I think a dime got shoved down into my cig lighter.

Now my climate control panel is totally dead, not just no display, but dead, like no rear defrost or anything else.

My Lic Plate light went out and wont come on.
My Clock won't set no matter how hard I push the buttons and seems dim.

I already swapped out every fuse I could find that MIGHT relate to these things and had no luck.
I have found a couple Climate control units I can buy used but I don't want to waste the money of I fried something deeper.

Has anyone else ever had this combo of failures? What else can I try to eliminate other cheaper options before dropping $100s on a climate control panel or something more involved than that even?

Any help is appreciated!

 

Is there a fusable link further upstream that you haven't checked?

 

is your climate control backlit at all??(the backlight could still be on, but no digital display) the cig and the climate "controls" are on the same fuse (the backlighting is on a different fuse). If you shorted the cig you by default shorted your climate controls.

check your fuses! GL I hope that's your issue.

 

were there any fuses blown?

Also I left my cig lighter disconnected cause I kept having issues with it killing things. You might disconnect it just in case it's now got a wiring/connection issue like mine had. I'd prob start my troubleshooting there then check fuses again once it was disconnected.

 

All the fuses LOOKED good, I swapped out the ones I thought were involved and the dealer said that the fusable links and relays would not be involved but that was just the service writer.
There IS some partial backlight on the CC display but the controls are dead and no display ever comes up. I will try removing the cig lighter from the equation altogether next.

I just bought a "fuse tester" that I am going to use on all the fuses and see if I have another bad one in there somewhere.

 

i did the same thing, its the fuse. change it and your good to go

 

if it's not the fuse I would say to take apart the center console and check if any cables were melted. With the wrong size fuse it can melt the plastic off the copper cable.

 

Well it WAS the fuse afterall, even though it didnt LOOK blown, when I put the tester on it it showed as bad. Thx for the help guys, I got my rear defrost back, YAY.

 

Glad it was only the fuse and you got everything working again... now keep all dimes away from your car. :-)

 

Glad you got it fixed. Next time, put your money under your armrest. :-)