Electrical problems with 2013 GWM H5 after touching a wire with a screwdriver
Asked by Ahmed
I was working on the back of the ignition barrel of my 2013 GWM H5 and touched the blue wire with the screw driver and it sparked. Now the radio, windows, air--con and electric seat doesn’t work. The SUV also doesn’t start.
Answered by CarsGuide
30 Aug 2024Live wires don’t like to be short-circuited which, I’m guessing, is exactly what you’ve done by touching something you shouldn’t have with your screwdriver. The good news is that modern cars have protection against this sort of mishap in the form of fuses and circuit-breakers.
So the first job is to find the fuse or fuses that have blown (sacrificing themselves to protect the rest of the car’s electrical system). These will be identifiable by their broken filament (if you hold them up to the light) but often, finding them is the hardest part.
Some vehicles have their fuse-box located somewhere under the dashboard or in the kick panels and others locate the fuse-box under the bonnet. Many cars have one of each, so take some time with the owner’s manual and find the fuses and then identify the blown ones. With luck, you’ll simply need to replace these fuses with new ones of the correct rating and you should restore everything to working order. Given the scope of the mayhem you’ve created, it’s a fair bet there is more than one fuse involved here.
If the fuses don’t check out, you might also find there’s a fusible link on the positive battery terminal. This can also blow as a defence mechanism but is also easy to replace. If none of that works, it’s off to an auto electrician to find out what you’ve inadvertently fried and what needs to be replaced.
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