Auto Correct | Fuses, Breakers, & Amps, Oh My!

This is an MPB Think Radio podcast.

Welcome to our host is Coach Charlie Melton, ASC-certified master technician.

I'm Jermaine Flood.

Hey, Coach.

Hey, how you doing today?

I'm doing good.

But you know, it's been really hot this week, like sick hot.

It has been really hot.

I mean, man, it's just been, it's terrible.

You step outside and it just takes your breath away.

It does.

And you know, I've seen videos from like around the nation or whatever of how

hot it is in different states.

The tar on the road is becoming pliable again in certain places.

Well, it just takes them.

When you step out there on that hot asphalt, it just takes your tennis shoes.

They just stick basically what these videos show.

Like there was a shopping cart that was mangled like it had been sitting there

and it just melted to the to a point of mangle.

It just melted down into it.

It is hot out there.

The sun has came down and said, hey, baby, I'm right next to you.

Well, you know, that's why you say you better have good air

conditioner in your car.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Abram, how's your day going?

Is it hot to you?

It is very hot.

I was telling Liz earlier, I had a dream last night that I was working.

So I feel like I never left.

So they call that like heat delirium or something like that.

He was having a heat stroke.

It's all a mirage.

I listen to everybody.

We're here to talk about fuses, breakers and amps.

Oh, my.

And the reason why I say, oh, my is because I know nothing about them.

Nothing about nothing about them.

Our email address for questions, if you want to know something about them

is auto at MPB online.org or if you want to know something about anything,

the phone number is one eight seven seven MPB ring.

That's one eight seven seven six seven two seven four six four.

All right. I Googled.

Well, you're you're good at Google.

Look, I've got it up right now.

It says Google right in front of my face.

It's good. I Googled of write up.

So here here's here's my my Google definition.

Car fuses are components designed to protect electrical wiring in cars and vehicles.

OK, now an automatic an automotive circuit breaker is an electrical

protection device designed to interrupt the flow of current in a circuit

when it exceeds a predetermined level.

Stop me if I say anything wrong.

Now you're you're on my clothes.

OK, all right.

So here's the amp part amp is short for amp peer,

which is the unit of measurement for electric current.

The bigger the amp value, the more electricity is available

available and your vehicles type and size affect what model of car battery

it carries and its amp rating is those are those the amps we're talking.

Those are the amps we're talking about.

I pass.

Amperage is flowing through the car every day.

OK, every time you crank it up, amperage is flowing.

And does that originate from the car battery originate from the car battery?

OK, I'm on points.

I'm on point.

All right, help me out though.

When you start talking about fuses, you know, and what gave me this idea

to talk about fuses, we had an email last week where one of the emails

talked about she checked all her fuses.

OK, when you start checking fuses, there's different types of fuses

and there's many, many fuses in the vehicle.

You know, if you're old as I am in your old school,

we used to have glass fuses.

OK, it was a see through glass with two metal ends on it

and a wire down to the middle of it.

It was a glass fuse.

Did it mimic the plastic ones that I'm used to?

It mimicked the plastic ones.

OK, but I tell you, you're old school here now on this glass fuse.

You know, you ever heard the song, the country boy can't survive?

Well, this was a teenager can't survive.

And what they did, they would take it when the fuse would blow,

they would take chewing gum wrapper, you know, Wrigley's chewing gum.

Yeah, the paper.

It was made of metal.

The outside was aluminum and they would wrap that fuse in that paper

and they'd put the fuse back in.

And it would work. It would work forever.

Yes, it would work forever.

But the problem was that now you have no protection

because it's not going to take them blow.

OK, we need the fuses to blow when there's too much current

going through the system.

OK, that was something just to get by.

You know, people used aluminum foil, people used bubble.

I mean, that chewing gum paper, you know, so they did that.

And I'm not telling you to do that, but that's just an old school thing.

Now, you can't do it today.

Not with those fuses, because there are no glass fuses.

Yeah. OK.

Then we have it. We had a ceramic fuse.

OK, a ceramic fuse was a piece of ceramic with a piece of wire

across it from one end to the other. OK.

And it would blow as well.

Yeah. And it was in British vehicles,

mostly all British vehicles, Mercedes and cars like that.

They would have those fuses in it,

but they no longer have those fuses, neither. OK.

Now, when we talk about fuses, fuses are rated in amperage

from three amps or 1.5 amps up to 60 amps.

You know, on some of them, there may be a hundred amp fuse in a vehicle,

but I've never seen one that was a hundred amp.

But they're rated from amperage

in order for when the fuse exceeds the amperage, it will blow.

It just has a piece of metal in the fuse. OK.

OK, just like you say, that piece of plastic you're talking about,

it has a piece of metal in it.

And what happens when the current flows through it

and it does not exceed, it lets the current flow.

Once the current is exceeded, that amperage will blow that fuse.

It will just literally burn the wire.

OK. Stops the flow of current.

Now, why would you say I need to stop the core flur?

