taillight fuse keeps blowing

[dot]

I bought a cheap dsm....as soon as I turn the lights on, the taillight fuse keeps blowing. OK, so I have a short, but how the #### to I find it? Just seeing if anyone has any ideas....I need to get this thing on the road soon.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

I'd look at the sockets the bulbs are in. I've seen a lot of junk in those. If that doesn't work, get a 10 amp circuit breaker and hook it into the fuse that keeps blowing.

Take a compass or something of that nature and follow the wires from the tail light forward. When you get on the hot side of the short if that is indeed what it turns out to be, the compass will jump around as you are making a magnetic field in the wiring by charging and discharging the voltage in the wiring. Magnetics 101. When you get past the point of the short, the compass will stop jumping around as there is no field collapse as the short won't let it get past.

It's kind of rudimentary, but it does work. Not precise either, but it helps.

Or you can buy a 150 dollar short circuit detector like I have and have basically the same thing as it injects a signal and you wave a receiver over the wiring.

Up to you.

 

[dot]

I'd look at the sockets the bulbs are in. I've seen a lot of junk in those. If that doesn't work, get a 10 amp circuit breaker and hook it into the fuse that keeps blowing.

Take a compass or something of that nature and follow the wires from the tail light forward. When you get on the hot side of the short if that is indeed what it turns out to be, the compass will jump around as you are making a magnetic field in the wiring by charging and discharging the voltage in the wiring. Magnetics 101. When you get past the point of the short, the compass will stop jumping around as there is no field collapse as the short won't let it get past.

It's kind of rudimentary, but it does work. Not precise either, but it helps.

Or you can buy a 150 dollar short circuit detector like I have and have basically the same thing as it injects a signal and you wave a receiver over the wiring.

Up to you.

Thanks for the reply. One of the bulbs is actually burnt out, and the bulb is all black on the inside, but there didn't seem to be any junk around the socket. Tomorrow I will replace the bulb and check all the sockets, and if that doesn't work try the compass. Thanks for the help.

 

[Dsmj89]

I am having this exact same problem !
Sorry to bring up an old thread but my car recently just started doing this.
Is there any other method different than what old mitsu tech posted ? I checked my sockets and they are free of dirt.
Any ideas ?

 

[Bud92gsx]

Corrosion my freind...Theres got to be something between the bulb socket and fuse that's causing the amperage to spike and pop fuses...Look for green crap on wiring, in the socket. Look under the fuse itself for green crap, where it goes in fuse box..It could just be moisture somewhere in the wiring itself, that would pop fuses too..So look for cracked wireing and such along the path of that curcuit..

 

[Dsmj89]

Thanks bud, will check that out friday on my day off.

 

[xXx_BIG_xXx]

My buddy had the same issue after installing some extra gauges. Turns out he just had to upgrade the fuse from a 15 to a 30 and now they work perfectly fine.

 

[Dsmj89]

I doubt you have to up the amps on the fuse to fix the problem.

 

[Fast-Orange]

My buddy had the same issue after installing some extra gauges. Turns out he just had to upgrade the fuse from a 15 to a 30 and now they work perfectly fine.

never increase your fuses' amperage your putting more load on that circuit then it was designed for, you need to run relays and seperate circuits from the batt.

Also you can get an led logic probe its a fancy test light and can be had for 25 bucks, it lights up red for power and green for ground its good because you cant fry your ecu or anything because it puts no amperage out like an old test light, probe your power or ground wire and if your getting a reading of the wrong thiing then you know you have a short.
ex: you probe your ground wire,it lights up green then turn your headlights on and if it switches to red you know your ground wire is shorted to power
if you probe your power wire and its green you have a short to ground

easiest fix is to run new wire unless you can easily acces the wires and keep probing along the wire looking but everytime you poke a hole in thw wire you need to seal it with electrical tape other wise your just opnening up a spot for corrosion

 

[Dsmj89]

I also forgot to add a little piece of info, i just did a high wing conversion a few weeks ago and there is one hole not blocked off at the very rear of the driver passenger side where the old wing used to be, and it's not covered. It has also been raining the last few days, could some water have caused a short on my taillight ? I was thinking some water probably got in and caused a short in my wiring. Could this be possible ?

 

[Bud92gsx]

Yes sir..You answered your own question..Water can cause you to pop fuses..It says that in my last post..I might have not been explaining it to great..Water on electonics=popped fuses..Just like the last guy said, NEVER just put in a larger amp fuse..That just causes more problems then it is going to fix down the road..

 

[Dsmj89]

That's most probably what happened then since i haven't yet correctly covered my old wing holes in my trunk, should do that asap. Thanks for the help bud.
Do you think if i wipe down and clean the wiring it would help ? Or what would you recommend ?

 

[Bud92gsx]

Getting that hole taken care of first of all..Second, it gets hot in FL right..I'd roll the windows up tight, and let her bake for a few days..Or you could spend your friday wiping down wetness..Either way will probly be fine..Even if you do wipe her all down..Still probly let her bake, to make sure everything gets dried..And if you have problems down the road, you know right where to look..

 

[Dsmj89]

Thanks bud for all your help. I will get to that asap.

 

[gst1326]

I know this is a really old thread but I need some help, I have a prosport boost gauge i just installed and when i turn on my lights my taillight fuse blows, when i disconnect the illumination wire from the cog. lighter the fuse is fine. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[95TSIAWDturbo]

I am also having this problem. I would have just started a new post but no reason to clutter the forums more. Every time I turn on the lights my tail light fuse blows. I checked the wiring by the radio and everything looks fine. I had checked the wiring under the fuse box in the engine bay and found one of the wires for the tail lights had the insulation all bubbled and stuff. So I cut and replaced that section. I opened the harness a little farther down but the wire looked fine all the way through. So after all that I put a brand new 15amp fuse in. Turned the lights on and pop. The fuse blew again. When I check it with the multimeter it jumps between 10.67 and 10.34. I'm running out of options here and need to get this thing drivable again. Any ideas of what it could be? I looked back by the taillights and everything looks to be good and i know the lights work when the fuse isnt blown. However the drivers side taillight does have water in it. But the car drove around fine with no issues for 3 hours like that. When it first blew the fuse my intake pipe blew off right after the bov. And ever since I put that on it happens. And no wires are pinched in the intake area. Im almost all outta ideas. Can anyone help? The car is a 95 Talon TSi AWD 5 speed. Headlights, brake lights, and turn signals still work. (different circuit if i remember right) but everything thats linked to the taillights is out.

 

[harley2010]

my trunk leaks water..BAD...(mom was rearended before the car was mine and shop didnt fix it right, been leaking for bout 4 years now) assuming water got down in the tail light since it has rained a ton lately, what will be needed to fix the short? just new bulbs or a whole new light? not very good when it comes to wiring and electronics. any help or advice would be great....not sure if this could be related since i dont think its on the same fuse, but my dash lights aint been working for months now any help with that would be great too.

 

[95TalonOwner]

My buddy had the same issue after installing some extra gauges. Turns out he just had to upgrade the fuse from a 15 to a 30 and now they work perfectly fine.

That is definitely the fastest way towards a roasting car fire. I had this issue in an old 1g, all I did was replace all the rear bulbs and everything worked just fine after that. Also doesn't hurt to clean all contacts and make sure the grounds are good.