an addendum: most fuses tend to be of the blade type that we can easily remove and replace. apparently the technician wasn't aware that PAL fuses have bolts to keep them in place, that necessitates slight disassembly of the fuse box to access these bolts in order to remove and replace this type of fuse. they are primary main fuses, in a line next to the larger fuse box containing blade fuses for the sub circuit fusing. he ripped out the top of the PAL fuse and broke the circuit. it wasn't that much of a problem for me, since disabling the abs/trac systems simply rendered the car to be as one with a normal braking system, until I replaced it properly.

 

He doesn't sound like a "technician" to me. Sounds like the guy on the corner who thinks he's a mechanic cuz he has a rusty old pair of pliers and a 6 way interchangeable screwdriver.

Even though it's not a problem for ya right now, you should fix it as soon as possible cuz like ya said "it's a main fuse". And he might have screwed up something else also, check them all.

 

well, to be fair, he was just a smog tech. had my eyes on him the whole time. smog-only station, they don't work on your car. the main fuse was just for ABS and traction control, nothing else. without it, your car is just a car with no anti lock brakes and traction control. drives fine anyway. but, I haul kids, so of course I got it fixed myself the next day. heh.

 

did he tell you where it was disconnected from? I just did an alternator and valve covers and my traction control off is flashing

 

any update with that? Because I just changed my Alternator and the same thing happened.

 

check to make sure all the electrical connectors you touched during the alternator swap are seated correctly. i doubt the TRAC switch connector in the cabin went bad during an alternator swap, but it might be worth checking the underhood fuse box for any blown fuses!