn signal worked again.

We looked in the engine compartment fuse box, 12 to 18 inches from the
light cluster, and the tail light fuse was blown. Replacing that
made everything else work again.

Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?
Ever heard of this happening?
How?

He's 99% sure everything worked prior to that. Although one can drive
wihtout tail lights and not know it, It was dark during the accident,
and he would have noticed if the dash lights weren't working before.

Looking at how the turn signal is situated, is there any chance that
the two posts might have touched the guard rail? Are there any pieces
of metal (or plated plastic) trim missing?

On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:11:18 -0800 (PST), Larry Fishel
wrote:

Looking at how the turn signal is situated, is there any chance that
the two posts might have touched the guard rail?

Not the guard rail. They and the socket were probably still within
the reflector of the turn signal or in empty space behind it.
(Couldn't see it before the assembly was removed) The socket used a
bayonet mount into the relector, and the collar of the reflector was
broken off for most of its circumference and back a quarter of an inch
opposite where it was still attached. He taped the socket to get it
to stay in place.

For contacts, the bulb had two loops of thin wire, race-track shaped
minus one end, and folded back against the glass. The whole base was
intact. When I pulled the bulb out by the center glass post and the
two little metal posts, the socket was in good shape. .

Are there any pieces
of metal (or plated plastic) trim missing?

No. The body was scuffed and the heavy plastic holding the light
assembly was cracked in several locations, but only one crack went all
the way through to detach from the rest of it. .


More importantly, the turn signal wasn't on the same fuse as the tail
lights, since replacing the bub made the turn signal work, but the
tail lights still didn't work until their fuse was replaced.

micky wrote:
We looked in the engine compartment fuse box, 12 to 18 inches from the
light cluster, and the tail light fuse was blown. Replacing that
made everything else work again.

Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?
Ever heard of this happening?
How?

Was it blown, or mechanically broken? Was there any metal deposited on
the glass?

It's entirely possible for fuses to fail due to shock, especially if they
are old. The new plug-in types are better in that regard than 3AG types.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Sure! A fuse is a strip of soft metal that melts if it gets
too hot (by too much current / amps flowing through it).
When a circuit is drawing power, the fuse metal warms up a
little. A physical jolt like that might be enough to break
the soft metal.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"micky" wrote in message
...


Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?
Ever heard of this happening?
How?

On Nov 29, 2:52*am, micky wrote:

snip

Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?

Yes

Ever heard of this happening?

Yes

How?

Impact grounded a hot wire in an unprotected loom near a sharp piece
of sheet metal and caused a momentary short. Fuse blew. Wire loom
moved away from sharp metal edge and new fuse worked for some time.
Later mysterious fuse failures finally traced to fault. Happened to be
behind instrument cluster in dash of a BMW.
Given the situation described, it would be wise to keep off rough
roads and carry extra fuses for a while.

Joe

On Nov 29, 3:52*am, micky wrote:
OT for home repair??

Two problems at once.

A friend in a 2002 Nissan Frontier pickup skidded *on wet leaves in
the rain, and hit the guard rail with the front right corner of his
car. *The right front turn signal went out, and so did his tail
lights, dashboard lights, and the beeper that beeps when he leaves his
headlights on.

We took out the light cluster on the right, and the turn-signal bulb
glass was smashed, and the filament missing, but the two metal posts
that held up the filament were not bent. * We replaced the bulb and
the turn signal worked again.

We looked in the engine compartment fuse box, 12 to 18 inches from the
light cluster, and the tail light fuse was blown. * Replacing that
made everything else *work again.

Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?
Ever heard of this happening?
How?

He's 99% sure everything worked prior to that. Although one can drive
wihtout tail lights and not know it, It was dark during the accident,
and he would have noticed if the dash lights weren't working before.

I only see one problem:

A driver who didn't slow down enough based on the driving conditions
at the time. I treat wet leaves the same as I treat ice and snow -
drive on them as slow and as carefully as reasonable.

Anyway, the fuse could have been jarred enough that the filament broke
or a bare wire or connecter could have made contact with a ground
during the impact causing a temporary short. For all we know, there
was water hanging around some low spot in the engine compartment and
it splashed on an electrical connection causing a brief short.

Things can shift (violently) during an accident so it's really hard to
say what could have caused the fuse to blow.

I had a '66 Rambler that blew the radio fuse whenever I went over a
large bump. I never did find that problem, but I learned to slow down
- a lot - on bumpy roads. ;-)

On 29 Nov 2011 10:14:15 -0500, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

micky wrote:
We looked in the engine compartment fuse box, 12 to 18 inches from the
light cluster, and the tail light fuse was blown. Replacing that
made everything else work again.

Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?
Ever heard of this happening?
How?

Was it blown, or mechanically broken? Was there any metal deposited on
the glass?

I thought he showed it to me, but now I'm not sure I got a good look.

I believe the center part, 3/16 of an inch or so, was missing, but
don't remember any metal on the plastic.

