Author Topic: Tailight/Dashligh fuse keeps blowing  (Read 3394 times)

psherlock

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Tailight/Dashligh fuse keeps blowing
« on: June 05, 2014, 03:35:09 »
Hi all, I am having problems with my tailight/dashlight fuse continually blowing. If the fuse is replaced and the vehicle is stationary it does not blow, but on a drive it tends to blow. Where do I start to narrow down the problem?

All suggestions welcome! Cheers Peter

jpinet

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Re: Tailight/Dashligh fuse keeps blowing
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2014, 03:52:46 »
I strongly suspect a live wire that moves when driving and grounds itself. It may have it's insulation worn off and touching somewhere. This specific situation can be a pain to find because it shows up only when driving You have to proceed with elimination. You could remove the fuse box from the firewall and see if anything is loose back there. Go under your dash and  with the switch on and lights on, move wires around. Look around tail lights and headlights where wires may be touching metal. This may be a detective game if you don,t have an obvious culprit. To give you an example, I once had a Renault that refused to start one morning after running perfectly fine. It did not turn over at all. After eliminating obvious possibilities, such as fuses, battery, starter and the ignition switch itself, I gave up and brought it to my mechanic. He eventually took the whole dash apart and traced every single wire.
He calls me up after a week to ask: 'Do you mind if the rear light does not turn on when you open the door? Because when I cut power to that wire, you car starts.' Unexplainable, but that solved the problem. Give me a mechanical problem over an electrical problem anytime. Best of luck!

psherlock

  • Guest
Re: Tailight/Dashligh fuse keeps blowing
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2014, 21:54:27 »
Thank you for that. Yes, I fear it will be a process of deduction! I was hoping it may be a common issue and a 5 min fix, but have quickly realized that part of the joy of having these great cars is fun of keeping everything working as it should. Particularly our car that although is in excellent condition is original and has not had the luxury of a full bare metal rebuild. One day! Cheers Peter

jpinet

  • Guest
Re: Tailight/Dashligh fuse keeps blowing
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2014, 00:11:28 »
Having an original unrestored car is worth having the once in a while problem! Have you tried plugging the computer on the OBD access plug to see what code it gives you? hahaha! Yes, part of the charm of these old cars is working on them. I would really try to reproduce the movements that happen when you drive everywhere you can access your wires. If you're lucky, you may narrow down the physical area where lies the problem. That is of course, if you don't disconnect some other unseen wire when you are moving things around!