Ignition Issues

[Jack]

My Son inherited my 97 Firebird, HVAC system is non-functional, but all is still there, so no blower motor. He hooked the blower motor up directly to the battery and the motor is fine, however now there is no power to the ignition system. He thinks he would like to have heat, so it made sense...he solution for power to the blower did not though.

Key in run position, everything works, turn to start and everything is dead, starter won't turn. In tracing everything he did, he tried to tap power from the ignition port in the fuse panel on the dash...he grounded that port looking for power for the blower motor with a voltmeter. he did not hook power up to it, but did ground the ign port in the fuse panel. I suspect that is the culprit but have no idea how to repair it or what damage it may have caused.

Any ideas?

Jack

[bigbrian442]

Re: Ignition Issues

Check the fuse panels both in the dash and under the hood for blown fuses.

[Jack]

Re: Ignition Issues

Been there, all fuses intact. First thing I checked, thanks for the help. :)

[Jack]

Re: Ignition Issues

Went back to the basics...put meter on every fuse. Gauges fuse looked good at first glance, but actually was blown. Weird thing as initially gauges did light up, however replacing it fixed the issue. It is really baffling but all appears to be fine now. I will take it for a little drive to make sure all is well, my son will have to use my truck tonight, I am playing with the car. :D

FWIW...I had no idea that a blown gauges fuse would prevent the circuit for the starter. Seems 46 years on this planet did not prepare me for that little tidbit of knowledge. :-)