1. Home
  2. General Motors Forum
  3. Need help with under hood light

Need help with under hood light

Hi, I have a 2002 Buick Le Sabre Unlimited. The underhood light doesn't come on. I looked at the bulb and it looked OK. I disconnected the plug just below the light and checked for 12 VDC. I read 0 volts. Now for my problem. I can't find which fuse is used by this circuit. I have the owners manual and the light is not mentioned anywhere. I removed the relay covers on the block under the hood and under the back seat. No mention of which one is for the underhood light. I went to the library and checked the Chilton books. Still no mention of the underhood light or what fuse is used. Then I went to the internet and found nothing. I did find the mention of a 2001 Buick Le Sabre underhood light that needed the headlights turned on before it worked. I tried that and NOTHING. Any help will be appreciated. Now the reason for my concern, since I never use the light, is that if the problem is a blown fuse, some other stuff could be on the same circuit and not working. Thank in advance. Tom

Reply to
Tom
Loading thread data ...

have you noticed other stuff not working?

the underhood lights all draw their power from the hot side of the battery,, what you are looking for is the wire bundle that always provides power with the key off. such as door locks, interior dome lights etc. chances are the hood light runs off this circuit. if these things are working then your problem is a broken wire. which can be wired for testing purposes by running a wire with inline fuse directly to the battery to see if it will work. Before doing this I would change the bulb, just because it looks good doesn't mean it is.

Snow...

Reply to
Snow

Reply to
Shep

Isn't there a switch somewhere that the hood activates when it's opened?

Reply to
Mike Marlow

The wiring diagram shows that your underhood lamp is lit when the parking lamp relay is energized (headlight switch in PARK or ON or whenever headlamps are on). The parking lamp relay contact then provides power straight from the battery to the 10-amp DIMR fuse in the rear fuse block (located under the rear seat on the left side) then to the instrument panel lamps, the underhood lamp, and both license lamps. There is no separate dedicated switch to turn on the underhood lamp.

Reply to
Silver Surfer

I want to thank everyone for your replys. Silver Surfer answered my question and solved my problem. After reading his post, I printed it out, and went out to my car. I started the car, backed it out of the garage, made sure it was in PARK and turned on the parking lights and headlights. Then, to determine if the parking lamp relay was energized and the 10-amp DIMR fuse was OK, I checked the license lamps in the back and found then LIT. Then I raised the hood and the underhood lamp came ON. To test the mercury switch, I bent down and raised and lowered the hood. At about the midway point, I could see the light go on and off. Problem solved...thanks a million. I want to thank Silver Surfer for his detailed answer. If the license lamps had NOT been lit, I would have known to remove the back seat and check the DIMR fuse. And if the DIMR fuse was OK but lacked the 12 volts, I would have turned my attention to the parking lamp relay. Without your detailed explanation that would have been impossible. Once again, many thanks.

Reply to
Tom

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.