I posted about this a while back, but since it's so important, I figured it should probably be a "sticky" in the Tips section:

Underhood Fuses Tip (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/fuseboxtip.html)

Every new HHR owner should check this out.

There are also several other helpful tips on our "How-To's" page HERE (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/hhrhowtodoit.html).

Hope it helps,

I Just Pulled My Fuse Cover Today And Guess What
Every Fuse And Breaker Was Not Seated
I Would Have Never Known To Check This Without Your Headsup
Thanks

Thank you for posting this! I opened the fuse box and every fuse needed to be seated. Some were so bad that I am surprised that I had not had a problem yet.

socal u guys help alot thankz for all the help

I Just Pulled My Fuse Cover Today And Guess What
Every Fuse And Breaker Was Not Seated
I Would Have Never Known To Check This Without Your Headsup
Thanks

I checked mine on Monday and I had same result as above ^^ THANKS!

Hey socal, good advice, I reseated mine also...I also checked on the air filter in the glove compartment and mine needs to change, any advice?

Passenger Compartment Air Filter is GM part Number 52493319 The book says the passanger air filter should be replaced when Car reaches Change Oil Soon message. However it says this is suppose to occur every 10 months. I'm going to get mine checked out when I take it in for service on Saturday for its 2nd oil change/tire rotation.

Hopefully K&N or some cool company makes some aftermarket part soon.

i was wondering if i was the only person that does not like the mute button on the steering wheel? i seem to hit it all the time. it's bad when you have the stereo crankin and then silence. what a rush.

i was wondering if i was the only person that does not like the mute button on the steering wheel? i seem to hit it all the time. it's bad when you have the stereo crankin and then silence. what a rush.

This would be the wrong thread to post in so its kind of off topic but I accidentally hit my mute button a lot also. Only when I'm hard turning never during normal driving. I love the location of it because it's great for surprise cops who love giving stereo tickets.

Just got mine the end of April (LOVE IT!) Went on 4000 mile vacation, saw this when I got home and most all were loose.

Welcome welcome welcome!

So I *FINALLY* Checked mine, and sure as poop they were a little loose, I can see how it happened though, probably some robot pushing the fuses/breakers in and just didn't seat them all the way.

But I do have a Question:

If you look at Mike's picture of the fuse box, clear on the left side toward the passenger compartment (Up from the big + Terminal) is this little post dealy-ma-jigger, on mine it's covered with a orage plastic cap and is under the fuse cover...

What is that thing?

jayras...I just went out and looked at mine and don't see what you're talking about that's orange. Maybe you have a cover over the post connection there, that I don't have on mine. Can you take a picture of it and post it, if someone else doesn't know what it is?

Sorry for the confusion Deb.
In Mike's picture he didn't have a cap on it, so yo may not either..

But here's some pics to help guide you:
http://www.chevyhhr.net/gallery/files/9/7/9/Fuse-01.jpg

http://www.chevyhhr.net/gallery/files/9/7/9/Fuse-02.jpg

That's just the negative battery connection in case you want to hook cables up in the front instead of accessing it from the rear cargo area of the car where the actual battery is. Yours just has some sort of little cap over it. I would presume that is just something to prevent arcing (sp?) from occurring if you have the fuse cover off and happened to drop a metal tool on the post that it covers. Wonder what happened to mine? :lol:

Bizzare...
So you have to remove the fuse box cover to give someone a jump?

...that's just wierd.

That's just the negative battery connection in case you want to hook cables up in the front instead of accessing it from the rear cargo area of the car where the actual battery is. Yours just has some sort of little cap over it. I would presume that is just something to prevent arcing (sp?) from occurring if you have the fuse cover off and happened to drop a metal tool on the post that it covers. Wonder what happened to mine? :lol:

I've got to disagree with you Deb. The jump start positive terminal is covered with the red cap next to the fuse box. The fuse box cover does not have to be removed to access. The negative "post" is a bolt on the strut tower to the right of the fuse box. Has a small "neg -" sticker attached. I'm not sure what the orage cap at the back of the box is used for.