Now, the question that I have is where does the

the overflow of current originate from?

Well, that's when you say you have a short somewhere. OK.

OK, a short is where maybe power is going somewhere

it doesn't supposed to go and is is creating a lot of resistance.

And so it's going to take more amperage to get through it.

OK. So the voters can flow. OK.

So if you had a short so in your vehicle,

that would make the amperage go up. Got it.

OK. And that would blow that current blow that fuse.

So when you think about a fuse, the fuse is there to protect the electric circuit.

Just think about you've seen vehicles on the highway

that have been burned up.

That's what I'm about to ask.

What would happen if if this goes all the way?

It will burn up the electrical system.

And that can in turn set the car on fire, catch the car on fire.

Got it. You know, that's what I'm saying.

Don't put no on the floor.

Don't put no gun around Jimmy.

Don't Jimmy it because that has happened before.

OK, and it will melt the wires because it will get so hot

and the installation will catch on fire.

So these fuses are made as a fail proof, safe proof safety device for the vehicle.

Now they're blade. Now we got blade type fuses.

OK, we have many fuses.

We have regular standard fuses. OK.

And they're blade type fuses. We have cartridge fuses.

OK, all of them are the same amperage.

And you think about it, the most common amperage fuse

you are going to see in a vehicle is a five amp. OK.

A ten amp. Now five amp is beige.

A ten amp is red. A 15 amp is blue.

A 20 amp is fluorescent yellow.

A 30, a 25 amp is clear.

And a 30 amp is green.

You do not need to remember this.

You don't need to remember all that.

No, I got it.

I got it.

But those are the most common fuses that you will see in the fuse box.

OK, when now you talk about a fuse box,

you know, a lot of people say, well, where is my fuse box?

What is a fuse box?

Well, you have two or three fuse boxes on a vehicle.

Your main fuse box is probably under your hood.

And it has all your main fuses in it.

The high voltage fuses like up to 50 amps in there.

OK, now, if you think about fuses,

I told you we have regular standard blade fuses.

Then we have many fuses.

Then we have micro fuses.

OK, when you start talking about fuses,

there are some really, really small fuses.

Yeah, some of them are three blade and most of them are two blade.

But a micro three is a three blade fuse.

OK, are all these fuse box boxes accessible?

Yes. OK.

There you usually got one under the hood, maybe two under the hood.

You've got one on the left side of the driver right up underneath

the left side by the steering wheel outside of the way.

Then you got may have one on the right side, passenger side.

And there are some that are in the trunk of the vehicle.

Some of the British vehicles put the fuse box in the back of the car.

And all these novice

a novice driver could access and possibly change their own.

They can do that.

And that's what I'm saying next week when we talk about the owner's manual,

it will show us how to change the fuses and where they're located.

OK, OK, OK, talking about those.

OK, OK, OK, well, week after.

Well, one of those coming, we're coming the week after.

OK, but then you think about color coded fuse.

If you if you know the color coded in once again, that's in the owner's manual.

It'll tell you what color that fuse is and how many amperages is. OK.

OK, now a lot of people start putting the headlights on

different type lights, different stereo systems in there.

And they don't really think about the fuse that they're putting in there

because once again, it can only hold so much amperage

that it's going to blow that fuse. Right.

Now, circuit breakers, how many times have you been driving down the highway

and you see all the lights go out on an 18-wheeler trailer?

Never. You've never seen that.

I see it all the time.

Coach, just because you you stay looking at everything,

you're driving on the road and you're looking at all the other cars.

Well, that's true.

Eighteen wheelers, they do have fuses, but they have circuit breakers.

Right. And we said a circuit breaker interrupts the flow electricity.

So if there is a high voted high current going through there or amperage

going through there, it will interrupt the.

Current.

After a few minutes, when it cools back off, it'll all come back on.

So all of this works together.

When we come back from the break, we're going to get into more

circuit breaker talk because we didn't talk to fuses.

But I think it all ties and it all flows together, all flows together.

OK, the phone number one eight seven seven MPB ring.

That's one eight seven seven six seven two seven four six four.

If you've got a question, send emails to auto at MPB online.org

or just give us a call.

We're talking fuses, breakers and amps.

Oh my, because coach knows he did not read any of that either.

Abram, I want you to know all of those are watching them as well.

All of those fused numbers and colors came off the dough.

That's crazy. All right, everybody, is your car under recall?

I'll tell you how you can find out next.

You're cruising with auto correct with coach Charlie Melton.

I'm Jermaine Flood.

If you want even more auto correct, find our podcast on all

podcast platforms for your smart device.

Auto correct is heard on MPB Think Radio Thursdays at 10 a.m.

with replays Saturdays at 11 a.m.

All right, coach, here's some recent recalls.

We're going to get started with Land Rover because they're

recalling more than 121,000 examples of its Range Rover

and Range Rover Sport SUVs over an issue with the front

suspension arm.

This includes model year 2014 to 17 Range Rovers

and Range Rover Sports.

