Fuses blowing!

[wcalayag]

Hello,

My cig lighter, dome light & clock has been blowing fuses. They each have fuse. The clock jumps back to 1:00
after I reset it. I looked at the book & they all have common ground. I bet there's probably a burnt wire/s
near the connectors like what happened with the headlights. If anybody had the same problem can you
please shed some light in my dilemna?

I'm going to work on this myself & take off the dash. It's a painstaking work with electrical shorts.

Thank you,
Wesley

[MonTex]

I'm also chasing an intermittent short that blows my "Guages" 7.5A fuse on occasion - resulting in the engine cranking and not starting, and the power windows not working. Studying the electrical diagram and working on my flexibility/contortion artist skills. Arrgghhh.

[Burntboot]

WC
If your 87 is the same as my 88, then fr cigar lighter, dome light and clock all reference the same ground point listed as "c" - located on cowl right.
Hope that helps.

MT
Gauges fuse isn't so straight forward, power is fed from the ign switch, but on the other side of the fuse there are at least 3 branches that go off to various devices

[MonTex]

BurntBoot: Thanks...trying to find the branch that's "the yellow brick road" is the trick. I'm still working to discover the branch of the "Guages" 7.5A circuit that is shorting on me intermittently. If anyone has experienced similar, please let me know.

[Burntboot]

MT
IF it is the same as my 88 manual:

7.5A Gauge fuse is fed by IG1 of the ignition switch, from there it has 4 branches.
First tap feeds overdrive computer and relay as well as back-up light circuit.
2nd tap feeds oil level warning computer + "to 4wd control switch, to power main relay, to seat belt warning relay".
3rd tap feeds gauges (oil, water, fuel, tach) + O/D switch and light + A/T oil temp indicator and seat belt warning light.
4th tap feeds gauge illumination.

Interestingly, all of those circuits utilize all every single ground point listed, what luck:
a - Cowl left, b - wiper bracket set bolt, c - Cowl right, d - engine compartment left, e - "Located on under chamber", f - left rear fender.

If it were me, I would find, disassemble, clean and lube all the ground points first.
I have no idea what "under chamber" references, all I can think of is under the air box but that is a WAG.
If that doesn't resolve the issue, look at the instrument cluster for signs of corrosion at the plug and on the printed circuit board as well as the light sockets. My bet is on the ground points though, unless you have a water leak at either the antenna mountings or windshield.

Good luck, am on a similar quest myself.

[wcalayag]

The clock & interior light fuse blows after a period of time after putting a new one. I stopped putting new
fuse till problem is solved.

Has anybody have the same problem ? This one is very tricky! It don't look like a serious short because it
blows much later. I was thinking there's probably a burnt wire/connectors like with the headlight issue.


Please let me know if you had same problem/s and fixed it! I truly appreciate it!

Wesley

[timsrv]

Oh the dreaded "intermittent electrical short" issue. Anything intermittent is usually a PITA to find, but at least this is a pretty simple circuit. A likely place for this type of fault is at your door switches. Perhaps a wire in this area has been chaffing and or shorting out on the body metal there. I remember having a discussion about this on TVP a few years back. Here's a link to that thread. Tim

http://www.toyotavanpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3934

[wcalayag]

Hello Tim,

I took off the 3 door switches and didn't see anything that can cause the blowing fuse for interior lights/clock
As i said before, it's a slow process after putting in a new fuse. I checked the ground wire which is near the
glove box according to the book schematic. Maybe a wire can be getting hot in a pitted connector like what
happened with the headlights. That can be the only logical reason.

Thank you,
Wesley

[timsrv]

If you have the courtesy lamps in your doors, then another common place for this sort of problem is where the wires go between the doors and the body (in the door jam area). If yours is so equipped, you might try unplugging the door harnesses one at a time and leave them unplugged long enough to know if the problem still exists or not. If the problem goes away while a particular door is unplugged, but returns when that door is plugged back in, then focus your attention on that door harness. The wires to look at are the red and the red/white. Tim

[eddieleephd]

To some extent it sounds like it may be overloaded as well, if it is not a short that is.
Have you or anyone else wired up aftermarket things like added lights or stereo or anything??
This could cause a similar issue.

[wcalayag]

Hello Eddie,

I owned the TV since new in 87 and no aftermarket gadgets were added! I don't know if it could also be
wires that developed high resistance and gets hot & blows the fuse. That happened on that wires coming
from the ignition switch and down the steering column connectors. I also had problem with headlight
flickering off/on and it turned out to be a pitted connector under dash on left side. So i spliced the wire off
the connector and never had the problem again !!

Back to the current problem, I am in the dark and wondering if anybody had the same situation & relate to
me!!!


Thank you,
Wesley

[timsrv]

Did you try isolating (disconnecting) the doors like I suggested above? If so, did the fuse still blow?

[bald josh]

how often does the fuse blow? once a week , month ??

[wcalayag]

Hello everyone,

I'm still having the same dilemma. Dome lights & clock fuse pops at a later time after putting in! I checked
front, slide & back door switches & wires. Put a test-light in place of fuse. When a door is opened test light
comes on. With test light on, i tried to grab/shake wires under dash and didn't see any flickering in test
light.

