Slo_Slidewayz

So electrical crap is not my forte nor do I even enjoy it. But heres my problem... As of last Saturday, when I turn on my headlights through the headlight switch, the only thing that lights up is my headlights. No dash lights, no tail lights and no sidemarkers front or rear. I found a blown fuse, labeled "tail lamp" fuse located by the drivers left foot in cabin.

The conclusion I cam to is that I shorted a wire in the headlight jumble that rests under the radiator support on the driver side of the car. I wriggled the clump out as best I could and tried to repair the damaged wires as best I could. After spending almost six hours today repairing about 12-15 wires, I blew two more fuses (the same one still) and cannot figure out what else could be shorting the circuit. This all happened after I relocated the hood pin for my alarm and accidentally pushed a screw through the wires.

Before that incident, all lights were functional and fully operational.

Is there anywhere this wiring clump can be disconnected so that I can get a little more slack to work with and be able to see a little better?

Any other possibilities I may be missing?

Thanks in advance...

Luvs2slide

You can actually take out the whole harness. You have 2 options:
1. Unbolt all the harness located in the drivers foot cabin and pull it all out.
2. Unbolt the bottom half of the junction box and pull the harness out that way. Its hard to imagine, but once you get in there and start doing it, it will become clear. Also, while you are doing these, you should re-route your harness to go through the engine bay instead of under the fender. Hope this helps. I guarantee you there are still wires shorted somewhere in there.

Slo_Slidewayz

Thanks a bunch for the input, much appreciated.

I am confused however as to what the "junction box" is you are referring to. If I could get just a few more inches of play in the harness it would make all the difference in the world.

Thanks again...

projectRDM

There's a dozen clips holding the harness to the core support, unclip all that you can, unbolt both ground bolts behind the headlights on the back side of the support, and remove the horn/ambient temperature wiring from the clips that secure it. You should get enough play to pull it out a several inches.
The junction box is the SMJ inside, but you shoudn't need to pull that much, nor do you want to pull fenders, bumper, and the lower dash and steering column trim to get it out.

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Slo_Slidewayz

I pulled all the clips already and that got me enough to get done what I got done already, but Im obviously still missing something. I loosened and de-clipped everything within a foot or so of the spot I am working with and I still need just another inch or two, but I also want nothing to do with taking out my dash, Im way too lazy for that lol

Maybe Ill head back to RadioShack for some more connectors and keep tearing it apart looking for exposed wiring...

"F" electrical stuff (sorry to use such harsh letters)

Slo_Slidewayz

I spent a couple hours on Saturday going through the wires again and have all the damaged wires repaired. Still, the fuse blows whenever the headlights are on.

My question now is if anyone has a link or something to a wiring diagram for the headlight harness. Specifically, what color wire is for what.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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projectRDM

Are any bulbs blown in the car? A shorted bulb would blow the fuse as well. You may also try swapping the TCU.

Otherwise the FSM has all the wiring schematics, parking light wire is red/blue at all lights inside and out.

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bees

bringing up a dead thread, but this does sound familiar.. have u installed a new stereo lately? if so, disconnect it from the harness, and see if that does anything. installing a new stereo could have shorted the ground. im dead serious! ive seen this happen more than once. hope this is able to help someone out

Havok

Any way to prevent/fix this? 3 of my fuses blew last night which were my Turn signals, hazards, and rear lights. The stereo isn't new, its actually been the same one since the previous owner but I've heard those fuses usually blow because of the stereo. The car also has a sub if that would have anything to do with it as well. I've replaced the fuses and they haven't blown as of yet but I just don't want this to be an issue.

So would you happen to know specifically what causes this? Any help would be great thanks.

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bees

when i had the issue, it was the ground on the stereo system itself. instead of running the ground from the stereo to the wire harness, i ran it to a ground on the chassis. solved my problem and my friends.