'91 C2500 keeps blowing fuse

[relic7680]

My '91 C2500 keeps blowing the 20 amp fuse for the interior courtesy lights and the the clock. This has been happening about every 4 days since a shop had the dash off to to do a/c work. I had another shop look into it....they replaced the 2 bulbs under the dash w/ lower amperage ones and repaired one of the sockets. I cannot go back to either of these shops because I just moved 750 miles away. I get the feeling it might be the switch on the driver's side of the dash that turns on the lights when the door is open. Anybody seen this before?

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by relic7680

My '91 C2500 keeps blowing the 20 amp fuse for the interior courtesy lights and the the clock. This has been happening about every 4 days since a shop had the dash off to to do a/c work. I had another shop look into it....they replaced the 2 bulbs under the dash w/ lower amperage ones and repaired one of the sockets. I cannot go back to either of these shops because I just moved 750 miles away. I get the feeling it might be the switch on the driver's side of the dash that turns on the lights when the door is open. Anybody seen this before?

on my 1996 impala this year the courtesy light fuse blew,,,it goes to a lot of areas....I found the short in the wiring in the drivers door..when the wires have no loom covering them sharp metal frame metal will cut into the insulation...using electrical tape over the wiring may stop this....this could be very hard to find as the short circuit leaves very little evidence...

since they removed the dash it is very possible they crushed the wire when assembly was done..

[relic7680]

That's what I'm afraid of........looks like it's going to be an uphill battle.

[jdmccright]

What kind of A/C work? Recall that the courtesy light circuit extends into the A/C display to dim it along with the rest of the dash as well as light up the footwells. As JCat suggested, something's gotten pinched in there, let's just hope it doesn't require reopening the dash to find it.

[relic7680]

Here is some more detail into the circumstances:

June 2nd- a/c compressor, receiver dryer and orifice tube replaced. dash replaced due to cracks....also had blend doors for ventilation system done.
June 9th- truck goes back to same shop because a/c is inop. a/c control head on dash replaced w/ a used piece.
June 25th- take it back again for failed a/c. shop does diagnostics and says there is nothing wrong. another shop later discovers a faulty pressure switch is to blame.
June 30th- discovered blown fuse and replace it. Fuse continues to blow every 4 or so days thereafter. The follow items are affected by this fuse:

-Underdash courtesy lamps (2)
-Glove box lamp
-Dome light
-Cargo lamp
-Clock display and separate EQ display. Radio does not turn on, however, all buttons light up like they should at night. Truck is equipped with original Delco AM/FM stereo cassette w/ EQ.

[j cAT]

the faulty pressure switch ........this is the part that usually goes intermittently.....sometimes the a/c is great then the switch sticks open and the compressor refuses to run.....

this switch has a high use rate and gets worn out...

[sub006]

The truck's old enough, you might just want to Bubba-fix it 'way around the problem area with a long piece of wire. I mean, how long do you plan to use it?

My daughter's old BMW had a dead taillight socket, "Abdul" did this in 10 minutes and it still works 50,000 mile later.

On the other hand, I plan to keep my 450,000-mile Suburban forever, so I tend to try to do things right.

Your call.

[relic7680]

Problem has been fixed....found to be faulty connections left by another shop.