After searching the forum for some answers I could not find what I was looking for so I decided to make a post. My dash lights stopped working, so the first thing I did was purchase a new light switch, and replace the old one. After doing so I put in a new fuse as well. Now, every time I attempt to test the dash lights, the second I turn on the lights the fuse blows. Now I know its common that this is due aftermarket radios being hooked up to certain wires, so I completely disconnected the radio and attempted to put in another fuse, and once again it blew.... anyone know what the problem might be??? -Thanks in advance!!
to blow the fuse some thing has shorted out. a bulb can brake internally and the broken filiment can short out. unplug every thing on that circuit for the fuse then put a new fuse in and turn on the switch. plug in each idem on that circuit one at a time and see which one blows the fuse. that idem is the problem.
After bypassing the fuse with some foil, the lights on the cluster work but they blink on and off and the coil on the light switch gets glowing red hot and its definitely not supposed to get that hot. Also while using a test light on the fuse box, the fuse area for the inst. lights, there seems to be no hot that cause the test light doesn't come on. I'm lost as what to do now....
wow that is not what i said to do. that is lets set the car on fire type of stuff right their. try what i said to do. look up what every thing is on that fuse circuit and unplug all of it. then put a new correct fuse in and plug one thing back in at a time. when the fuse blows that thing you just plugged in is the problem. replace that idem and the now blown fuse with new stuff. the continue plugging every thing back in. if the fuse blows again replace the thing that caused it to blow and then keep going.
Before I did what you told me to do I put a new fuse in and didn't hook up the dash and turned on the light switch and the coil still glows red, this should not be happening. Something is pulling way too much juice and its not right.
If it's blowing the fuse and causing the coil to glow with everything disconnected, there is a major short in the wiring... Hard to say what or where but check the harness for chafed wires, will be in the blue/red as that's the dash & accessory lighting circuit... The wire will also be in the steering column(if column automatic) and in the plug that connects to the radio... Have you done something with the radio lately?? installed a new unit??
Put in a new aftermarket radio about 2 months ago and there was no problems until now but that is hooked to the cig. lighter so shouldnt be any problem. Tomorrow I am going to search for bad wires and hopefully I can pinpoint the problem.
If your tired of replacing fuses, don't jumper it with foil/tubing/paperclip... Buy a circuit breaker for the correct amperage, and a couple of jumper wires. It's much cheaper than burning your car to the ground. The breaker will reset, giving you a chance to find your short. They can be frustrating.
chances are you still have something in the circuit that is plugged in. from looking at this page http://1bad6t.com/Maverick/repair/chassis_electrical_04.html i have to assume its the #3 fuse blowing sense you say its the dash lights. it looks like the heater and or ac power comes from that circuit also. is it fuse #3 that is blowing?
Im not 100% sure but I would assume that it is the #3, I can look tommorrow Edit 1: Also I'm pretty sure that the dash lights are deff. making the fuse blow because when the dash inst hooked up the fuse doesn't blow but the coil on the switch glows red. Itching to get it fixed but I have to wait till tomorrow. Edit 2: After looking at the diagrams in the link its 100% #3.
so when you have the instrument cluster unplugged the fuse doesnt blow but the light switch still glows?
