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Intermittent Short in Radio Circuit in 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider

Hi,

I have an interesting issue, for which I hope you experts can shed some light on: Here is the symptoms and history: Four weeks ago my car's radio, cabin lights and power locks stopped working. Other components in the cabin still worked, i.e.instument lights, cigaret lighter, power windows, etc. It turned out, the fuse No.22, Dome Lights, 10Amp, in the fuse box under the hood was broken(the one in the yellow plastic frame thats impossible to get out without a special tool). All fuses in the cabin fuse box are still functioning. After replacing the broken fuse, the car ran fine again for ca. 3 days of intensive driving and radio, etc. use. Then it broke again. After replacing the same fuse for a second time, very similar after three to four days (less intensive use this time, hardly used the radio) the fuse broke again. The shop technician wants to take out the dash to do detailed examination and keep the car for two days and $108.50. I'd assume it's a short between the hood fuse box and the cabin fuse box because none of the cabin fuses blew. Doesn't that give the technician enough of a hint which part of the wire harness to replace? Wouldn't the cabin fuses blow instead of the hood fuse, if the issue was in the dash board or in one of the components, i.e. the radio? There is no prior history, the car was running just fine for 2.5 years, 37000mi, no accidents or drained/replaced battery or radio, etc.

I'd really appreciate your help. Is there a wiring diagram on the web somewhere?

Thanks, Andy

Reply to
Andy
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That fuse is the last protection device before the audio system, dome light, door locks, etc. There are no other fuses after this one.

How are your door locks, does the lock / unlock solenoid stick? This, or a short in the wire, would be my first / second place to look.

Your vehicle should still be under warranty, there should be NO charge, for the dealer to service is problem.

Reply to
Nirodac Yar

Ops, should have asked more questions? Does this problem happen while your driving or after you do something different, like unlocking your car. And this is the factory keyless entry, right.

Reply to
Nirodac Yar

Hi Nirodac,

thanks for your reply!

Unfortunately warranty expired 8000mi ago. The car has keyless entry (there is a single lock on the driver side, though), but I noticed only one time, when the fuse broke: I had just parked and was about to turn the key to turn off the motor, and before I turned the key, the clock went blank. So I don't think it's the power locks.

How would you go about finding an intermittent short?

Thanks, Andy

Reply to
Andy

On these computer controlled cars, there just is no easy way to do it. In the old days, you simply disconnected each leg of the circuit, till the trouble disappeared, then back tracked to find the exact location. Spending the last 45 minutes with the 03 Spyder manual, I see that fuse goes to a hell of a lot of devices. Including, fog lights headlights seat belt alarm, windshield wiper and washer, and on and on and on. I can't imagine a ten amp fuse controlling all those devices, so my guess is it controls a number of ECU's somewhere, that control those devices via another power feed. Hence some things still work, even though that fuse has blown. An example is the radio which has multiple power feeds.

It's going to take some digging to find all the locations that this circuit goes to.

The schematic covers 325 pages of the manual, covers all the 03 eclipse line only, all styles and engine types.

My guess is that your mechanic was going to shotgun the repair.

You can buy the manual from Mitsu, I've seen them on e-bay, and there may be a DSM or Mitsu users group that may have the CD. Try a Google search.

I'll keep look though and see if I can find a common point.

Good luck.

Reply to
Nirodac Yar

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