Need help with 92 Fuses.

Alright, so I own a 92 Camry.

I was installing a new radio in the car, and the wiring sparked, and half of the front lighting went off in my car, and I believe its a blown fuse. The light behind the speedometer , ceiling light, and a few lights where the AC/Heater, the Clock, and the radio, all are not working.

Now I found the fuse pannel, found A blown fuse, replaced it, but nothing changed, the lights still wont come on, and thats the only fuse thats blown. I replaced it with a 20 at first, and it didnt work, then put back a 15 from a different slot just to see if it would work, now that I think about it, that might have been dumb, but Im not sure.

Does anyone know how to fix my problem?
How to get my radio and lights back?

(Also, when I pulled out the first fuse, there was a wire with it, connected to nothing, but it was inside the fuse, it was a green wire, and it pulled out with the fuse also.)

You may have blown a fusible link that supplies power to all the dash lights. First make sure that the short is no longer present that caused it. Repair manuals stress removing the battery cable before working on the electrical systems, especially when those being worked on involve hot-all-the-time wiring. If you have a Haynes manual, you might be able to trace to the link's location...I don't have mine handy. Will repost if I find it.

Have you also checked the fuse panel behind the coin tray on the dash by the driver's left knee? If not, remove the coin tray and check the fuses there.

Mike

Yes, I have replaced the fuses, I have replaced the 15 fuse with a 15 fuse, no luck, so I tried a 20 fuse, still no luck. Still no light in the dash or dome light.

I have checked all of the other fuses, they seem to be fine, I don't know what to do next. Im lost.

The fuses are all fine, One question I have is why did they have a wire on the tip of the fuse, inside of the plug? I tried putting it back that way , no luck.
So I just took it out.

Suggestions , Anyone, I really need help with this, Im having a difficult time driving at night without a speedometer.
Its a 92 Camry, LE Edition, 2.2L, 192,000 Miles.

If you tell me which fuse had the wire and where it is located I can check my car's fuse block and get back to you. My guess is that the green wire may be a ground wire...why it is directly connected to the fuse is anybody's guess.

Changing the amp rating on the fuse won't help get your dash lights back. If the amperage is too low, it will simply blow...too high and it won't blow when it's supposed to. If the short is still present then no matter what you put in there, it will blow to prevent more damage. Otherwise, it's just like a piece of wire.

Any chance that you saw the spark and what parts touched together to make it? Signs of scorch marks on metal surfaces or melted/burned insulation would be good clues. Let me know what you find.

Since I've got a '92 also, I'm probably in a good position to help, but this forum doesn't always lend itself to quick solutions. I'll do what I can to help solve this mystery.

It was infact a green wire.
The fuse that is having a problem is the one in the middle furthest to the right[Closest to your right door, In the middle, I believe its a 3X3 fuse box]. I can go get the name of it if you want, I just wanted to reply to the message fast (and you have the same car I think)

I did see the sparks when it happend, but the only spot I saw was on the wired where my radio was connected, it didnt spark anywhere else, there were some loose wires on my radio still, and I guess they touched and I saw the spark, and everything went out.

Went and checked my fuse block. That should be a 15A fuse labeled "cig/rad". Problem is, I pulled my fuse out and the connectors and wires stayed in, meaning that you probably fried the connection between the fuse and the rear of the block (you'll have to crawl underneath the dash and pry open the back of the translucent fuse block cover to see inside). If you remove the fuse and only see one connector now for one side then there's your problem.

Normally those wires and connectors are held in the block, but you may have jolted it enough to melt/crack the holder, loosening the connector for the other side and letting the wire slide out with the fuse. Finding out where that wire hooked up to on the back of the fuse block may reveal more damage.

Well, theres a Red wire thats the same way as the green one was...I know the red is live because It just sparked while I was looking at them and It pulled out and touched metal...

So, Im going to go look where you said to check it out, Ill let you know when I get back,

Question though, does the ground wire need to be connected to anything (grounded), or can it be connect to nothing , as was the red wire...

Where is this box you speak of under the dash? what do I need to do to get to it?
(Im very inexperienced with cars, but Im trying to learn)

-Edit-

Okay, Something got messed up , bad, the Green wire sparked out of no where, and the car WILL NOT start at all, no turn over, no nothing...The Car was on while I was driving into my parking spot at home, and the car shut off by itself...What now?

Dear God...

First things first...disconnect the battery!

Second, if you don't have vinyl electrical tape yet, go buy/beg/borrow/steal some.

Third, wrap tape around the ends of the exposed wires so that they cannot touch anything metallic and case another short.

Fourth, recheck your fuses. I've looked at my repair manual (if you REALLY want to do your own repair work, GET ONE). The only fuse I see connected to a plain green wire (no stripe having a second color) is for the 15A "TAIL" fuse. The only fuse I see connected to a plain red wire is a 20A "DOME" fuse. Check to make sure those are okay.