The issue is with the front suspension upper knuckle joint,

which may crack and cause the suspension arm to detach.

And a detached suspension arm can cause a loss of vehicle

handling and control increasing the risk of a crash.

This is an expensive vehicle to have this happen to.

Well, and then like say the arm comes off of the knuckle breaks,

you know, then you have no control over the vehicle at all.

At all.

Ooh, it's scary.

Please get these 2014 to 2017 Range Rovers

and the Sport versions.

To resolve the issue, dealers are inspecting the front

suspension knuckles and installing a retaining

bracket or replacing the knuckle as necessary for free.

Well, the knuckle is what holds the wheel itself.

OK, but the axle and all coming out the front of it.

OK, so you would possibly want it just to be replaced.

And yes, OK, not tape.

They didn't say tape, but that's what that's what I read.

I would tell them to I would tell them to replace it.

Yeah, tell them to replace it on that one.

All right, here's the next recall.

This one recalls continue for Ford with the latest

missive affecting more than 41,800

examples of its co-sare SUV from the luxury arm Lincoln.

The recall involves an issue with the rear view camera.

This includes model year 20 to 22 co-sares.

Water may enter into the rear view camera connectors

and cause the camera image to appear distorted or not

appear at all, increasing the risk of a crash.

So here's the thing about that.

When it rains, I can't see out of it

because there's a droplet of water just sitting on the lens,

not even like inside of the camera.

Mine did that the other day when it rained.

I couldn't see it.

Why don't they put a little mini windshield

wiper on that bad boy or something?

That would be neat.

Yeah.

But you'd see the windshield wiper go across the time.

Well, just a couple of times.

At least I can see it out after it wipes the droplet.

It's one droplet.

And it will just cover the whole thing.

Just use your mirrors and you ain't got to worry about it.

Yeah, stick your head up.

It needs an eyelid.

Where it is.

Look at all these clothes.

What a blink real quick.

Yeah.

It was a smart idea until it rains.

So as a fix, dealers are replacing the rear view camera

harness and rear view camera for free.

So theirs is a little bit more serious.

It's getting into the harness.

The harness itself.

And so that's that recall.

And finally in recall news, it's

Jeep's latest safety missive affecting nearly 79,000

Wrangler SUVs.

It involves the tire pressure monitoring system warning light

which may not illuminate.

This includes model year 24 to 25 Wranglers.

The issue involves the remote start antenna cable which

may be pinched and cause the TPMS warning light not

to illuminate.

And without that warning light, drivers

may be unaware that tire pressure

is outside of recommended limits

increasing the risk of a crash.

You know, back in the day, you just had to get out,

go to check your tires every now and then.

You didn't have to depend on the idiot light.

And I don't, you know, I don't trust the light anyway.

Is it on for real or is it not?

Is it all a mirage?

Because it really doesn't tell you, on some people,

it doesn't tell you which one.

So you have to check them.

All of them anyway.

Yeah.

OK.

So they're going to try to help everybody out

to get their little light back.

That's right.

To resolve, dealers are inspecting and replacing

the remote start antenna cable as necessary for free.

You can find out if your car is a past recall

by going to the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration website, nhtsa.gov,

forward slash recalls, and inputting your VIN number there.

Or you can find their safer car app.

We're talking fuses, breakers, and amps.

Oh my.

And we're also taking your vehicle repair questions.

Our email address is auto at mpbonline.org.

But you can give us a call like Christian in Jackson.

The phone number is 1-877-MPB-RING.

That's 1-877-672-7464.

While Christian's getting loaded up.

Coach, let's dibble into a little bit more circuit breaker talk.

All of these, of course, are connected like we talked about.

But these also have amp ratings just like car fuses.

They're just they're in amperage as well.

But now, what would your reasoning of thinking,

why would 18-wheelers have more circuit breakers

than they do fuses?

I don't because they big.

No, but they are big.

The main reason is so they can't stop all the time

and see where a fuse is blown.

Oh, OK.

It's easier for them to do the circuit breaker comeback on

than they can just go that circuit breaker

because it's easier for them and either for to maintain.

That makes sense.

You know what we need a light for?

Fuses.

Can we get an illuminator shin light for that?

No, because the fuse ain't got no power.

So we can.

It'll be for whatever circuit it was on,

say if the radio didn't work, you would go to audio

and those lights would come on.

It would say something like that.

OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK.

I'm trying to make it easy for us there at least.

Well, at least you're trying.

Yeah, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

I think Ford or Chevrolet or them

might have come up with a light like that.

They tried it.

OK, they're trying it.

OK, OK, I'm not the first one to think about it.

That could be a new pattern, though.

You heard it.

That's right.

That's my idea.

That's your idea.

Go to the pattern office.

I will.

Listen, before we keep talking about circuit breakers,

amps and fuses, oh my.

Let's go to Christian and Jackson.

He's got advice about cameras and sensors in the rain.

Christian, you're on with Coach Charlie.

Hey, how are y'all today?

Doing good.

I have a friend in Louisiana.

