Can someone help me figure out how to remove a fuse labeled 5180? It’s not like those cute little colored car fuses but it is in the same panel. It’s for my remote car lock apparently, but I actually need it out to get to the fuse below it, my brake lights are not working and I wanted to check if it was the fault of the fuse, but big mr. 5180 is blocking my ability to reach it.
I should give you necessary info, I own a 2000 Alero.
I’ve tried pulling and pulling but I can’t seem to get it out, I’m questioning if I even am able to or if it’s stuck forever. It seems to me that any able bodied man who can open a pickle jar should be able to tackle a frickin’ fuse.
For those of us that have never seen the fuse panel of a an Alero what does this fuse look like?
Round glass tube?
Small metal can?
What?
BTW it may not be necessary to remove the fuse in order to find out if the brake light fuse is good or not.
If your brake light fuse look like one of these you can check to see if the fuse is good in place. See the two little metal tabs on the top of the 10A fuse? those are connected to the two side of the fuse. You can check for voltage on both sides of the fuse with either a test light, or a volt meter.
If you have voltage on both side of the fuse, the fuse is good.
If you only have voltage on one side, the fuse is blown
If you don’t have voltage on either side, something else is wrong.
Why do this the hard way? Put your test light (or meter) across the fuse terminals with the circuit in question turned on. If your test light lights up (or your meter shows ~12 V), the fuse is dead. I’ve seen some high-current automotive fuses with a built-in LED which does exactly this. When the fuse blows, the LED lights up to make it a snap to tell which one is gone.
Obvisouly you have never had to lay on your head to get to a fuse panel, while trying to place both of your fluke meter probes on a mini AT fuse. Meanwhile with your third hand you are holding a flashlight so you can see what you are doing, and with your fourth hand you are holding the fluke meter in a position that you can read it.
And you are telling me I’m doing it the hard way?
Well, yeah, that’s pretty much how I did it the few times I needed to. Of course, if you have to do it a dozen dozen times a day, that’s a fish of a different smell.
Yeah, I hate doing work under dashboards, too. One of the required courses for budding young mechanics should be in gymnastics.
A pic of the fuse panel in question would be nice. I have many little tools for getting into impossible places that the designers should be gut shot over.
*:: I’m a big guy, watching me trying to work under a dash is not pretty. I usually call the wife and make nice. :: *
Do you have a third brake light? I had the two, one on either side go out, one in middle of rear window continued to work OK. (This on '94 Buick Regal) Replaced bulbs, checked fuses and had it serviced. A mechanical swithch on the brake pedal had failed. Other two work on brake line pressure. It may not be a fuse.
Can you get something like a paint can opener under the fuse? And pry away? Or to remove Mr. 5180.