OK...TX-HHR...I went back out and looked for what you said...and found it. Sure is in a weird place. Pulled the fuse cover off again and followed the wiring connected to it. It's a red wire hooked to that post that appears to be encased in plastic flex tubing that heads back to the firewall. Now, I am guessing that it is probably bringing power from the rear cargo area where the battery is up to the front end of the car and it's probably positive, rather than negative.

I'm sure Mike from SoCalHHR's, CH or one of those techno guys will stop by and see what we're talking about and set all of us straight. :lol: Thanks for the info...I'm learning something new every day here on the forum.

I feel like the odd man (or should I say person) out. I checked and all my fuses and breakers are nice and tight...nothing lose. Maybe it was done at the dealership if it is a known problem.

I did this right after you first posted this message. I have a fuse related question though. Is anyone else blowing fuses? I have blown 4 now. Brake lights, cig lighter, dash lights, and dome light.

kn 63-3056 kn cold air intake kit $289.00 to $269.00
also there is an air raid kit $205.00

Huh ^^^^^^

Thanks Snoopy...I checked mine,and sure enough,they were loose.No telling when I would have gotten a "rude surprise" if not for the heads up.:smile:

This forum is paying off with good advice already. Glad I joined today.

Mike, is this information available somewhere else? The two links in this do not work, each one says the website has been cancelled.

Mike, is this information available somewhere else? The two links in this do not work, each one says the website has been cancelled.

I will see if I can find another pic somewhere.

I will see if I can find another pic somewhere.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m66/trip_j/welcomes/welcome-3.gif Maybe Deb, Sindy, or another of the sites pack rats:lol: can post the info.

Can't find right now, but someone will have it somewhere.
Yea, what jx3 said.
Welcome!

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o132/pats50fan/smilies/welcome4.gif to the site shorty!!!

Looks like SoCal decided to take down the how-to's, etc afterall.

Glad I captured the stuff I needed when I did :D

I posted about this a while back, but since it's so important, I figured it should probably be a "sticky" in the Tips section:

Underhood Fuses Tip (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/fuseboxtip.html)

Every new HHR owner should check this out.

There are also several other helpful tips on our "How-To's" page HERE (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/hhrhowtodoit.html).

Hope it helps,

Thanks for that info!! I actually stumbled on this myself.......being a mechanic, I was just getting familiar where everything is and whatnot, I pulled the fuse box cover. Just by chance, I was seeing if everything was seated and they sure weren't!!! I read this thread about 2 days later. You all have some great info here and let's keep it up!!!

Recheck the fuses now and then..I have found a couple that have become "loose" and needed to be reseated. Nothing major, just needs to be rechecked


Goose

Recheck the fuse now and then..I have found a couple that have become "loose" and needed to be reseated. Nothing major, just needs to be rechecked

Good idea to add this to the checklist when doing oil changes.:thumb:

I believe that red wire with the little cap on it is just used to bring power from the fuse box under the hood to areas inside the car that need power. Do not use this little stud to jump another car or your own. The cap is on the post simply to prevent any accidental arcing like mentioned before. The larger cable towards the front of the car on the fuse box is power from the battery in the rear of the car to the main fuse box. This cable is fused and should be okay to use as a jump point. One of the strut mount bolts on the driver side strut is used as the ground or negitive terminal when jumping (it is marked).
Hope this helped:smile:

Does anyone know why this thread even still exists? Nobody has ever proven that the fuses seated in the stock so-called "loose" seating cause any problems whatsoever. I think all this thread does is serve to make new owners needlessly nervous about the reliability of the vehicle.

Does anyone know why this thread even still exists? Nobody has ever proven that the fuses seated in the stock so-called "loose" seating cause any problems whatsoever. I think all this thread does is serve to make new owners needlessly nervous about the reliability of the vehicle.

