my honda fit brokedown yesterday and was towed to the local honda dealer who found out that the 50A fuse (the one near the battery) blows everytime the key is in ignition.he called me today and said that he's not gonna work on it because of some aftermarket accessories found under the dash.

i've a remote starter (installed by circuitcity..yeah they are no longer in business) and a car stereo (installed by me)

i don't know which one blows the fuse (probably the stereo). is it possible to check it? i may have to do it myself because the dealer is not going to work on it.

 

Do you have any idea on the power rating of the extra accessories? You should do a calculation. 50A * 12V = 600 watts. Now add up all the energy from your devices and see if it exceeds that limit. Also try leaving 120 to 130 watts in reserve just in case since many devices run at a 80% efficiency.

Try disconnecting the radio first. It's listed in the fit manual that the radio on the sport model is already 200 watts. Stock fog lights, I think 60 watts, if I can recall.

 

thanks for the quick reply

no i don't know the power ratings of the stereo but i replaced the oem one so i guess they 'cancels' out.

would it be possible to switch the 50A with a 60A (i think its the ERS fuse) just to test it and see if it is stable ?

also i would assume that the extra power taken by the remote starter would be calculated by circuitcity and they would have replaced the fuse with a higher rated one.

that makes me think that there's a short circuit somewhere but i don't know how to find it.

 

You probably have a short somewhere if your blowing the 50A battery fuse.
Disconnect the stereo/amp power lines from the battery and then see what happens.

 

where can i find it? i think i lost the installation guide that came with the crutchfield order
thanks

 

if you didn't install a separate powerline going directly from your battery to your stereo, then it's most-likely your remote starter that went bad.

if you're feeding your stereo from the fusebox or the factory line, your fuse inside the cabin will blow first.

 

makes sense. remote starter installation is supposed to have lifetime warranty and since circuit city is no longer in business i guess i'd have file a charge back with my credit card company
thanks

 

If the fuse blows when the stero and remote starter are off you have a short, probanly is your source wiring. Verify its correct, positive 12v and negative ground independently to both aftermarket devices. If you have access to a volt-ohm-meter verify that there is not a short between the fuse connection and the chassis on both circuits with the fuse removed.
Have half dozen proper 50 A fuses on hand, preferably fast blow type not slow blow ones.
First disconnect power at the stero and turn ignition on to see if the fuse trips. And verify wiring isn't reversed somewhare so your hooked the positive to the negatine )ground) wiring.
Then disconnect the power at the remote starter at the remote and turn ignition on to see if the fuse trips.

If only one trips the fuse you found the culprit or the circuit that has a short. If both blow the fuse you probably have a short in your power circuit. If both have a common ground that also is potential problem.

Your atermarket stero may have considerably higher wattage than the stock, which the Sport suposseedly has 200 watts. Somewhere on your stero unit is a spec plate that should list at least the current in amps for the 12 v car system; if it says more than 16 amps you've added too much power draw.
Likewise for the remote starter if the combined current draw is more than a few watts. I could see where just the added power of both could easily exceed the rated fuse capacity BUT DO NOT REPLACE THE 50 A FUSE WITH A 60 A one. Period.
If you were able to use the system for any length of time before it blew a fuse its likely the stero has too much power required. I would expect the fuse to blow immediately when the remote starter was used thus you'd nevcer get it running.
In any case the

 

^^ thanks for the post. i've taken it to a repair shop and they confirmed that its the remote starter that is causing problems (guy said 'the remote starter is directly hooked up to the 12v wire which is pretty huge..something like that)..anyway he's going to rewire the remote starter.

circuit city is supposed to give me lifetime labor/parts warranty

 

hope your car's fixed.

 

Why do I have the Rolling Stones going through my head?

Hope you get it figured out and fixed right.

 

update: got my car back today
according to the mechanic...this car only has 1 12v line while most bigger cars have 2. so when cc guys installed the remote starter it drew too much power from that line, eventually tripping the fuse. now he's rewired the whole circuit and directly wired the starter to the battery with an extra fuse just for this.

thanks for ur replies

 

This is exactly why I never brought my car to Circuit City when they were around and will never bring my car to Best Buy. They take guys off the street and just stick them in those car shops.