the other night i was accelerating to get on the highway when all of a sudden my gauge cluster goes completely dark. i later find out none of my parking lights don’t work either. basically anything thats supposed to illuminate when you click your lights once doesn’t work. i figured i blew a fuse and sure enough i did, however when i replace it and try my lights, it blows again. there was water in one of my taillights the first time the lights when out, so i suspected that this is the reason the lights got shorted. however i have since drained the water out of the light but i still keep blowing fuses. please help, i’m stumped as what could have happened or where to look and am gettin really frustrated.
You must have a short somewhere, best thing to do would be to try and isolate it. Since you had water in your taillights, I assume you removed them to get the water out. Check the surrounding area’s for a wire you may have pinched and stripped the insulation. Check all the sockets for your taillight bulbs to make sure there is not a short in there. Just start from where you think the problem is and work your way back. Give an update when/if you find it or need help.
well i took the taillights out and emptied out all of the water. checked all the wires back there and they looked fine. also checked the license plate light wires and they look ok too. took out the damn gauge cluster and checked wires around there too. i saw that the previous owner had spliced into some wires in order to install a water temp gauge. he obviously did a sloppy job, but i could not find any exposed wires. i don’t know where else to look. possibly front side markers?
hey which fuse is it for the interior lights? mine just stopped working last night …sorry dont mean to postwhore
which lights? do you mean like the dome light and hatch light?
I have the same problem on the same circuit, I too
recently dumped the water from my tails, and then
the problem started to occur…
Was your problem, a ground in the tails?
i think my problem was with a water temp gauge the previous owner installed. he did a really crappy job making the connections and i suspect that’s what was causing the short. i went back and redid those connections and the problem went away. i suggest just checking all the wires on that circuit for a possible short.
check every wire you can see. i had a problem with my guage cluster and tail light fuse blowing and it was because my radio wiring where grounding out and touching metal in the dash. i simlily rewired my whole cd player wiring harness and made sure there was no bad connections and everything was electrical tapped up and from there on out everything was fine and still is. i know how frustrating this can be because this was happening to me for 2 week when finally i checked every wire i could see and found it. good luck man.
my bad i dont mean to bring up an old post…but i too have this damn problem…but i looked and checked eveything and it still dont work…the first time this happened to me…i just got a new fuse and it was all good…but i was reading all what you guys did…and i followed checking everything…and still no luck…:shrug: …sorry to bring this up once agian, but any help would be appreciated
Best way to deal with a fuse that keeps blowing… Get a fat piece of copper and just jump the terminals with it. That should withstand a few hundred amps at least.
ok sorry to be a post whore…but uh…my shit still aint working…i replaced it with a new fuse…and damn it still dont work!..i checked all my taillight wiring and it’s good…my car was sitting in shop for about a good 3 months for a motor swap…and before going in…i completly took out my deck…does anyone know of which wire is that you dont use sometimes for certain decks…i cant seem to find it…you guys said if it touches metal…and yah i disconected my ciggarete lighter…does that have anything to do with this porblem???..PLEASE help me…i got a frickin ticket the other night for my taillights not working…and im not able to clock my new engine because of my taillights… :bang:
Anyone???..PLEASE…im in desprite need of help…i wanna run my car tommorow night:argh: any help is greatly appreciated
Check everything on the circuit individually one at a time. Takes a lot of fuses but works.
Start with the taillights…take them out (unplug)…if fuse still blows, its not them. Goto the next thign, and the next until you stop blowing fuses and figure out the cause.
Also, if you are brave, take out the fuse block and get in behind there, sometimes they crack in the cold and F things up or wires rub behind the fuse block. Its time consuming tho…
Originally posted by chaos
Best way to deal with a fuse that keeps blowing… Get a fat piece of copper and just jump the terminals with it. That should withstand a few hundred amps at least.
This is also a GREAT way to set your car on fire. Have fun with that one. Real Smart idea, way to help out
Nah screw it. Cars dont burn that well BTW. Steel doesnt burn, which composes most of the mass of your vehicle. We found a good fuse replacement in my friend’s '90 4 door at home depot, solid strip of copper. Doesn’t protect your equipment the same way a fuse does though.
what do you think will happen if that wire is shorted to metal and has no fuse. everything on that circuit every wire will BURN. the harness that contains those wires will BURN. most wires are under your carpet it will BURN. everything but the metal will BURN. and ive seen a lot of cars that have been burnt in the junkyards, and yes metal doesnt burn but it sure doesnt do what it was meant when your aluminum head is melted. How bout for Christmas you buy your friend one of those really trendy ahem (ricey) ahem fire extinguishers he will need it
i doubt it. I had this happen in my old accord because a wire from my CD player shorted out to the chassis. Yes the whole wire did melt and burn the insulation off, but it was not a big deal. I was driving with my girlfriend and a bunch of smoke came out from under the dashboard and then that was it. Later had to pull the wire out from under the carpet and everything, it was a pain but only took about an hour.
What really sucks is when the wire from your battery to your amp is not set right and chaffes against the chassis or a bolt and ends up being shorted. This can drain all power from your system and stall your car, while the large-gauge wire welds itself to whatever it is touching and the battery gets ruined! BE CAREFUL WITH AMP POWER CABLE ROUTING! This, fortunately, has never happened to me.