2001 Taurus SEL Window Fuse - burning out

[sn95]

My window fuse (10 amp) keeps on burning out. It would work for hours and then it just burns out....any help would be appreciated! Thank you.

btw, i tried putting a 15 amp in and same result.

[shorod]

Please don't use a larger fuse in a circuit intended for a 10-amp. That is a good way to burn up wires and cause fires! The wiring is rated for a certain amount of current flow without causing too much heating of the wire. If you exceed that threshhold, the wires can get too warm, burn off the insulation, and start a fire.

That being said, I would hope that the circuits and wires are derated, so that a circuit protected at 10 amps can safely handle something higher than 10 amps, but I don't know what the derating criteria for Ford is.

What you probably should do instead would be to install a test light in series with the power window circuit, then monitor the intensity of the glowing light. Unplug devices one at a time and see if the light dims considerably or goes out completely. As you're move from one item to the next, plug the previous item back in. For example, if the first thing you unplug is the driver's door window switch, chances are pretty good the light will go out, but that doesn't mean the door switch is the problem. What happened is you just disconnected everything controlled by that switch at the same time, so the problem could be in one of the door motors.

I suspect that fuse that is blowing is fuse F2.26 in the Central Junction Box in the cabin. This fuse is for more than just the power windows, it's also for the interior lights, power mirrors, and other items powered by the battery saver relay.

-Rod

[sn95]

Thank you very much for the timely advice! I will investigate further per your recommendation and hopefully find the root of this annoying problem.

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

Originally Posted by sn95

i tried putting a 15 amp

That is a BIG no-no unless you want to do MORE damage to your car. Ford didn't just randomly pick the fuse size, they are designed to work on those circuits.

As mentioned there are many things on this circuit, but the only way to find your problem is to narrow them down. I will check the wiring diagram for the car when our computer is back up and running next week, but in the mean time I would start with looking at the power window motors. One could be going bad and shorting out. The easiest way to check this is to unplug each window motor (all 4) replace the 10A fuse, and then see if it still happens. If it doesn't, then one by one replug in each motor and retest. Yes it will be a hassel to do this but unfortunately you don't have much of a choice unless another 'symptom' pops up. You could also have a short in the junction box.