jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I brought my 2020 Honda Fit to the dealer today because the radio, LCD, and cameras stopped working. After investigating for two hours, they blamed it on my dash cam. He said the dash cam was plugged into the USB port intended for an Apple phone, and connecting the dash cam there burned out a fuse panel ($635). After more talking, he said they would submit it as a warranty claim. The dash cam has been in the car since it was new - March of this year.

edrobinsonjr Loc: Boise, Idaho

I think I would get a second opinion.

Ed

salikenphoto Loc: S.E. corner of British Columbia Canada

I would contact the manufacturer of the dash cam and see if this has ever happened before. I would also google the camera for problems. If you had an issue it is quite likely others have as well.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

I would have a chat with a factory rep after this is settled. I don't believe their claim is legit. If anything you could have blown a fuse but if the entire board was damaged, there must be an inferior ground or something in the design. It just does not sound logical.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

I'd keep a separate copy of everything he said and did.
He lied.
Unless there was short in the dashcam, it didn't do it.
Got google? lookup: honda fit radio problems
You aren't the only one with the same problems.
Copy these down, and send them with your stealers' diagnosis.

Najataagihe

Grrr.

As a former line mechanic specializing in electrical problems, I cry BULLFEATHERS!

Let me make myself clear: your mechanic is ignorant and needs some serious training.


There is NO WAY the current draw from a dashcam is going to short out a fuse panel!

ESPECIALLY through a USB port which, by definition, has universal electrical requirements from all devices designed to use one.

You could tie the wires together in a dead short and you will not accomplish anything but blowing ONE fuse on THAT circuit and THAT CIRCUIT ONLY!

The fact that the panel is destroyed means there are other electrical problems that need to be addressed.

I will give you the benefit of the doubt that the only thing destroyed on the panel is the fuse associated with that circuit, but to MELT the fuse block requires some SERIOUS amperage and a faulty fuse or circuit breaker.

To give you an idea of how severe this problem is, the wires to ANY USB device would MELT before the fuse panel even got hot.

The USB device, itself, becomes the fuse in this kind of overload.


I would SERIOUSLY recommend you get that vehicle checked out, as whatever condition caused the fuse panel to fry is still extant.

I will even go so far as to recommend you not drive it, until the problem(s) are found and fixed.

Electrical problems of this nature tend to destroy electronic components in a seemingly random fashion until they are fixed AND the possibility of setting your new car on fire is very real.


Assembly mistakes happen, but potentially lethal ones need to be addressed immediately.

And make no mistake about it, electrical fires can be deadly.


Make contact with the factory rep and have them recommend another dealer.

Today.


Good luck.

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

A fuse didn't blow?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Complete BS. If the device drew too much current, the fuse should have blown (a $1.00 part), causing no further damage.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

What I would have thought.
But I have seen a fuse block start melting because the fuse and contacts were so oxidized that they created a lot of heat without blowing the fuse.

No-Ox on the aluminum fuse contacts would help!
Especially in older cars. If people change cars every three/four years, they will not see it occur.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

But unless the load was a complete short, how would it draw enough current to melt the block? I sometimes use No-Ox on high current contacts also, but none of the contacts to fuses I’ve seen are aluminum...

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Does your car use those little flat plastic spade lug fuses? The spades are aluminum.

8 amps going through a 10 amp fuse that has oxidized lugs could create a lot of heat, but the fuse will not blow. 16 amps going through a 20 amp fuse would be worse.

I had a vehicle 10+ years old that had oxidized fuse lugs on the fuse that protected the horn circuitry.
The fuse lugs were so badly oxidized (gray, not silver anymore) that the horn sounded like a machine gun. I sanded the fuse lugs and the problem went away. The machine gun effect was from the arcing of the oxidized contacts on the fuse. And yes, it did start deforming (melting) the fuse block a bit at that fuse.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Hmmm. Just took a look at some of those flat plastic fuses, and the lugs could be aluminum, although that surprises me - just a strange material to use for electrical contacts.

I’ve had a couple of weird fuse failures over the years. Back in the 70s, many German cars used ceramic point contact fuses that were notorious for intermittent contact. One failed for the electric coolant fan on my Audi, and by the time the temp gauge showed hot, every piston had failed/melted in one spot and trashed the ring and gouged the cylinder walls. I could hardly believe the damage when I tore down the engine.

Years later, we raced a Datsun 280Z in SCCA, and we had a number of DNFs (did not finish) due to a weird intermittent complete electrical failure. We finally isolated it to a spot of rust on the contact of a fusible link (we regularly washed the engine - race car mechanics hate to work on dirty engines). I don’t wash engines any more

Ollieboy

Doesn't make sense. The car doesn't recognize what's plugged in, just it's electrical values. ( current draw etc)

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

Go to a different Honda dealer to get electric checked out.