Open and closed fuse. If it's broke, it's broke.

If you don’t know what a fuse is, a fuse is an electrical safety device that is designed to break the circuit (that is cut power) in case of a short circuit or a voltage surge. In practical terms, instead of having say, a fried am/fm radio plus cd player in your car, all you get is a blown fuse—which is relatively cheaper than buying a new cd player.

This post will detail how to check for broken fuses and replace them if necessary.

When do you need to replace fuses? The most obvious is when you have an electronic device in your car that doesn’t work. Let’s say the CD player. If your car has power (car runs, a/c is on, lights on the dash are ok) but your cd player is dead, then you can check for blown out fuses.

Don’t be intimidated just because you read “electrical” or “electronic”. Replacing fuses in your Altima (or for most cars for that matter) is not that difficult. Actually, you won’t need any special tool or skill for this procedure. The steps are straightforward and easy to follow. What’s harder is if you managed to mess this one up.

Basics:

Nissan Altima Fusebox

Before the procedure, just a primer on the fuse and fuse box location in your Altima.

Fuse Box Location:

There are two fuse boxes in your Nissan Altima. One is under the hood, and another is in the cabin on the driver’s side.

Fuse Types:

There are two types of fuses. They call it Type A and Type B. It’s not that difficult to differentiate; just one look and you know which is which.

Just have to remember though: Type A is installed in the underhood fuse box can work as a spare fuse  for the fuse box in the driver’s side. But Type B fuse is used for the driver side fuse box and cannot be used for the underhood fuse box. So the Type B is a bit of a snob and less flexible. Also, if you do install a Type A in the Type B fuse box, it will not be level with the other fuses but it would still work. That’s that for the fuses.

Checking a bad fuse:

No skill needed, just good eyesight. Just pull out a fuse to inspect it. There is a cable or wire that can be seen in the middle of the fuse. If the cable is broken, the fuse is bad. If it’s still whole, it’s good. Didn’t we say this is going to be pretty much straightforward?

Important Note:

You should always match the amperage of the fuse that your are replacing. To know the amps, check the namual or the diagram at the fuse cover.

Now, onto the procedure itself:

Precautions:

Make sure the car is off, meaning the ignition switch is in the off position. Also, you can disconnect the negative (—) cable from the battery. Electricity and people makes for a bad combination for you.

Procedure:

1. Pop-up the hood. Look at the lower left corner of the hood. That’s where you’ll find the fuse box. Just pull the securing tab and pull up the cover.

2. Check for broken or blown fuses. Refer to the diagram on the fuse cover to know the location of the fuse for the device that you’re having problems with. Get the fuse puller from the driver side fuse box and pull the fuse to inspect it.

3. If you need to replace the fuse, there are spare fuses on the cover of the underhood fuse. Just push the new fuse into place.

4. Reconnect the battery, turn on the ignition switch and test the problem device. If all works, great. If not, turn everything off and check the fuse once more. If it broke again, then you need to go to a service center. This can be way over your head already.

5. More or less, the same procedure goes for the driver side fuse box. Check if the fuse is good, if not replace it. If it still broke after testing, go to a service center. Remember, Type B fuses won’t work in the underhood fuse box.

So that’s it. There’s really nothing to it. No need to blow your fuse when checking and replacing your Altima’s fuse, get the drift?

Information and images from the Nissan Altima Owner’s Manual:

http://www.nissanextendedwarranty.com/owners-manual/nissan_owner_manuals.html