but how do I know I have the electricity to it turned off at the breaker box (of course, I don't know which specific circuit breaker controls that outlet) since the outlet is already dead?

Good chance your GFI outlet is defect, , you might want to call a serviceman.

And I am not an electrician....

 

The GFCI receptacle or one of the ones it controlls probably has water in it.

 

This, something plugged in to an outside outlet has a problem, or depending on the year the house was built, the bathrooms or laundry could be on that GFI as well and have something plugged in causing the problem.

 

What year was the house built?

 

On some brands of gfci, the light will come on win it is tripped, and some will come on when it is time to replace it.

 

if the led trip/replace light on the receptacle is on...it will turn off when you kick the breaker off for a swap-out.

 

I figured out which breaker turns off the GFCI and I'm now sure its just a defective GFI since on the line side of the outlet (from the breaker box to the switch) I have power but nothing from the load side to the outlets beyond the GFI. When I turned off the breaker I lost power to the outlets on the line side before the outdoor GFI. SO I'll just change it and see what happens. Thanks for all your comments.

 

You don't have power on the load side because the GFI is tripped. Did you take the outlet out and test the terminals? Or did you leave the GFI in and test the outlet itself?

If you are testing the terminals (on the side of the GFI) you will have power as long as the breaker is turned on. The GFI won't control those even if the GFI is tripped.

Do this, take the wires off the load side of the GFI and try resetting it. (The load side wire should be located on the top two terminals...one on each side). If the GFI holds, you have a problem down the line. If it trips you probably have a bad GFI.

 

Is this GFI controlled by a switch? If so, make sure the switch is in the on position when you try to reset it. Newer GFI's won't reset without power to it.

 

Disconnect the LOAD wires and turn the power back on. Try to reset the GFCI. If it resets then there is a fault somewhere on the load wires.

 

...nd GFCI's will not reset unless there is power to them.

 

I changed the GFI the other day and now everything works fine. Turns out that the GFI is at the end of a circuit which probably explains why the outlets in front of the switch still worked. There are no wires coming from the load side - its just a receptacle. Also, the GFI that the builder put in was not an outdoor rated outlet.