He's a body man.

And one thing that he said, and I started using it

when I was driving a big rig, is using Wax or Rainax

on the sensors, a comparison would

be using Cascade in your dishwashers.

Kind of gives a sheeting action

to where the rain doesn't really gather over the sensor

or the camera, especially when you're moving.

I didn't even think about Rainax, Christian.

You put it on your windshield.

Why did I not think about this?

There's his pattern.

Now he could take and get it.

That is a good idea because the water does not

beat up your exactly right.

Yeah.

Yeah, but I just wanted to mention that because.

Christian, you're a genius.

I'm so weak.

Well, I can't take full credit for it.

Yes, yes.

But I will today, yeah, on the NPC.

That's a good tip.

I like that.

Christian, thanks, man, for putting me back on track.

Absolutely.

Hey, she's not going to help for you.

I want you to be able to see.

She's not going to the patent office now.

No, that's it.

Except for that little mini windshield.

Christian, you're going to go.

That little mini windshield wiper is patented.

I came up with that one.

Yeah.

And the other guy, he has the eyelid, so.

We'll start a competition.

Whoever gets the patent written first and gets it approved

and through the GM office, we'll start a patent runoff.

All right.

That's right.

Christian.

Let's make it happen.

Thanks, man.

Appreciate you calling.

Have a great day.

All right, you too.

That was great.

Yeah, and then Raynex.

Who would have thought other than Christian?

Well, he got advice from somebody in Louisiana,

you know.

Hey, that is a good advice.

That is a good advice.

OK, here's a bit of advice that I'm going to ask you,

coach, so you know, we were talking about fuses,

and I want to go back to that before we get back

into circuit breakers.

Can fuses be just, you know, interchanged and used as you

like?

No.

Flipping amps or?

No, because once again, we already

said that the fuses are rated in amperage.

And as according to what's on that circuit,

an alternator has an 80 amp fuse in it, OK?

You wouldn't want to put an 80 amp fuse in something

that had a 30 amp fuse in it.

Or because what's going to happen,

that fuse, that amperage, will not

going to blow until it gets to 80, OK?

So now, if you've got more amperage going through the system,

you're going to burn all the electrical system up.

So the thought process, which shouldn't be,

was let me put more amps in here just so it doesn't go over.

Right, people do think that sometime,

and they replace a 10 amp with a 20 amp or a 15 amp.

I'm thinking I'm going to get some life out of this one.

Right, you need to put the correct fuse amperage in the slot.

Because you can still set that car on fire.

Right, right.

Because what happens, the wire gets hot,

and then it melts the insulation.

OK.

And then that's what catches on fire.

OK, now, so have you seen this in real life?

Has somebody come to you with a vehicle

that they've done this in, and it has not gone on fire?

I have seen it in real life.

OK.

And we always go back through, once again, the owner's

manual tells you exactly what amperage

fuse should be on that circuit.

But the thing is, a lot of people straight wire things,

just say if they're putting lights on, or fog lights,

or KC lights on, jeeps, and stuff like that.

A lot of people straight wire, and they

want to put a fuse in it.

They go bypass.

Right, they just bypass it, and then that's the problem

as well.

If you're going to put a new device on your vehicle,

always put you a fuse in it.

So this sounds like major surgery, right?

If you do something like this, and let's just say the car had

not caught on fire, your innards are blown, no?

Yeah, well, like I say, you can blow up the computer.

You can burn the computer out.

You can do all kinds of damage if you do not

have the right fuses in there.

So in one of these vehicles that you've seen,

what did you have to tell the person, like,

what was going to be the fix?

What's the fix on this?

Well, if you blow the computer,

you've got to have a new computer.

If you burn the wiring up, you've got to have new wiring

harness.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

So it could be very expensive if you damage it

because of fuses and circuit breakers.

You could be looking at possibly buying a new car.

Because you could destroy the car's electrical system,

especially today, all the very delicate electrical systems,

all the GPSs and everything you got on the dash and all

that.

Now, there is a relay in a vehicle called a delay relay.

And what a delay relay is, is that when you cut your car on,

if you notice everything doesn't come on at one time,

it delays.

And so it delays to make sure that it ain't overdoing.

That something's not working correctly.

Got it, got it.

It's called a delay relay.

So smart.

These cars are so smart.

Now one's usually in the dash on the right side.

So I want to go back a little bit to circuit breakers.

When it comes down to versus 18-wheelers

and regular vehicles, is it always

going to be where regular cars and automotives just

have less circuit breakers?

Well, vehicles, cars and trucks do have less circuit breakers.

And the reason is because they do use more fuses.

But an 18-wheeler has a lot more breakers in there.

Because just like I told you, if the lights go out,

the lights will come back on.

You didn't destroy anything.

And you may not have that fuse

for that particular part of that system.

Because it sounds like, to me, I want

a car that's set up like an 18-wheeler, where

you don't have to worry about all of that.

Well, that's where you have relays as well.

Relays are in our cars and trucks as well.

