HELP Please!!

[Dericsh]

ok im riding down the road i turn on my lights everything is normal. i come home put up the groceries talk online for a second then go out again. now its dark and when i get in my car i turn on the lights and nothing on the inside is lighting up. no guages or hvac. but everythign still works break lights/dome lights/ lighter/ stereo all of that. i replaced the fuse called gauges and it still dosent work... what do i do??? i really need to be able to see

**edit** i noticed that the buzzer for leaving on your lights also isnt working.... doubt that helps any though

 

[nstaller]

ck all fuses with atest light including the ones under the hood.

 

[Dericsh]

update - the hvac and guages dont come on bc its trying to tell me something wrong right??

well i turn on my headlights and my corners dont come on! neither does the light in the back but when i hit the breaks they light up and when i turb on the blinkers/flashers they work

 

[nutshot]

Your door jamb has a pin switch that tells the lights to come on when you enter/leave the car. If this switch is faulty, it could be shorting out the interior light system. Definitely check all fuses first. Also, where is the dim switch for your dash lights adjusted to?

 

[Dericsh]

thats all the way up and its not the domes its the guages

 

[Dericsh]

i found a dead fuse under the hood put a new 10 in and turned on the lights.. the buzzer come on for a millisecond then went off... check that fuse... blown.. should i just put a bigger fuse in?

 

[Dericsh]

ok i put a 25 in there i saw the corners and haerd the buzzer and then it blew that one too... put in normal blinkers instead of super white it last a lil longer(maybe 5 seconds) but then blew again.... is there a short or what? thats sucks

 

[Dericsh]

ok i bought some 30 fuses and put that in.... i guess a wire is messed up the 30 was enoguht o keep them on but they were VERY faint. and i could barley kinda smell a lil burning smell. i guess a wire is shorted out... how do i check and make sure?? how do i go about fixing this??? what could have caused this, ??my super white blinkers??, i know on the package it said something like "danger using bulbs with too much wattage can damage your electrical system"??? i dont want to take her in bc they will charge me plenty of money that i really dont have. thanks guys.

 

[Eclipse419]

hey man...im having the exact same problem rite now dude!! mines wentout last night because i was stupid enough to cut my cigerette lighter light off and replace it with a neon..den i put in a on/off switch for it...i tested it out...it was workn den all my interior lights..turning lights and back lights went out.....so im with u to in the same situation..and im not sure if my fuses r blown out...

 

[nutshot]

Please, no more fuses! Your wires are ground out somewhere, so backtrack each place you have changed or adjusted wires. You can burn through the wires of your system this way.

 

[Dericsh]

alright well since everything works except those it must have been the damn super white blinkers i had... when tracing the wires what am i looking for and how do i fix it

 

[nutshot]

Take a digital multimeter, then test the impedance (rated in ohms) of the lights that still work (head lights, tails etc). Do this without the lights on. Then go to the lights that are burning through fuses (corners). If the impedance is more that .1-.3 ohms higher, you will need to replace the wires from the fuse block out because they are grounding. It sounds to me like you were drawing enough current to slowly melt the insulation off one or more wires, so now there is a ground in yer system that could easily set yer car on fire. Either upgrade your wires or run smaller bulbs.


EDITED: Test the wires leading to the lights, typically in the socket, not the impedance of the lights themselves.

 

[Dericsh]

where do i go about getting a digital multimeter and how much will that run me?

and is my car safe to drive during the day? (lights off)

 

[nutshot]

Rat Shack, Fred Meyer, Sears, etc. Look, this is something that you need to do right, and if you don't have much wiring experience, find a buddy who has a dig multimeter already so he can steer you through this yer first time out.

 

[Dericsh]

ill just take her to a garage.... but i wont have any money until christmas... is my car safe to drive if i dont turn the lights on?

BTW, thanks for all your help

 

[nutshot]

Yeah, you can drive yer car but keep the fuses out so you can't turn the lights on. Good luck until xmas

 

[Dericsh]

thanks for all your help nutshot

 

[SMOKE SHOW]

What ended up being the problem?

 

[Dericsh]

it was two wires behind the stereo grounding out

 

[Thunderskull]

Yeah, the dimmer wire behind the stereo is wired directly to your dash guages. Your guages are also wired into your tailights. This is so if your tailights go out, it kills your dash lights so that you know something's wrong. This happened to me. I fixed the wire, replaced the tailight fuse(which was burned through), and then everything went back to normal.

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

Mna I wish I would have seen sooner. Next time whatever you do. Do NOT put a bigger fuse in palce of a smaller. the reason the small one is there is to blow in case of a problem. thats what fuses do. It has a problem, blows so nothing get to much juice and possibly causes more damage or a fire.

 

[Dericsh]

yes but, its fixed and over with.... thanks though...

 

[paperboy]

had the same problem, also turned out to be the dimmer wire for my deck.

 

[Defiant]

Gaaah, I knew that Nice-to Newbies thing was gonna be tough.

No, never replace a fuse with a larger one. The original design allowed for much more current than the circuit would draw under unusual circimstances. Once it goes, it goes for a reason. Let's just be glad you couldn't find 50-amp fuses.

 

[Zerocygnal]

As a former aircraft electrician...please...for god sake don't use fuses rated above the circuit.