Almost had an electrical fire

Damn, i was real lucky, car almost caught fire, but guys, i need your help. Well, it happened when the instrument panels lights blew (fuse). The lights blew when i put the faceplate on my radio (checked no wires are crossed from the radio atleast). When i took off the headlight switch, i turned them on and there was thuis bright orange light (heat, wire burning) and the shit started smoking up. My question is, we think it's the headlight switch, or what ever the headlight switch goes into, because thats what was smoking and where the smell was coming from. can u buy this assembly, or would i have to take to the shop (dealership)? Are there any other ideas on what going on here? Is it the headlight switch or is it something else? Btw, i know for a fact the wiring in this car is f***** because it has an alarm (exaclibur) that doesn't even work, plus i heard stories where if u get the wrong person to install it, they can f*** things up, i seem to be a victim here.

Ok, so you did nothing to the car but put your security faceplate on your radio, fuse blew, replaced fuse with a PROPER amp fuse and headlight switch blew?

No... it wasn't the right fuse, 20... when it needed to be 5... do i f*** up? Didn't have any extras laying around... or any money... i feel like shit... Wrightz28, that about it. Would having a too much amp fuse cause the headlight switch to burn up (actually, it burns up when you turn the knob to activate the instr. panel) i hope thats all, but it does seem like the swithc was somewhat faulty.

Uhhh, too big of a fuse will do that. The reason why it was a 5 amp fuse to begin with was due to the fact that the lights couldnt handle too many amps funning through them. Thus a 5 amp fused was used to limit the amount of amps to 5. With a 20 amp fuse, thats just like trying to charge your cell phone without an adapter, just connected directly to the plug. Try that and your phone will go cah-pooey. Is it just the headlight switch that's doing that? Try replacing that fuse back with a 5 amp, and see if the thing still works fine. If not, then you can probably find someone selling one on ebay.

I was figuring that myself. Too much amp, which is causing it to cook. I'll try this evening when i get home from work. Post up 2morrow to post results.

Umm, yeah, sounds you took a simple static issue with the faceplate, or old fuse and made a bigger problem than needed to be.

NEVER, EVER REPLACE A FUSE WITH A LARGER ONE!

Not even if it's only 5 amps over the rated requirement. The wiring is gauged to handle only what it was intended.

I would seriously recommend replacing the headlight switch as it is now with little doubt faulty and has constanat power supplied to it. No need for e-bay, should be readily available.

i would say that you have a short to ground on that circuit, when you allow current to go through it is shorting to ground with no limit on current and its burning up the wire harness.