So if you even think about how a system works,

you have fuses, you have breakers, you have relays.

The relays, the fuse is working.

Well, when you cut a key on, it

may go to the starter relay.

It may go to the air conditioner relay.

It already passed the fuse.

But now you've got to get past the relay for it to work.

OK.

So there was another word that I didn't add in there.

So it's fuses, breakers, relays, and amps, oh my.

Oh my.

Well, listen, the number is 1-877-MPB-RING.

That's 1-877-672-7464.

When we get back, we'll dibble into some more circuit

breakers and amps talk.

Our email address where you can send questions

is auto at mpbonline.org.

Of course, we're talking fuses, breakers, relays, and amps.

Oh my.

Between your car repair questions.

What's in the news?

Your car can protect you from lightning,

but not for the reasons you think.

And I've got a story to go along with this one.

I'll tell you more next.

Average.

That's it.

Thank you for listening to AutoCorrect on MPB Think

Radio.

Coach Charlie Melton, retired instructor

from Clinton High School's automotive tech program,

is our teacher and our expert host.

I'm Jermaine Flood.

I hope you've downloaded the app for your smartphone,

the MPB public media app.

In addition to listening to the show on that app,

please, please click on the Support button

and make a contribution.

We would love for you to be our neighbor.

Contributions help keep our programs on the air

for you and others to enjoy.

And we thank you for your contribution

and being a neighbor to Mississippi Public

Broadcasting.

AutoCorrect is heard on MPB Think Radio Thursdays

at 10 AM with replays Saturdays at 11 AM.

In the news, your car can protect you from lightning,

but not for the reasons you think.

OK, on break, Coach and I talked.

We've got two stories.

I'm going to tell mine quickly, because yours

is for real for real.

So Marissa and I were outside taking a break

yesterday afternoon.

And this property that we sit on,

and I think it's because of the trees and the antennas

and everything that we've got going on here.

It's just a haven for lightning strikes.

And over the years, I've been here for a good number of years

now, over the years, I've probably

have heard at least three to four of them myself

and were outside for maybe two of them.

And yesterday was one of those.

And we were just sitting there.

And all of a sudden, I'm talking about the biggest.

I mean, I guess it was the lightning strike,

but the thunder, of course, is what we heard the rumble

after.

We heard it strike.

It sounded like it went through our bodies.

Yes, you could feel it.

And the next thing you know, you heard the noise.

I heard Marissa scream at a decibel that had not been

registered before.

And come to find out, we talked with a couple of our co-workers.

And supposedly on the other end of the building,

the lightning actually struck our tower,

like our little antenna tower.

And that's what really made that crack of thunder

sound like.

I mean, it sounded like it slapped you.

You know what I'm saying?

And so that's what made me pull this story.

But you have a little story before I get into this talk

about cars and lightning.

Well, you think about cars, lightning,

since we're talking about amperage going through vehicles.

I was driving a van.

I had my younger children in the van.

We were driving through a heavy, heavy thunderstorm.

I don't know right beside my vehicle,

or my vehicle got struck by lightning.

It killed the alternator.

It killed anything.

Killed the battery.

But you were in it.

We were in the vehicle driving.

And the vehicle just came to a complete stop.

It killed everything.

Did it.

Just did it.

Sounded like I had a, it was an EMP.

Oh yeah, the flat line, straight flat line.

It just took me out.

It's flat line.

Kids were wondering what happened.

And I knew what happened.

You know, and they said, well, why didn't we get hurt?

Because we were in the vehicle itself.

OK, so here's the thing.

So they say, even though experts have determined

that staying indoors is the best way

to stay safe during a lightning storm,

because my daddy used to tell me, put the phone down,

turn the TV off, turn the lights off, and get in here.

You can sometimes have these unexpected storms develop

while you're on the road.

And fortunately, the metal frame of your vehicle

can protect you.

Now, they say it's a misconception

that you're safe from a lightning strike while you're

in your car because of its tires.

That's because lightning strikes can be so powerful

that they actually melt the rubber, which

has been seen in bicycle and motorcycle deaths related

to lightning.

Instead, the metal frame of your vehicle

is what keeps you safe.

Typically, the bolt will strike either the antenna

or the roof line.

And since the shell is a good conductor,

the static electricity will be directed around the outer metal

barrier through the tires and into the ground,

avoiding you altogether.

So I think this is something that maybe you

are experienced, right?

Well, because it was raining, and there was water

is trying to get to ground.

And ground, water is a conductor.

And so if it hit the vehicle, it went through the metal

to the ground.

To the ground.

OK.

And then it just killed that car.

Right.

It just killed my car.

What did y'all have to do to get it back?

Did the car?

Had to get a new battery.

Had to get a new alternator.

Had to do the whole nine on it.

Boy, boy, boy.

Lightning ain't nothing to play with.

OK, so here's an exception.

Convertibles with soft tops.

These kind of vehicles are less safe

because lightning could strike the fabric

and set the roof on fire.