I'm glad you asked this crafty.....

On my recently completed vacation I had an opportunity to speak with some old friends that still exist at the Milford Proving Ground and GM Tech Center. In speaking of the HHR they laughed at the "histeria" that had developed over the "loose fuse" issue. They were concerned because many people complained of having this problem......but NOBODY EVER had a fuse pop out to cause an electrical failure in any area (from researching dealer complaint issues in 100,000 consumer vehicles and over 4,000,000 test miles). They informed me that the lid of the fuse cover, under the hood, was specifically designed to prevent this. And, sure enough, after a couple of "beverages" we returned to my HHR and they demonstrated and displayed the design issue.

If you look closely, the inside of the fuse cover is honeycombed (under the drawing stickey) and provides only about and 1/8 inch clearance between the top of the large fuses and the honeycomb.......making it IMPOSSIBLE for the LARGE fuses to pop out.....check it out, guys. The smaller color coded fuses may pop out, but again, there is no record of it, and most of this discussion/concern seems to be centered on the larger fuse near the front of the holder.

An additional note.......

they did trace the unfounded and unsubstatiated claim to this and one other site dedicated to the HHR (after several dealers "clued" them in on customer concerns). It tends to slant our credibility in the wrong direction.

I also discussed several other member/owner concerns with them. But I'll limit my comments to when those issues are mentioned here.

Tight fuses make more backpressure! :thumb:

Comments, Snoopy? :confused:

Hey, welcome back!! Hope you had a great vacation! :thumb: :one:

Thanks Joe....

I did have a great vacation in this wonderful and beautiful country:thumb: . And, I had a great experience with the HHR......mileage, comfort, performance, handling, radio reception, etc. etc.:one: :one:

Great, Snoopy!! :thumb:

Now quit skirting the question about tight fuses and backpressure! :D

I'm glad you asked this crafty.....

On my recently completed vacation I had an opportunity to speak with some old friends that still exist at the Milford Proving Ground and GM Tech Center. In speaking of the HHR they laughed at the "histeria" that had developed over the "loose fuse" issue. They were concerned because many people complained of having this problem......but NOBODY EVER had a fuse pop out to cause an electrical failure in any area (from researching dealer complaint issues in 100,000 consumer vehicles and over 4,000,000 test miles). They informed me that the lid of the fuse cover, under the hood, was specifically designed to prevent this. And, sure enough, after a couple of "beverages" we returned to my HHR and they demonstrated and displayed the design issue.

If you look closely, the inside of the fuse cover is honeycombed (under the drawing stickey) and provides only about and 1/8 inch clearance between the top of the large fuses and the honeycomb.......making it IMPOSSIBLE for the LARGE fuses to pop out.....check it out, guys. The smaller color coded fuses may pop out, but again, there is no record of it, and most of this discussion/concern seems to be centered on the larger fuse near the front of the holder.

An additional note.......

they did trace the unfounded and unsubstatiated claim to this and one other site dedicated to the HHR (after several dealers "clued" them in on customer concerns). It tends to slant our credibility in the wrong direction.

I also discussed several other member/owner concerns with them. But I'll limit my comments to when those issues are mentioned here.

I wondered about this and what I think is the robotic machine that plugs the fuses is set for an optimum pressure/insert depth. I checked mine and found that the 1/16th 0r 1/32nd of an inch tolerance is no big deal. It's not like they were rattling around the engine bay, now were they?

Another "thinking" man !!!:thumb: :thumb: :lol: :D

My dash lights, and gages stopped working. I stopped the car, restarted the car, twice. No change. I popped the hood, pressed in the fuses-turned the ignition to run, and the dash lights and gages turned on.
Can I prove that the "loose" fuses were at fault? No. I wasn't in a test lab. I was 150 miles from home, at night, in the pouring rain. I'm glad the first person that experienced something told us about it. Because I believe that it was the fuse block. Whether you believe or not, I don't care.