It's an ATM mini fuse

It's entirely possible for fuses to fail due to shock, especially if they
are old. The new plug-in types are better in that regard than 3AG types.

Speaking of new fuses, the high current fuses, 30 and 40 amps, in my
new 2000 toyota have metal parts shaped like a cross, with two 90
degree folds near the bottom, so the metal is horisontal, then up, and
then horizontal again. So it looks like there is an empty black spot
in the middle of the metal, like it's blown. What kind of crazy
design was that?

With the one that is 3" behind the opening in the dash, I have onliy
one perspective, and it looked blown. I had to take it out get a
better view of it. I can find no puller for these big ones, except a
hoolk on one side, so it fell in between the plastic knee panel and
the metal one, so I had to ake off the plastic to get at it. What a
pain for a fuse that wasn't even blown.

--scott

On Nov 29, 10:20*pm, Joe wrote:

Given the situation described, it would be wise to keep off rough
roads

on the other hand staying on rough roads and off the pavement would
allow to avoid
exploring the truck tire grip limits on wet asphalt covered with wet
leaves :^)

On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:51:19 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Nov 29, 3:52*am, micky wrote:
OT for home repair??

Two problems at once.

A friend in a 2002 Nissan Frontier pickup skidded *on wet leaves in
the rain, and hit the guard rail with the front right corner of his
car. *The right front turn signal went out, and so did his tail
lights, dashboard lights, and the beeper that beeps when he leaves his
headlights on.

We took out the light cluster on the right, and the turn-signal bulb
glass was smashed, and the filament missing, but the two metal posts
that held up the filament were not bent. * We replaced the bulb and
the turn signal worked again.

We looked in the engine compartment fuse box, 12 to 18 inches from the
light cluster, and the tail light fuse was blown. * Replacing that
made everything else *work again.

Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?
Ever heard of this happening?
How?

He's 99% sure everything worked prior to that. Although one can drive
wihtout tail lights and not know it, It was dark during the accident,
and he would have noticed if the dash lights weren't working before.

I only see one problem:

A driver who didn't slow down enough based on the driving conditions
at the time. I treat wet leaves the same as I treat ice and snow -
drive on them as slow and as carefully as reasonable.

So you've never skidded.

Anyway, the fuse could have been jarred enough that the filament broke
or a bare wire or connecter could have made contact with a ground
during the impact causing a temporary short. For all we know, there
was water hanging around some low spot in the engine compartment and
it splashed on an electrical connection causing a brief short.

Things can shift (violently) during an accident so it's really hard to
say what could have caused the fuse to blow.

I had a '66 Rambler that blew the radio fuse whenever I went over a
large bump. I never did find that problem, but I learned to slow down
- a lot - on bumpy roads. ;-)

On Nov 30, 11:43*am, micky wrote:
On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:51:19 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03





wrote:
On Nov 29, 3:52 am, micky wrote:
OT for home repair??

Two problems at once.

A friend in a 2002 Nissan Frontier pickup skidded on wet leaves in
the rain, and hit the guard rail with the front right corner of his
car. The right front turn signal went out, and so did his tail
lights, dashboard lights, and the beeper that beeps when he leaves his
headlights on.

We took out the light cluster on the right, and the turn-signal bulb
glass was smashed, and the filament missing, but the two metal posts
that held up the filament were not bent. We replaced the bulb and
the turn signal worked again.

We looked in the engine compartment fuse box, 12 to 18 inches from the
light cluster, and the tail light fuse was blown. Replacing that
made everything else work again.

Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?
Ever heard of this happening?
How?

He's 99% sure everything worked prior to that. Although one can drive
wihtout tail lights and not know it, It was dark during the accident,
and he would have noticed if the dash lights weren't working before.

I only see one problem:

A driver who didn't slow down enough based on the driving conditions
at the time. I treat wet leaves the same as I treat ice and snow -
drive on them as slow and as carefully as reasonable.

So you've never skidded.





Anyway, the fuse could have been jarred enough that the filament broke
or a bare wire or connecter could have made contact with a ground
during the impact causing a temporary short. For all we know, there
was water hanging around some low spot in the engine compartment and
it splashed on an electrical connection causing a brief short.

Things can shift (violently) during an accident so it's really hard to
say what could have caused the fuse to blow.

I had a '66 Rambler that blew the radio fuse whenever I went over a
large bump. I never did find that problem, but I learned to slow down
- a lot - on bumpy roads. ;-)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sure have...and it was a doozy.

As an aggressive youthful driver, I approached a 90 degree turn that I
had made many, many times before. Perfectly dry, sunny day. Yes, I was
taking the turn at a rate of speed that some might not have considered
prudent, but my youthful inexperience told me that I had done it
before and I'd be fine.