For this reason, it's best to keep shelter in a nearby building

if you're caught on the road in a soft top convertible.

So while the metal frame of a vehicle

can keep you safe and thunderstorm with lightning,

you still need to take precautions

to protect yourself, of course.

The most ideal thing to do is

to seek shelter when you see warning signs of a thunderstorm.

And if you're stuck in your car, you

should pull onto the shoulder of the road,

turn off the engine with the emergency flashers on,

and the windows up, and wait for the storm to pass.

And it's best to avoid touching anything that contains metal

and is connected to the frame, including the door handles,

electronics on the dashboard, the gear shift, the steering

wheel, and windows.

That way you won't get shocked if your car is stuck.

Right.

So anything that could, or electricity,

could travel through it.

So keep in mind, too, now that lightning striking the ground

nearby could travel to your car through the rain

on the ground.

That's why, before touching anything metal or even

leaving the vehicle, wait 30 minutes after the last time

you hear a rumble of thunder.

This is serious business now.

The other reason is because lightning bolts

can touch down miles ahead of and behind a storm.

Now, I don't think you've got to wait 30 minutes

if you hear a rumble miles away.

It's not about if you've got one right next to you

where you can hear it.

So just in conclusion, in the event

that lightning strikes your car, you're

likely to come out unscathed, but the same might not

be true for the vehicle.

Like in Coach's case, the reason is

because many of the components in your car

are connected to the metal shell.

And as that static electricity charge

passes through the frame, it can pass through those other

components.

And while there are many kinds of damage,

thunderstorms cause there are specific types of damage

you may find on your vehicle.

So it does go into a whole bunch, non-visual damage,

frying computer chips, possibly amps, fuses,

and circuit breakers.

That's right.

Boy, boy, boy, how is all tied in together?

I'll include a link to this story

so you can get more information in our show's podcast

description.

Coach, that's that one.

I mean, that was a heck of a story

to tie into all of our talk.

You know, that's why I say a lot of people

got to be very careful when they start driving

and thunderstorms and all, because it is dangerous

and it can strike your vehicle without a moment's notice.

OK, all right.

Well, Coach, let's get into some amp talks here.

We haven't talked about amps yet,

as it relates to just themselves outside of the car fuses

and the circuit breakers.

Well, the amperage is what makes the electricity flow.

So when you have amperage in a vehicle,

like I say, an alternator has either from 80 amps to 100

and 200 amps coming out of an alternator.

That's what it takes to run that entire vehicle.

OK, and so that's why you got to have the right amperage

alternator as well.

Everything runs off 12 volts.

But amperage is what makes everything work.

OK.

OK, you know, a lot of people sometimes they test a battery

and they say, well, I got 12 volts in my battery

and my battery is not working.

Well, you can have 12 volts in a battery,

but if you don't have no amperage, it ain't going to work.

It ain't going to work.

OK, OK.

So amperage is what helps makes it move.

OK, OK.

And then so when you start talking about amperage

exceeding, well, how amperage exceeds,

like I said earlier, you may have a ground short.

You may have a short to hot to positive.

So is it ground to positive or positive to ground?

So just wherever you have something going wrong

with electrical system and amperage,

that's what's going to blow those fuses.

That's what's going to blow those circuit breakers.

Right.

OK, now they're really not going to blow a relay.

A relay doesn't blow because a relay is just

like you're handing off a baton.

So you're just handing off the energy.

OK.

So it's not going to blow that.

It's going to be either the circuit breaker to blow

or the fuse itself.

Or the fuse itself.

Right.

Can scan tools recognize any of this and tell you anything?

No, a scan tool, you know, when

you talk about when a fuse is blown,

it's called a open circuit.

That means that nothing can travel through it.

OK, because it's open.

A scan tool could tell you maybe

if you don't have voltage somewhere.

But then it's up to you to find out why you don't have voltage.

It's not going to say, well, number 15 is blown.

They're not going to say that.

OK.

It's going to tell you that you have a open somewhere.

OK.

Now, another thing I wanted to talk about

is the fuses and the amperages that you

do need to replace fuses or look at them, especially

the blade type fuses.

Because what happened, they're made of aluminum.

The blades are made of aluminum and they get corroded.

And as they get corroded, they

do not make a good connection.

And that will keep a circuit from working.

Oh, OK.

Because the corrosion would be on the blades of the fuses

themselves.

OK.

I've seen that several times.

Can it weather?

Can weather help corrode that?

Yes.

OK, temperature in the car and all that.

You know how aluminum corrodes?

Just like aluminum wiring in a house.

It does the same thing.

It's that white coating on it.

And electricity can't flow through it.

OK.

So that's another thing when you think about amperage.

Once again, the high amperage fuses

are usually in your primary box.

OK, that would be under the hood or maybe under the dash.

But most of the time it's under the hood.

OK, then you have a secondary box

that will have for all your accessories

like your radio, your air conditioner, some of those.

That's the one down to my left.

That's down to your left.

Got it.