Sorry for the confusion Deb.
In Mike's picture he didn't have a cap on it, so yo may not either..

But here's some pics to help guide you:
http://www.chevyhhr.net/gallery/files/9/7/9/Fuse-01.jpg

http://www.chevyhhr.net/gallery/files/9/7/9/Fuse-02.jpg

:roll: That little post is a power supply post for aftermarket parts such as my anti-corrosion module.

http://www.chevyhhr.net/gallery/files/3/5/1/1/positiveterminal1.jpg

follow the red wire to the inline fuse and then to the black connection plug of the anti-corrosion module mounted on the right side wall.:2cents:

My dash lights, and gages stopped working. I stopped the car, restarted the car, twice. No change. I popped the hood, pressed in the fuses-turned the ignition to run, and the dash lights and gages turned on.
Can I prove that the "loose" fuses were at fault? No. I wasn't in a test lab. I was 150 miles from home, at night, in the pouring rain. I'm glad the first person that experienced something told us about it. Because I believe that it was the fuse block. Whether you believe or not, I don't care.

I was driving home one night not quite as far as you when I noticed all my gages and lights were out. Even the speedometer I didn't know what to think when I got home I remembered reading about the fuses. I reseated all the fuses and the problem went away. This should remain up it really help me at least I didn't have to go and deal with the dealer again.

so if the lid to the fuse box keeps fuses from falling out, how could your fuse been loose enoug to make your gauges not work?

A couple of weeks ago wife had the car and called saying she was having problems getting it started. Message on the DIC said service air bag. When she got home I called OnStar to check it out. They said there were three different error code and suggested I take it in. I remebered the thread about loose fuse. I checked and most of them needed to be reseated. The message went away after reseating the fuses.

I guess I'm the kind of guy who would wear a belt AND suspenders; I have not experienced any problems in my short two week ownership. However, I did check the fuses and more than half were not seated.

Did I prevent a problem? Maybe, maybe not. Better to be safe than....

A couple of weeks ago wife had the car and called saying she was having problems getting it started. Message on the DIC said service air bag. When she got home I called OnStar to check it out. They said there were three different error code and suggested I take it in. I remebered the thread about loose fuse. I checked and most of them needed to be reseated. The message went away after reseating the fuses.

For the love of God, any messages related to the airbag system need to be followed up with more than a "well, the problem went away after I pushed in all these fuses that seemed loose". Especially when it popped three codes in the system.

For all the owners that are claiming these middle-of-the-night scenarios, how about taking your cars into the dealership so that whatever problems can be documented and followed up on by the system? If this is SUCH a widespread problem, surely it serves the public interest to have your vehicles examined?

Interior fuses do not have a lid. Possibility of a loose fuse...no?:2cents:

My appologies for bringing the topic back up; I know better than to engage in religious discussions in fora like this! ;)

BTW, glad I had my belt on and my suspenders. Last night while walking in the dark, when it was raining and all the street lights were out, my suspenders broke. Had I not had my belt on too, my pants might have fallen down around my ankles! :red: :lol:

For the love of God, any messages related to the airbag system need to be followed up with more than a "well, the problem went away after I pushed in all these fuses that seemed loose". Especially when it popped three codes in the system.

For all the owners that are claiming these middle-of-the-night scenarios, how about taking your cars into the dealership so that whatever problems can be documented and followed up on by the system? If this is SUCH a widespread problem, surely it serves the public interest to have your vehicles examined?

I disagree. If checking the fuses on a car that has been reported to have a loose fuse problem, fixes that problem, then what is wrong with this? I'm not one to dis the dealer, but they are not all geniuses, nor are they all honest. If reseating fuses fixes the problem, then why belabor the point? If the problem persists, then you ought to take it in.

Just MO.

Ken.;)

had a few issues when i first got the car. seemed to alleviate any issues.