12V Sockets, No Juice

2004 Acura TSX
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Tried 2 appliances on both sockets...with ignition key in position II and
engine running...
none has any power
what's wrong ? what to look for in the fuse box ?

thanks

 

a blown fuse, under the dash or in the engine compartment. id also check
the appliance fuses just in case.

 

a blown fuse, under the dash or in the engine compartment. id also check

I don't know this car, but two things come to mind:

1. Fuse panels usually have a cheat sheet either on or under the lid.
As mentioned above, the fuse could be in a fuse box in the engine
compartment, probably near the battery. This is definitely the first
thing to check. Note that if you keep blowing fuses you have to find
out why.

The owner's manual may also tell you about the locations and uses of
additional fuses or breakers, beside the obvious one or two.

2. A wire could have fallen off (or not been installed properly in
the first place) -- not the sort of QA sloppiness I stereotypically
associate with Honda/Acura, but you never know.


3. Maybe it's got a socket that is subtly incompatible with your
plugs. Seriously. I have a wye splitter that practically has to be
screwed into the lighter outlet on one of my cars. It works in the
other cars, and my other wye splitter works fine in that car, but that
one combination just doesn't make a good contact very readily. A
voltmeter or even just a 12V test bulb should tell you what you need
to know.


4. If it's an obscure problem, or if it proves to be a fuse eater
under reasonable load (some people load those things up pretty heavily
for a long time, whereas a cigar lighter is a heavy but temporary
load), on a 2004 model, is it still under warranty? I can see why
you'd want to rule out the simple easy things yourself, but hey, this
might still be someone else's problem.

Best of luck,
--Joe