| Earlier this year, I inquired about an odd issue whereby my a/c pod and cigarette lighter didn't work all of a sudden. One of the suggestions I got was the Accessory Relay.
[ http://www.twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=technical&msg_id=1142118 ] Well - after procrastinating far too long, I decided to investigate the issue and as suggested, it was indeed the Accessory Relay located behind the fuse panel in the driver's side footwell. *THANK YOU Zblackbeast* Look to the left of the circled blower relay.
[ http://i.imgur.com/NIh0W3S.jpg ] Farthest away from you and hardest to reach. To get at it, remove the door sill, corner panel covering the fuse panel and then remove the 2 bolts holding the fuse panel in place. Detach all of the harnesses on the bottom of the panel, unhook the harness blocks from the panel on the bottom if able (nothing attached along the bottom now) and any others you can free up along the vertical side facing you. I left many up top connected and one facing me connected - you just need to pull the bottom away far enough to get a hand to the relay and wiggle it back out. It seems these don't have the locking pin setup the ones under the hood do (requiring a flathead to easily remove) or I was lucky... Also, my hood latch cable was tucked behind the main fat wire harness here. Most images online suggested it should be in front. If you're special like me, you can bend the latch cordage under and up the harness to pop it in front (you'll leave the 2bolt bracket on it while doing this) - just work at it carefully until free/ in front. Now you can more easily pull the whole fuse panel forward. Anyway, once you have sufficient access to that relay, I suggest swapping it with the Fog Lamp relay from the engine bay box until you acquire a working relay (if not prepared). Before reassembly, reconnect harnesses/battery, turn on car and test. Wanted to share my procedure for other electrical novices who've run in to this exact issue. That one tip was all I needed to begin my hunt for info and save who-knows-how-much at a shop. Took me about 2hrs to replace but it's easily a <1hr job if you know what to be aware of.
-Tim
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