Fifth, yes, the other ends of the wires are suppsed to be connected into something. Where? I don't know and I'm pretty sure this part is over your head as well.

Sixth, check your main fuse box under the hood on the driver's side for a blown 40A main fuse AM1. It'll look like a rectangular plug with a see-through top and a small bent strip of metal underneath. There are more than one. Look at the diagram printed on the underside of the box lid and match up locations. Look to to see if the little metal strip under the plastic is intact or has a break, meaning it has blown. Replace if blown.

Seventh, double check that there are NO loose, exposed wires that could cause a short...INCLUDING the wires from the radio. Tape up any bare wirse. Reconnect battery after verifying this.

Try to start it, if successful, drive it to a qualified mechanic to diagnose it further. Installing a radio is one thing, but fried wiring from a botched job is best left to the pros. There is almost no way I could talk you through every single step to fix every single wire without BEING there to SEE it. Sorry, but I think you bit off more than you can chew on this one.

I definatly agree, I bit off more than I could chew.

Basically red and green werent connected to anything, and it does happen to be that my dome light(red wire I believe you said, seems like it controlled the speedometer and what not too)
was the first to go (Car still ran for 3 days).
After than I looked at the fuse box to see what was going on, The 15 fuse we discussed earlier was blown, got replaced, no luck, so I went under the dash as you said, and I guess when I went under the dash I need a place to hold (my right hand was in the fuse box, dumb, trust me, I know all to well, I dont know what I was thinking) and I assume my hand hit the wire to the dome and "CRACK!" ...there went the car...
I had AAA auto insurance, had them tow it to an electrical car repair mechanic, Ill make sure to get back to you and let you know exactly what the problem I caused was.

Okay wow, so Im pretty fired up and pissed off, just got my car back, but all they did is get it running, so once again, Im at step one.

My dome light is out. My dash lights are out. What do I need to do to fix it.
The Red wire is still flopping around out in the middle of no where, the green one still isnt wrapped around the fuse like it was at first.
Where do I go about to fix this:banghead:
!?!?

Here's (http://www.camrystuff.com/manuals/Gen3/General/camry94wiring.pdf) an electrical wiring manual:

I have a 92 camry, not a 94, will it make a difference, its a 92, LE, 2.2..
Part of the problem is that I dont understand cars.

Why is it in the first place that none of these lights work when all of the fuses are fine, I did notice a 15 fuse was replaced with a 20, maybe thats the one thats still out? Will it not work if the same fuse isnt put in?

Im so lost.

The '94 wiring should be pretty much the same as far as you are concerned...this generation covers '92 to '96 Camrys.

I don't know why you didn't ask the repair shop to investigate this while they had it...I'm pretty sure they would be able to find the problem much faster having the car-in-hand and seeing everything rather than attempting to "figure it out" though forum posts...just not efficient and if read wrong, can cause further damage...something I don't wish to be at the wrong end of.

That said, you also don't mention what the repair shop did to get the car started again. Did they replace a fuse? Fusible link? Broken wire? This info should be relayed.

Until you figure out where those "dangling" wires go to, I think you'll continue to have no interior lights. Personally, I think it lies somewhere in your "DOME" fuse circuit. But first...tape off those exposed wires!

FYI, the amp rating on a fuse (e.g 20A) means up to that amount of current will be allowed to flow through that fuse before it blows. Replacing one with a higher rating is usually done on a temporary basis, such as if you don't have a spare of the proper rating (which is what I think is the case with you). It should be replaced with the correct rating listed on the matching label. If the original rating fuse constantly blows but a higher one does not, then the accessories on that circuit should be checked for a short circuit.

I reread your original post...when you first replaced the blown fuse, did you borrow a fuse from another circuit or just use a spare? It's not clear in your wording.

If you can post good pics of the trouble areas, that would be helpful...fuse box, wire location, color, where the spark originally occurred, etc. But I still think you should've let them fix the whole thing.

Well, I taped off the wired with 33+ electrical tape...
And as for the fuse, I tried replacing it with a 20 but it made no difference, so I took a 15 out of a different slot, checked to make sure it wasnt blown, and tried it in the other 15(which was blown) , still no success at that point, so I just put it back in the slot I found it ,and just left one empty, and later put a 20 in that slot (because I didnt have another one).

Ill try to post some pictures, Ill have find the camera.

As for what they did...heres as the paper reads...

"Diagnosed as no power inside to IGN switch. Found 40 amp PAL fuse bad under dash."

not to make fun of your misery, but this is playing out like a reality show.

Well, I give up, I dont have money to get it fixed , and I cant get any straight info about whats wrong with it, Lets just hope I dont get in a car accident and night...

Thank you for the help everyone who attempted to try, I appreciate it greatly.

If anyone ever gets info about whats wrong, or has some great epiphany, please let me know, you can email me at anthony254@hotmail.com

Once again, thank you to everyone who tried to help, I appreciate it.