[lookitsjeremy]

Okay, I had a license plate bulb fry one of the license plate light connecters, melt all inside the housing, etc... Now, neither of the plate lights work, nor do the shifter console lights, or the steering wheel control lights. Any ideas? Are they on the same circuit/fuse? I can't find a blown fuse.

05 CTS 3.6

 

[CTSM]

The reason why you cant find a blown fuse is because you are only looking in the under hood fuse box.
In the CTS there are two more fuse boxes which are hidden in ther car's interior. Each one of those fuse boxes can be accessed by lifting the rear seat bottom cushion ( just pull gently it's held by push tabs) then peeling back the carpeting near the bottom of the cushion. My guess is that you blew the RIM fuse in the rear passenger side fuse box. But if you don't find a blown fuse there check the other box too.

Make sure you address the original problem first, Look online for a replacement bulb connector to replace the melted one...actually that's a good oppurtunity to get an LED for the license plate light that's what I replaced my bulb with when it went out...a low power LED won't melt down like a bulb can.

 

[lookitsjeremy]

Thanks, I don't post blindly. I am actually aware of all three boxes. And I have/had leds in the there already which oddly enough caused the problem. I'll recheck the RIM fuse once this rain finally quits.

 

[CTSM]

I see, well a high power LED will generate decent but that must have been something strange, for the connector to melt wow. That means it had to draw enough current to generate enough heat to melt the connector but not enough to blow the fuse and after the connector melted the fuse shorted....that kind of tells me that perhaps the wrong value fuse is installed maybe? Check the rating of the fuses against what's printed on the box. That fuse should have blown before something like that could happen, otherwise the fuse didn't do much with the connector damaged and perhaps the wire insulation too.

 

[lookitsjeremy]

Yeah thought it was crazy too. I have pulled and checked every fuse and double checked fuse values against box. Well no fix yet... gotta keep tinkering.

 

[lookitsjeremy]

Ended up being the 'dimmer' 10A fuse under the hood. Can't believe I missed it the first go 'round. All is good in the world again.