What I didn't know was that the fire hydrant just around the curve had
sprung a serious leak and there was a couple of inches of water
sitting on the road. The old rear wheel drive Dodge Coronet that I was
driving hit the water, fish tailed a couple of times and then slid
sideways right into that d@mn fire hydrant. It punched a hole in the
back door and bent the post between the 2 doors into the side of the
front seat. I don't think it blew a fuse, though. ;-)

I learned to slow down after that.

P.S. The doors didn't work until I took the car to the shipyard on
Coast Guard Base Governor's Island where I was stationed. I hooked one
end of a come-along to the post and the other end to a 50,000 lb buoy
sinker and cranked away until the post straightened out. After that,
other than the hole, the doors were fine.

On Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:09:29 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Nov 30, 11:43*am, micky wrote:
On Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:51:19 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03





wrote:
On Nov 29, 3:52 am, micky wrote:
OT for home repair??

Two problems at once.

A friend in a 2002 Nissan Frontier pickup skidded on wet leaves in
the rain, and hit the guard rail with the front right corner of his
car. The right front turn signal went out, and so did his tail
lights, dashboard lights, and the beeper that beeps when he leaves his
headlights on.

We took out the light cluster on the right, and the turn-signal bulb
glass was smashed, and the filament missing, but the two metal posts
that held up the filament were not bent. We replaced the bulb and
the turn signal worked again.

We looked in the engine compartment fuse box, 12 to 18 inches from the
light cluster, and the tail light fuse was blown. Replacing that
made everything else work again.

Could hitting the guard rail blow the fuse?
Ever heard of this happening?
How?

He's 99% sure everything worked prior to that. Although one can drive
wihtout tail lights and not know it, It was dark during the accident,
and he would have noticed if the dash lights weren't working before.

I only see one problem:

A driver who didn't slow down enough based on the driving conditions
at the time. I treat wet leaves the same as I treat ice and snow -
drive on them as slow and as carefully as reasonable.

So you've never skidded.





Anyway, the fuse could have been jarred enough that the filament broke
or a bare wire or connecter could have made contact with a ground
during the impact causing a temporary short. For all we know, there
was water hanging around some low spot in the engine compartment and
it splashed on an electrical connection causing a brief short.

Things can shift (violently) during an accident so it's really hard to
say what could have caused the fuse to blow.

I had a '66 Rambler that blew the radio fuse whenever I went over a
large bump. I never did find that problem, but I learned to slow down
- a lot - on bumpy roads. ;-)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sure have...and it was a doozy.

As an aggressive youthful driver,

My friend is not an aggressive driver. All I asked for was a
discussion of t wo problems at once, not a lecture from someone who
has also skidded into something.

I approached a 90 degree turn that I
had made many, many times before. Perfectly dry, sunny day. Yes, I was
taking the turn at a rate of speed that some might not have considered
prudent, but my youthful inexperience told me that I had done it
before and I'd be fine.

What I didn't know was that the fire hydrant just around the curve had
sprung a serious leak and there was a couple of inches of water
sitting on the road. The old rear wheel drive Dodge Coronet that I was
driving hit the water, fish tailed a couple of times and then slid
sideways right into that d@mn fire hydrant. It punched a hole in the
back door and bent the post between the 2 doors into the side of the
front seat. I don't think it blew a fuse, though. ;-)

I learned to slow down after that.

P.S. The doors didn't work until I took the car to the shipyard on
Coast Guard Base Governor's Island where I was stationed. I hooked one
end of a come-along to the post and the other end to a 50,000 lb buoy
sinker and cranked away until the post straightened out. After that,
other than the hole, the doors were fine.

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
news:6eaf7bb0-619e-4c09-b5f8-

stuff snipped

I only see one problem:

A driver who didn't slow down enough based on the driving conditions
at the time. I treat wet leaves the same as I treat ice and snow -
drive on them as slow and as carefully as reasonable.

I feel compelled to say you can drive as safely as you want and still get
nailed. I slow down considerably for wet leaves but the woman behind me
didn't and hit me hard enough to leave an impression of her SUV license
plate on the back of my little Honda. Fortunately, accidents on snow, ice
and wet leaves tend to be less injurious to people (but not cars) than those
on dry pavement because there's less friction.

She even had the audacity to ask me why I stopped for the stop sign! "No
one else does!" (This was one of those weird streets with parallel side
streets where people routinely just blocked the intersection during rush
hour.)

The only time that topped that was when a college student backing out of
driveway T-boned me as I waited in a line of cars. "Didn't you see me
backing up?" Well, yes I did, and I was honking the horn listening to my
back seat passengers screaming "She's going to ram us!" Jeez. It's a
pretty funny feeling to see certain trouble coming from 100 feet away and
being powerless to stop it.

Almost as good as time someone pulling out of a parking lot into heavy
traffic hit me (traveling below the speed limit in the relatively clear
right hand turn lane). She insisted on calling the cops because she was
sure she was in the right and I had been speeding. The cop insisted on
giving her a ticket once he saw that the exit's design prevented her from
seeing *anything* except a huge truck coming. (-:

--
Bobby G.