Anyone know anything about cars, warranties and LEDs?

So I got this little situation with Chevy. I have an 07 Chevy Cobalt and I've put a decent amount of interior lighting into it. Something in the order of 140 individual LED's and 8 neon tubes. I also had an after market set of head lights. Anyway, a few days ago the Hi-Beams turned on and wouldn't turn off even if the car was off. So i took the fuses out and took it to Chevy. They said the after market headlights and LED's burned out my fuse box, seems unlikely right? Anyway, they replaced the fuse box which cost me $830 bucks. I'm just wondering, does anyone know if A: headlights could cause a problem with the fuse box B: that should void my warranty and C: If there is anyway I can prove otherwise and get reimbursed? Any help would be helpful! Thanks!

Thats my car if anyway wanted to see

drawing too much amperage can indeed ruin a fuse box. Whether it did or not, I can't say.. I will say that any significant modification to any mechanical system will void the warranty on that system. This is true of any manufacturer, and I can't say I blame them.

Unfortunately, that's a risk you take when you modify an in-warranty vehicle. Now, if you told me your transmission went bad and they blamed it on the lighting, I'd say that's BS. But it's all too coincidental that electrical modifications were made and a part of that system failed.

Well here's my thoughts on the subject.

1: If an over draw of amperage did indeed cause a problem then shouldn't there be a bigger outcome then something like the hi-beams staying on, like say... all the electronics being ruined?

2: LED's draw almost no amperage.

3: Isn't that was the fuses themselves are meant to prevent?

4: I took the headlights out, reverted back to the stock ones. Think it'd be safe to reconnect my LEDs now?

It just seems, at least to me, that they say an excuse to blame me and took it.

1. Nope, just because the systems over taxed does not mean everything will fail. It is more likely that the next highest draw will fail.

2. 1 LED does, this is correct. Multiple that by XX AND the impedance caused at each and every junction and who knows.. (without breaking out a multi-meter)

3. Fuses are meant to keep the wiring from melting and starting a fire.

4. Dunno


You may be right, but you modified it and thus voided it's warranty. It's not their responsibility to reverse engineer all the hack work that goes into a dealership every year (and believe me, and I'm not a dealership mechanic, there is a whole lot of complete crap hack work done in backyards and home garages every year.. which is why mods will almost always void the warranty.

Dysfunction said:

and believe me, and I'm not a dealership mechanic, there is a whole lot of complete crap hack work done in backyards and home garages every year.

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Just wait until I get the 2 foot spoiler on my truck.

Derek McNelly said:

Just wait until I get the 2 foot spoiler on my truck.

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as long as it isn't a steering mod I'm not completely scared. Nothing like modifying crucial systems without a base understanding of the engineering involved.. I'd settle for the geometry involved

Hmm, never really thought about it the way Dysfunction put it, it's not the mechanics job to re-connect my lighting job or for that matter figure out if my stuff ruined it or not.

So since Chevy is saying my aftermarket headlights caused the problem you think I can use the repair invoice as evidence if I tried to get reimbursed through them?

Not trying to be a cheep *** here, but those LEDs and headlights have been in the car for about a year and a half and it's odd that they caused the problem all of a sudden. *shrug* Maybe I'm just grasping at straws.

Dysfunction said:

as long as it isn't a steering mod I'm not completely scared. Nothing like modifying crucial systems without a base understanding of the engineering involved.. I'd settle for the geometry involved

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Speaking of steering mods, how involved do you think it would be to swap out a steering wheel with an airbag for a racing wheel?

Not very, just make sure you disable the airbag so it dosn't go off while you take it off lol. Anyway, you just need to find a steering wheel that uses the same mounting harness as the stock one. Good luck! What kind of car btw?

Derek McNelly said:

Speaking of steering mods, how involved do you think it would be to swap out a steering wheel with an airbag for a racing wheel?

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It's really not that involved, you just have to know how to remove the bag without it going off Oh and you'll have an airbag malfunction light/code unless you can disable that function.. not terribly difficult as far as I know

Dysfunction said:

It's really not that involved, you just have to know how to remove the bag without it going off Oh and you'll have an airbag malfunction light/code unless you can disable that function.. not terribly difficult as far as I know

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Well, I've had the airbag fuse pulled since last summer, because apparently these 1st generation airbags are more dangerous than they are a safety device.

I found a steering wheel out of a '93 S-10 I want to install on mine. Looks to be the same bolt up as mine as well. I like the tiny little horn with the big ol' wheel (Similar to this one, but obviously with the Chevy logo).

Lankysean said:

What kind of car btw?

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I have a '95 S-10 that I'm going to be doing some serious facelifting on come this spring.

Bondoing a few dents, two toning and pinstriping, possibly adding spray on bedliner, and I have some bumper brackets to either straighten or cut off and replace.

nice, good luck! Nothing like a nice two tone to spice up a truck, if done right of course.

Lankysean said:

nice, good luck! Nothing like a nice two tone to spice up a truck, if done right of course.

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Silver on top, black on bottom, and a nice purple pinstripe between the two.