1999 Dodge Caravan SE Accessory Fuse Blowing

[cubanreuben]

Hello.

My mother owns a 1999 Dodge Caravan SE and it has 158,000 miles on it and going strong. It has the 3.3L V-6 engine in it and has the 4 speed automatic transmission. The car has ran great since she bought it new in Dec. 1998. (This is probably one of the most reliable vehicles I believe she has owned... She has performed regular maintenance, and the only thing to go wrong on it was the speed sensor at 50,000 miles and the water pump at about 120,000 miles. I know that she's about to get a tune-up on the thing (spark plugs, etc), but I have one question.

At about 80,000 miles, the accessory fuse started blowing. At first, it only did it about every month. Then, it went to weeks...days...you get the picture. We brought it to a mechanic, and he installed a new fuse in it and let it run to see how long it would last. It blew within 5 minutes with NO load, and he returned the vehicle to us saying it would be too costly to diagnose.

So here's my question...is there an easy way to check out this problem? There are only two 12-V jacks in the car, and to my knowledge, the ACC fuse doesn't have anything else running on it. Is this a common problem? I've tried researching it and have yet to come up with a solution.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[KManiac]

Well, it sounds like you have a bare wire, a loose connection or some type of short circuit that is causing this fuse to blow. An easy condition to correct once you find it. Its finding it that can be, in your mechanics words, costly. Very costly if you pay someone by the hour to do the work and they are not that sophisticated about DC (direct current) electricity. Since your mechanic gave up so quickly, I wouldn't even try to consult him on electrical issues again. Not his specialty, if you know what I mean.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, here is what I suggest. Disassemble both sockets and disconnect the wires from both at the same time. Make sure any bare metal ends are insulated. Then reinstall a new fuse and see if it blows again. If it does, the problem is in the wiring somewhere deep in the bowels of the van. If not, the problem could be one of the sockets. Reconnect each one, one at a time and see if the fuse blows. If you find that connecting any one of the sockets causes the fuse to blow, you have found a problem socket that should be replaced.

Thinking about it, a short circuiting socket is about the only thing that would come on gradually like that. Did your mother have a habit of using either one of the sockets for an accessory (or lighting cigarettes) prior to the trouble. Most likely the one used the most is the problem.

Try this and let us know what you find or if you have questions.

[Stretch58]

In my 2000 schematics the route for juice to the cigar lighter/accessory outlets is:
In run and acc. position of the Ignition switch, voltage is sent through a 9A Circuit Breaker in the Junction Box to the coil of the Cigar lighter/accessory relay in the Power Distribution Center(PDC). When that relay picks up, 12V is fed from Fuse 4 (20A) in the PDC through the relay contacts to the front and rear outlets. For a test I would remove the relay, replace the fuse and see if it blows.
If it does not blow, could be the relay or down stream of it.
The feed to each outlet is from(on a 2000) contact #87(in the schematic) of the relay socket. What are you running off of which outlet that you even know it blows? If you start pulling out the outlets to look around, I would pull the relay first. Use caution around the front one, may want to pull the battery cable, there is air bag stuff behind in that area. By the way don't try to trouble shoot with the load plugged in the socket.
Just some suggestions, you are free to tell me to get bent. Good Luck on your project and let us know how it goes.

[KManiac]

Hey Stretch, thanks for the detailed schematic description. I would agree to start at the relay. The short could very well be in there and removal for troubleshooting is easy. Good Luck.

[cubanreuben]

Originally Posted by Stretch58

In my 2000 schematics the route for juice to the cigar lighter/accessory outlets is:
In run and acc. position of the Ignition switch, voltage is sent through a 9A Circuit Breaker in the Junction Box to the coil of the Cigar lighter/accessory relay in the Power Distribution Center(PDC). When that relay picks up, 12V is fed from Fuse 4 (20A) in the PDC through the relay contacts to the front and rear outlets. For a test I would remove the relay, replace the fuse and see if it blows.
If it does not blow, could be the relay or down stream of it.
The feed to each outlet is from(on a 2000) contact #87(in the schematic) of the relay socket. What are you running off of which outlet that you even know it blows? If you start pulling out the outlets to look around, I would pull the relay first. Use caution around the front one, may want to pull the battery cable, there is air bag stuff behind in that area. By the way don't try to trouble shoot with the load plugged in the socket.
Just some suggestions, you are free to tell me to get bent. Good Luck on your project and let us know how it goes.

Thanks Thanks! I'm going home this weekend so I'll give it a try... If I run into trouble, i may be posting again!

Thanks again...

[KimMG]

Make a couple of enlarged copies of the wiring diagram for your vehicle. One for reference and one to make notes on as you check the circuit. Highlight the affected circuit. Look for areas where the harness can rub, such as going through bulk heads. Test each component in the circuit and physically check all the contacts. Mark off the areas you check on your wiring diagram. Be patient, methodical and systematic.