Uh Oh, Now what did I do???

[~*~JenSVX~*~]

Today while driving towards the sun i had my visor down to keep the sun out of my eyes. When I turned the corner I put it up and all of a sudden I see a little *puff* of smoke. So i get to work and take my visor out of the car just because it makes me feel safer. However I got in my car tonight after work and my clock doesn't light up and my climate control is lit up but doesn't do anything not even beep... Then I get home and check the fuses and they all look fine... What did I do???

Anyone know??

Jen

[nordique14]

Sounds like the wires in the sun visor have finally touched. Over time the wires get twisted and rubbed together exposing the bare wires. When they touch strange electrical things happen. It also seems to cause a drain on the battery, so carry a set of jumper cables.

Being the lazy person I am, I did a search and found a good writeup on what to look for from Aredubjay (thanks!):
"The "elbow" of the sun visor pops off (where the visor meets the bracket at the ceiling). That is usually where the wires break. Pop off the elbow and use a small bladed screwdriver to tug the wires out (you'll see them once the elbow cover is removed). Check for bare wires. If you don't see any, tug a little more and check further. If there's no visible sign of wear, yet, you're pretty sure that's still the problem, you can just snip the wires and cover them with a small piece of electrical tape until you decide to re-splice them."

Give that a try.

Cheers,
Matt

[RMaltzen]

I had this same exact problem, minus the smoke, a few weeks ago. It was caused by a short in the visor. The wires there are mainly to power the light in the mirror in your visor. If you don't mind going without the light(I don't even use the mirror), you can just disconnect those wires. Basically do what he said, cut and tape them off. Check your fuses again after doing this. I hadn't blown a fuse before I disconnected the wires, but during the process I blew one and didn't even know it.

After this, start her up again and watch it all work.

Good luck

Ryan

[Clydesvx]

When you pull on the wires a small connector will appear. Just pull it apart. That way if you ever find new visors they will just plug back up without any problems. My wires wore away just under the visor material where you could not do any repairs. Another way to notice there is a problem (before smoke) is when they only light up as you are holding up the mirror cover and pushing them to their UP position.

Note that there are two different SVX visor designs: one has an elbow with a snap-off cover while the other has one-piece elbow.

I've had both in my car.

[nordique14]

Originally posted by BradT
Note that there are two different SVX visor designs: one has an elbow with a snap-off cover while the other has one-piece elbow.

My passenger side visor finally gave up all grip a couple of years ago and I ordered a new one. The new one has the one piece elbow. Hopefully they have improved more then just the elbow on this updated version.

Matt

[~*~JenSVX~*~]

I already took the visor out the night it happened, the main problem I am having is that the clock and climate control are not working. I know to take to visor off and check the fuses.... I did that but, now the darn clock and climate control are unresponsive? I just don't know...

Jen

[glide]

This might not help, but a couple of months ago, my clock and thermostat control went out, but nothing else did. I checked all of the applicable fuse and nothing, they were all fine. So after tracing my wiring diagrams and getting nowhere fast, I decided to check all of the fuses. Sure enough, the fuse to my cigarette lighter was blown. I replaced that one and everything has been fine. I'm not sure what those devices have in common, but they must cross somewhere.

So I would say check all of your fuses again, even the ones that don't make sense.

[~*~JenSVX~*~]

Thanks Glide
I will check that in the morning. It sounds to be the same problem.

Jen