Sometimes it down to the right.

And then you'll have another one that

may have lighting fuses in it.

Is that in the glove box?

It could be on the other side of the glove box

or in the glove box.

Or I'm getting smart.

And it could be in the trunk.

OK, OK.

OK, according to what type of car it is.

OK.

You know, because now I will tell you

that a lot of people go to Google

with if they don't have their owner's manual,

they go to Google and try to find the fuse box.

Well, there's 1,000 fuses boxes on Google.

You never know which one is yours.

Even though you might be putting in the right model

number, you might write everything

and then you just have fuse boxes come up galore.

Because GM, Ford and all, it's according to what fuse box

they put in there.

And then you may have a lot of empty spaces in your fuse box

for accessories that's not on your vehicle.

OK.

So you may have a lot of those.

You say, well, I'm missing all these fuses.

Well, you may not have those things that take fuses

because they may not be in that vehicle.

Coach, if you're like me and it just becomes confusing,

but you know, OK, I'd save money

if I tried to DIY this myself.

Should I or should I just take it to somebody?

Well, fuses is not a hard thing to find out if they're bad.

You can just pull in most fuses.

You can look at them and see if they're melted.

OK.

You can look at them and then you can put them back in.

But it's the main thing is where the circuit is.

You can't interchange many fuses to regular standard fuses.

You can't change cartridge fuses to many fuses.

OK.

You've got to put the correct fuse in the vehicle

and in the slot.

If you're having a major wiring problem

and you said you checked all the fuses,

once again, go into the owner's manual

and make sure that you know what fuses are going where.

Make sure you checked all the fuses.

Make sure you checked all the fuses where it could be.

And then if you have an electrical problem,

then I would take it somewhere else.

OK.

Because if you don't have a test light,

you ain't got a multimeter, maybe an amp probe,

you may not be able to do it yourself.

OK.

You know what?

I'm just going to call you, Coach.

That's what I'm going to do.

Just call me on the phone.

I'm just going to call you on the phone,

because you know exactly the color, the number,

and all of that.

The number to us is 1-877-MPB-RING.

That's 1-877-672-7464.

We're discussing fuses, breakers, and amps, oh my,

and taking your repair questions.

Send an email to auto at mpbonline.org.

We've got a new car review from Casey Williams coming

up and Coach's tip of the week.

This is AutoCorrect on MPB ThinkRadio.

Here's a new car review from Casey Williams.

It's AutoCasey on AutoCorrect.

It seems like every luxury SUV costs six figures today.

The question is, is the 2025 Infiniti QX80 worth it?

From the outside, it definitely looks expensive.

Great big black grille.

It's got the squinty driving lamps over it

and the nice inset LED driving lamps in the fascia.

22-inch wheels, two-tone, the black roof

does look very expensive.

Inside, the luxury is certainly there.

Heated, ventilated, and massage seats

in the front and the middle row,

and heated seats in the rear.

All power operated.

You've got a clutch, audio system, heads up display,

panoramic roof, just a very nice car inside.

Under the hood, a 3.5-liter twin turbo V6

delivers 450 horsepower, 516-pound-feet of torque,

you can tow 8,500 pounds.

Got as much kind of stinks,

16 miles per gallon of city, 19 highway.

So let's talk about price.

Well, this vehicle starts at 82.5.

This one, all-in, autograph, everything on it,

114,845 dollars.

See the full video on his YouTube channel, AutoCasey,

and listen to AutoCorrect

on the MPB ThinkRadio YouTube channel.

This is AutoCorrect.

If you've missed any other program,

listen to the whole show from autocorrect.mpbonline.org

or your favorite podcasting platform.

AutoCorrect is heard on MPB ThinkRadio Thursdays

at 10 a.m. with replays Saturdays at 11 a.m.

Today, it's Southern Ribbity Kids and Teens.

I'm Jermaine Flood.

Our expert is Coach Charlie Melton,

ASC-certified master technician,

and it's time for Coach Charlie's tip of the week.

You know, it's gonna bring some fuses in this morning.

They were gonna be a mini fuse, a cartridge fuse,

and another blade fuse,

because I had a one-inch blade fuse that was a 30 amp.

It was the same size as a mini 30 amp.

And the same color?

Same color.

And so you wanna make sure no matter what fuse it is

that you put the exact same color fuse

or the amperage, if you don't know the color,

just put the right fuse in that circuit.

Do not try to bypass it with anything else

so you can protect that system.

Yeah, yeah.

And Coach taught me on the break,

more electronics.

More fuses.

And because of AutoCasey's infinity review

where he listed off.

You know those $114,000 car,

would you hate to burn some of those circuits up

because you put the wrong fuse in there?

Let me tell you, you'd have to put me in a straight jacket.

If I did anything while driving a $114,000 vehicle,

you'd have to straightjack it.

I wouldn't even want, ooh, I wouldn't even wanna see

a rock fly up on the windshield.

Oh, you couldn't afford the windshield.

Ooh!

