Tail lamp fuse blowing

[MtxWrl]

I cant drive my car at night due to the tail lamp fuse blowing. What initiated this fuse to blow is the fact I was uneducated and drove around on a slammed car without the wire harness relocated (bought the car like this and didnt know of this caution at the time).

Now my first question is, I'm sure someone on here has had this happen to them, what is the most common fix for this problem? I've tried to rewire the chewed through section many times thinking i did a poor job at it. That has only proven to work for 2 mins then boom fuse pops.

Any feedback would be appreciated (yes i have searched this many times and have checked all my grounds) and all flaming will be appreciated as long as an attempt at fixing my issue is followed.

[Banegraphix]

same thing happened to my friends hatch and it turned out to be a hack job under the rear seat that was shorting out the tail lights your just gonna have to take your time going thru the wiring that the previous owner probably destroyed

[MtxWrl]

well truth be told i dont know shit about wiring... and that was not the response i wanted! damn lol. looks like i gotta do what i fear the absolute most and try to understand wiring.

[Banegraphix]

you dont need to understand wiring to see if something is rigged and causing a short somewhere but you may need it to fix it haha. More than likely its something stupid like a part of the wire that has been pinched or broken and is hitting metal just start at the tail lights and work your way forward sorry i cant be more help without having the car in front of me

[180boy]

is the symptom all the lights or just one set of lights? alot of times the brake lights may just go out or all the lights may go out. my brake lights went out one time and all i did was use a bigger amp fuse and they work great now

[MtxWrl]

well all my brake lights work, its just when i turn on my headlights for nighttime driving my fuse blows

[180boy]

there must be a short them. try putting in a larger fuse. i put a 30 amp in mine and it works great now. usually i think its only a 15.

[MtxWrl]

^ did that... lasted 2.5 mins. my wiring got super fucked when it got chewed through

[180boy]

wow well looks like some wiring then. sorry for the news bud

[MtxWrl]

next question is, anyone local to Redondo Beach who is familiar with the issue and is willing to fix it for some $?

[theboy]

is the symptom all the lights or just one set of lights? alot of times the brake lights may just go out or all the lights may go out. my brake lights went out one time and all i did was use a bigger amp fuse and they work great now

^^^^and thats how car fires happen. Good job being a moron.


if you have a test light, you can see which socket/wire has the short by back probing. It sounds more like its in the switch then the wiring. Especially since you say it ONLY happens when you turn the head lights on.

If there are other instances that cause the fuse to blow then please inform us on what they are. Also, what size fuse are you running? It should tell you the size you need on the cover panel.

[Nicelyphe]

I had an issue similar to this actually. My short was the wiring that runs through the hatch down to the 3rd brake light. Ran two new wires from the 3rd brake light through the hatch and into the interior of the car and had no problems since, Honestly think the wires may have brokedown after 20+ years of rubbing from daily driving bumps and such.

EDIT: By the way, stock fuse size is 15amps.

[MtxWrl]

i would run the right size fuse 15a but i decided for shits n giggles to see how long a 30a would last and it was no longer than a 15a. The symptom is whenever i turn on my lights to drive at night the fuse blows. This did not happen till my harness got chewed through. Before it got chewed through i could drive with the lights on no problem

[180boy]

then its gunna be a short to ground somewhere or the relay or swith so called! I only did the higher amp fuse to get me home. Its only a temporary fix guys not trying to give bad advise here. Well i would try to first trace the wiring and repair each wire first then checks fuses. if that doesnt work you have more wiring issues elsewhere

[MtxWrl]

sucks to be me.... i dont think i have the patience for wiring lol

[180boy]

mostly what i did i took off the fender and there are small unused holes near the top by the upper fender mount holes to the chassis. i ziptied mine up there and it worked great. ill try to find picks if youde like me to txt them to you? pm me if youde like.

[besTint]

not that hard to figure it out. dont need to know nothing about wiring. just gotta be handy with some tools. trace all the wires from your tail lamps/or that specific parking lamp that keeps going out.

pretty much have to gut the car but its easy to do on a S-chassis. somewhere along the line there is a pinch so its blowing the fuse. start from the rear, or if you know the cars been in a accident (rear quarter, rear bumper etc) look carefully in those areas.

if you dont feel like doing the work, call around for local stereo shops and see if they are willing to do it. i'd charge around $50 to check for something like that. maybe you can find better.

[MtxWrl]

honestly I totally forgot one of my friends who builds motors does wiring. I called him up and he is gonna fix it for me. That $50 is a great price I was willing to pay more to get this fixed and a local SR garage quoted me a ridiculous price