Circuit breakers – general information

Circuit breakers protect certain heavy-load circuits. Depending on the vehicle’s accessories, there may be one to three circuit breakers located in the main fuse panel and also in the fuse and relay box.

Because the circuit breakers reset auto­matically, an electrical overload in a circuit­breaker-protected system will cause the cir­cuit to fail momentarily, then come back on. If the circuit does not come back on, check it immediately.

For a basic check, pull the circuit breaker up out of its socket on the fuse panel, but just far enough to probe with a voltmeter. The breaker should still contact the sockets.

With the voltmeter negative lead on a good chassis ground, touch each end prong of the circuit breaker with the positive meter probe. There should be battery voltage at each end. If there is battery voltage only at one end, the circuit breaker must be replaced.