You put me behind that steering wheel,

you're seeing me like this right here,

shaking like crazy.

Hey, trying to stay away from everybody.

Your steering wheel right there, man.

I'm going crazy.

I'm telling you, I think that would be the slowest car,

I mean the slowest I'd ever drive a vehicle.

Would be.

Would be, play with me.

Oh, yes.

Play with me, and I will jump out of here and fight

because, see, that's why I don't need it.

You see what I'm saying?

It's gone from zero to a hundred real fast.

Yeah, that's why my car cost about 10% of that.

I went from a rock to a window

to fighting in the streets.

You see, you can't have that.

What a riot.

I'm not made for it.

Coach, let's go to the phone lines real quick.

We've got Carl in Vicksburg.

He's got a question about transmission motor oil.

Carl, you're on with Coach Charlie.

Yes, sir, I was gonna ask you a question.

We're getting a old classic car, 78 Chevy Caprice,

and we're gonna put an external oil cooler

and transmission cooler on there.

But if you had to say which one would you use,

would that be more important, motor oil

or the transmission to keep it cool?

It's gonna be that transmission cooler

because that's the thing is you got an engine

that already, if it didn't come with a cooler,

it's gonna be cool enough,

but you're putting the motor oil cooler on there

just to cool it if you wanted to.

If you think it's overheating,

but the transmission, it gets hot all the time

and they should all have a cooler on them.

You gotta get rid of that heat

from that fluid somehow

and that's the best way is getting that cooler on there.

Okay.

All right, Carl, I hope that Caprice looks nice.

That's gonna be nice.

Don't you like Caprice's, Coach?

I like Caprice.

That's what I thought.

I do like the Chevy Caprice.

You at the car show in Clinton, didn't you vote one of us?

I did.

I thought I remember.

Coach loves the Caprice.

I remember that.

Coach, did we talk about the tip of the week?

Well, I'll give you a tip of the week real quick

just to make sure.

Okay.

Change those fuses, look at them.

If they're corroded, make sure that you can replace them

because a lot of times they corroded

and you don't even know it

and once that corrosion gets on there,

they don't make good connection.

So just check those.

How many times do you think you should go back and check?

Well, if you live in a very humid area

and where there's a lot of water and salt,

I would check them at least once a year.

Just pull out some of them and look at them,

make sure that they're not corroded

and just put a new one in there.

That sounds good.

That's especially too in cold climates

because there's a lot of salt in the ice.

And fuses are not very expensive.

Okay, okay, okay.

Breakers are, but fuses are not.

Okay, okay.

So that's our discussion.

We tackled fuses, breakers and amps.

Oh my, yes, we did.

We did.

Well, the whole thing is just you need to make sure

if you're going to wire a circuit,

make sure that you put a fuse in there,

just to make sure that you're safe.

If it's a 20 amp fuse,

cause you're trying to protect

whatever you're putting in there.

Don't be going in there Frankensteining it.

And just straight wire.

In any of those Frankenstein cases, did it work out?

It did work out and if you're old as I am, you'll know.

It worked out.

You could Frankenstein it a bit and not be in trouble,

but these new vehicles just ain't built like the models.

You can't even, they're not built like this.

They didn't have as many electronics

cause mainly the only thing you was putting a fuse in there

is for the headlights most of the time.

Yeah, yeah.

Or the ignition system.

Now you got lights that are LED underneath the body of it

and you got those hooked up.

You got the lights in the wheels.

Well, the old school only had like five or 10 refuses in it.

Now you got a hundred fuses in the cars today.

And back in the day, you used to can have

a whole refuse, fuse replacement box,

like with all of them.

But with a hundred of them, can you even have that anymore?

You can still replace the box,

but you still gotta replace each fuse.

Yeah.

And there's a lot of slots that don't have fuses in them.

Once again, we'll talk about that two weeks from now

on the owner's manual.

That's right.

Call a coach if you can't do it yourself.

They gotta be a coach of cars like that man called you.

The car coach.

He's got, tell that story before we go.

That man saying what?

You know, I was in there at a restaurant the other day

and I was working and the guy says,

I heard that voice.

You're the car coach.

Says, I hear you.

I will listen to you all the time.

He's the car coach.

Not coach Charlie, the car coach.

That'll wrap us up for today's AutoCorrect

crew engineer Abram Nanny.

Call screener Marissa Vaughn for the car coach.

Coach Charlie Melton, master technician.

I'm Jermaine Flood.

Next week, it's Flood vehicles

for our Hurricane Katrina at 20 Remembrance Week.

Thank you for listening to AutoCorrect

on MPB Think Radio.

This is an MPB Think Radio podcast.

To hear previous shows, visit mpbonline.org

or download the MPB Public Radio app

to listen on your iPhone or Android phone on demand.

Auto Correct | Fuses, Breakers, & Amps, Oh My!

Land Rover Range Rover

Jeep Wrangler

Ford F-150 Lightning

Infiniti QX80

Chevrolet Caprice

About this episode

Original notes