Expert: Roland Finston - 2/5/2012

Question
QUESTION: Yesterday My wife went home for lunch and the car ran fine! When she went to go back to work the heater would not come on, the blinkers will not work, the ABS light and Brake lights on the dash are on!

ANSWER: Hi Rich,
You might begin by checking fuse J (40 Amp) located in the box in the engine compartment which powers one section of the ignition switch which in turn powers a number of fuses in the dash which in turn power the circuits you described (as well as others that she hasn't noticed to be non-functional yet). If it blows again we will have to assess what is causing that.
Roland
PS Sorry for the delay but I just found your question in the 'pool' to which it had been referred by Kevin.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Neither 40 amp fuse labeled ign run was bad. I swapped them out with new ones anyway but it did not change anything! Any other suggestions would be apprecated! Thank You!

Answer
Hi Rich,
The fuse J (which is how it is labelled in the manual) is the third from the inboard end of the box in the front row of the double row of fuses. I am not certain if it is labelled "ignition" or not. 4 of the 7 in the front row are 40 amp and J is the most inboard.
If that one is good, then I would suggest that you use a voltmeter or 12v glow light to check out whether you show 12v on fuses 8, 9, 17, and 23 in the fuse box behind the left end cap of the dash. Those are the fuses for the devices you say are not working. If you don't show voltage on those fuses when the key is in the run position then that suggests the ignition switch section that closes the circuit between J and those fuses has an oxidized contact of contact failure. You could try spraying electronic contact cleaner inside the ignition switch through any cracks/holes in the body of the switch to repair a faulty contact.
Roland