Silly to ask on A-zine right? But I'm very desperate and I need an answer ASAP...

On the way home with the Diamante, the gauge cluster, radio, AC, and window button lights all die (the radio is completely gone), now at first I was like holy shit the car died, but i realised the engine was still running, so then I quickly calmed down and realised it was a fuse so drove the last 10 miles without a speedo or tach...

*Checking the Fuses*
The instrument panel fuse is fine, as for pretty much all of the fuses on the inside of the car, now I goto the fuse box under the hood and one of the two radio fuses are blown BUT!!! I cannot replace it due to a stupid light yellowish box around the fuses, does anyone know how to remove this box? I've looked around on the internet allot already with no luck so far...

The yellow box does look like it can be pried with a flathead screwdriver but... Screwdriver + Fuse box = Epic Electrical Failure, so I figure there must be a trick to doing this with your fingers....

Also next plea for help, does anyone know any good mitsubishi forums? I joined mitsubishi-forums.com but they don't look too terribly active (in the Diamante section anyways)... any other mitsu forums?

 

There has to be some clips on the side. or maybe there is some screws holding the cover on. using a screwdriver is not going to lead to epic fail , unless you are putting in the slots where the fuses go.

 

That's a tough one dude, without being there to eyeball it in person. Its probably too hard to take pics of too.

In situations like that (which I encounter with the Porsche all the time), I typically look at the problem as one that's easy to solve one way or another. If they are fuses, there has to be an easy way to remove them. The yellow box may have a tab somewhere....or it may well be connected to something larger around it and you remove the whole shootin' match.

Rarely is it just upping the force to remove the item, when its made of plastic like that. Just give it a really solid examination and see if you can figure it out. Arm yourself with small flathead screwdrivers and needle nose pliers. Those are useful in situations like that.

Or, just swing it by the local dealer or good independent shop and see if they can pop it out for you.

Good luck,
-Mirror

 

Agreed, but that is excellent mechanical smarts to be wary of something like that. The internets is filled with hamfisted dumbcraps who go diving under their cars swinging tools like machetes not knowing what they are doing.....and then complain on the boards when they break something. Good on ya for being cautious.

One thing that will remove all doubt about a screwdriver based epic fail is to disconnect the negative battery lead from the battery. At that point your electrical system is not functional, and you can mess around in that fusebox all you like.

Let us know how it turns out.

-Mirror

 

I'm taking it to a shop right now, I dont have time to fumble around in awkward postitions (The interior fuse box is in a godawful place, which requires your back and neck in a really unnatural postion), I kinda need a speedo/tacho since the cops in my area are REALLY bored...

Thanks for the advice tho, I've always known not to add any extra grounds around electrical parts which is why I didn't even think twice about using a screwdriver around the fuses, but I forgot about removing the ground on the battery, no place for those electrons to go eh? I'll try to remember that from now on especially since i'm on the verge of gettin my own car to fool around with (The D' is a shared family car).

 

W00t! I have a Gauge Cluster now! Let alone not knowing my speed, i forgot i was low on gas too... It was a stupid fuse, I just couldn't remove it, the guy popped off the yellow thingy with a screw driver like you guys reccomended.