Keep blowing fuse

[pharm_rodeo]

My dash and tail lights when out last night as I was getting on the highway. I thought it might be a blown fuse so when I got to my destination I took a look. I did find that the tail light/illumination fuse was blown. This fuse covers the front parking lights, dash illumination (not the stereo), tail lights, license plate lights. Blinkers on all the corners work. I replaced the fuse and took it for a test drive and it blew again with 5 mins. So I grabbed a flashlight and couldnt find any loose/bare wires. It was too dark to I went at it again this morning and still couldn't find anything. The only aftermarket product installed is the stereo, but I can't fathom it blowing just that fuse? Everything else works, i.e. headlights, emergency lights, and blinkers. I'm stumped at this point.

[660Ryder]

I had the same problem. Happened pretty much right after new stereo install. Burnt 3-4 fuses and then stopped. Now I have no blown fuses and no dashlights... I can live with that. I know that if I delve into the wiring I'm just opening a can of worms. Anyone else have no dashlights...?

[pharm_rodeo]

Originally Posted by 660Ryder

I had the same problem. Happened pretty much right after new stereo install. Burnt 3-4 fuses and then stopped. Now I have no blown fuses and no dashlights... I can live with that. I know that if I delve into the wiring I'm just opening a can of worms. Anyone else have no dashlights...?

LOL. Well, I installed the stereo about 2 months ago and haven't had any problems until last night. I prefer to dig for the problem than not have dash lights. I'd like to know how fast I'm going at night..lol. I'm not one to neglect a car issue. Part of me thinks it might be a grounding issue.

[660Ryder]

After having someone butcher the adapter for the stereo, I ended up hardwiring it myself. I wonder if I left something loose or unplugged when reassembling the dash... Perhaps a sunny day project after finals week?

On a side note - up to a foot of snow expected today! I'll be up at Sugarbush this weekend!

[Ramblin Fever]

Either one of you have a trailer wiring harness; if so, disconnect it and see what happens.

[660Ryder]

Originally Posted by Ramblin Fever

Either one of you have a trailer wiring harness; if so, disconnect it and see what happens.

I do, along with electric brakes... can of worms is getting bigger
I'm a couple hundred miles from home; it's going to be a month at best before I dive into this project...

[pharm_rodeo]

Originally Posted by Ramblin Fever

Either one of you have a trailer wiring harness; if so, disconnect it and see what happens.

I don't. I'm going to give it a thorough once over this weekend.

[gsf1200m]

This happened to me and I fixed it last weekend. That fuse also runs the license plate light which was my problem.Somewhere that wire went bad and had to be replaced. I would check there first since that is a wire that will get corroded more than any other from being under the car. If you follow the wire from the fuse box it splits under the drivers seat. If you disconnect the wires there you can find out if it is the front lights and the passenger taillight, or the driver taillight and license plate light. Then you can follow the same troubleshooting and make pretty quick work of it.

[pharm_rodeo]

Originally Posted by gsf1200m

This happened to me and I fixed it last weekend. That fuse also runs the license plate light which was my problem.Somewhere that wire went bad and had to be replaced. I would check there first since that is a wire that will get corroded more than any other from being under the car. If you follow the wire from the fuse box it splits under the drivers seat. If you disconnect the wires there you can find out if it is the front lights and the passenger taillight, or the driver taillight and license plate light. Then you can follow the same troubleshooting and make pretty quick work of it.

How far along the wire did you have to go to find the problem? You are right that the fuse is linked to the plate lights. DO you remember the wire colors?

EDIT: I wonder if a bad alternator can cause fuses to blow? I've never heard of it, but just wanted to cover all my bases. Also, I'm replacing the battery today b/c it's 6 yrs old and for the first time ever my started after 3 cranks. It felt a little weak. Usually it starts on the first crank.

[gsf1200m]

The license plate light is the farthest wire back. I have the 95.5 so I don't know if your gen is the same wiring. I would pick up a manual and you will know in a second. I don't have mine with me right now. I followed the dark green and red striped wire and that is the one that will go bad. It just splits off to the various components like we already know. I would open up the panel where the tire jack is in the cargo area and find where the green and red wire splits to the driver taillight and the license plate light. Cut the wire that goes to the license plate light and leave everything else connect and replace the fuse. If everything works then its the license plate light. Then just replace that wire. If thats not it follow go to the drivers seat and cut where the wire goes under the seat. That will disconnect the front lights and other taillights, and you can see where we are going from here.

I don't know about the alternator, but this should be pretty quick and easy to check the wires. I thought it would be a lot harder and I was going to bring it to the shop, but it ended up being easy. I just had the whole dash apart and all the panels from the dash back to the cargo area on the drivers side off tracing the wire. With what I've told you, you should be able to just find where hte wire splits and not have to trace the whole wire.

[pharm_rodeo]

Well, I hope I found the problem. Sorry if the pic is large, but I wanted to the contact points. Notice the deep gouges on both sets of contacts. I've always had a slight issue with my PS parking light. Sometimes it would work and then other times I had to tab the light for it to come on. Usually the light would come one after I was on the road for about 15 mins. I think the first time my fuse blew the light had just come on. I believe this also happened the with the second fuse. The picture shows 2 different brand bulbs with 2 diff wattages. The one on the left is the recommended 21/5w. The one on the right is a 27/8w. That is the one that was always slow to come on. So I pulled the bulbs straightened out the contacts inside the socket and installed 2 proper bulbs. I slapped in a new fuse and went for a drive duplicating the previous incident. The other fuses blew within 5 minutes, but after a 30 min drive with my stereo on........no blown fuse. I'll update in a fews days to determine if this was a real fix.

[pharm_rodeo]

Thought I would close out this topic.
The light bulbs were not the fix. The fuse blew again 2 days later. So I tracked down the wiring diagram for that circuit and started poking and prodding to see if it would short. When I got to the rear bumper I saw a set of wires and poked them......the fuse blew. As you can tell in the picture, the paint was actually removed from the body from the shorts.I covered the worn area of the wires with electrical tape for now. I'm glad I didn't have to rip out wires. The wires wouldn't tuck away properly and the gate is not rubbing it.

[surferfletch]

Thanks - might save some time in the future!