I am dumbfounded! Does anybody have any suggestions or same problem & found the root of the problem?

Thank you,
Wesley

[timsrv]

Did you try isolating (disconnecting) the doors like I suggested above? If so, did the fuse still blow?

Also, if you haven't done it already, replace the bulb. Sometimes bulbs can pull too much current do to an internal fault. Tim

PS: I just searched the forum and found / combined 3 separate threads you started on this exact issue. For organization reasons, please avoid making multiple duplicate threads. Thank you.

[wcalayag]

Ok! I understand about the multiple threads on same issue! That won't happen again! I will look
into the bulbs and try replacing them.

Wesley

[wcalayag]

how often does the fuse blow? once a week , month ??


Within the week! It's a delayed-popping fuse! I'm stumped!!!

[bald josh]

I work out of my van, so every door is opened many times a day\but was thinking if you commuted and usually only used drivers door and say slider, but on weekends the rear hatch when you went and got building supplies or whatever, that it might be narrowed down to the rear as a starting point to dig deeper. if it blew once a day, id say drivers door as a starter

thought about that... does the rear hatch and slider work on the same fuse as front dome??? my rear cargo light is broken so maybe not, the door open light on the dash turns on so maybe so

[Wonderwagon]

I had this problem when I bought my van. It turned out to be that the clock was shorting out internally. I unplugged the clock and all has been fine since. I went around unplugging everything on the circuit until there was no longer 12V across the fuse terminals. The clock was the last thing I tried, too.
I hope you have similarly simple solution.

[wcalayag]

WC
If your 87 is the same as my 88, then fr cigar lighter, dome light and clock all reference the same ground point listed as "c" - located on cowl right.
Hope that helps.

MT
Gauges fuse isn't so straight forward, power is fed from the ign switch, but on the other side of the fuse there are at least 3 branches that go off to various devices

Poor ground will not blow a fuse to my knowledge! The lights/components just won't work! Fuse will blow when
overloaded or wires shorting to metal body or pitted connectors as i've experienced in the headlights connector
below steering column! SUGGESTIONS OR OPINIONS ?

Thanks,
Wesley

[wcalayag]

Hello guys,

Maybe somebody can relate to my issue and had same problem. See, the 7.5a fuse for dome lights & clock
pops much later and has been doing it for some time now. I checked wires, switches on door jambs, ground c
according to schematic. I placed a test light in lieu of the fuse. I didn't see anything unusual like test light
flashing. When doors are closed, light is off. Looks normal but there is a problem!

Can somebody give me a clue, suggestions or those who had same problem.

I truly appreciate if you can help me.

Thank you,
Wesley

[wcalayag]

Hello guys,

It's me again on same issue! dome light & clock fuse pops after a day. I have checked door jamb &
sliding door switches. Also wires on courtesy lights on front & sliding doors. Even put a test light in place of fuse
and all seemed to worked. Meaning, when all doors are close, test light is off! I even checked wires with dash
out. Shooked wires, relays, connectors & test light didn't indicate anything out of the ordinary.

One question! where is the switch for the rear door? When you open it, light comes on but I see no switch
like in other doors!

Check engine light code.....I am getting 4 & 6 ! I checked the book & it says, 4 is water temp sensor & 6 is
rpm signal! Any suggestion or opinions will be appreciated. Please send reply to wcalayag@yahoo.com

Thank you,
Wesley

[robgagnon]

This thread, and other sources, make me suspect my pegged temperature gauge is due to a bad ground. Other data points: clock sometimes resets itself. Gas gauge seems to read ok however. Newer OEM temperature sender. Same behavior as before I changed that, but intermittent, and getting worse. Actually now, it is not intermittent, it is just pegged. Read in this thread about various ground points. Where are left and right cowl ground? How to get to them? Any other ideas?

Edit: never mind! Cowl ground location and cleaned, and problem is corrected. Thanks! :)

[Busyboy]

I noticed in my book, although I haven't yet located it, that there is supposed to be a "Dome Light Relay" on the drivers side close to the seat belt warning relay. (yeah...)
So, if it's the coils that are burnt out and partially shorted, it would (eventually), since it's a "coil" of wire that electromagnetically closes the switch contacts. blow the fuse after it gets hot enough.

[Busyboy]

Here's the relay, maybe it'll help. I haven't found anything on this relay in the comments so far, so keep me posted on you're progress. I'll try to figure it out too. Now I've got to find the buzzer, seems I forgot where it's hidden and this is my second Van! :LOL2::LOLabv:

[James Zueger]

I have been battling with an issue of no power windows and a 7.5 amp fuse blowing on my 85 2wd. finally tracked it down to a short in the wires under the console. Looked like mice got in there and chewed on the wires. Thanks Burntboot for the info on the fuse output. And thanks Tim for the info on the o.d. circuit. I would have been in a heap of a lot more trouble if it wasn't for this forum and the help you guys give. KEEP IT UP Jim Z hope to have pics soon on restoration

[Burntboot]

There is one other "issue" to look at when having issues with the cig lighter circuit.
When I first got Red, cig lighter didn't work, and I had weird issues with occasional fuse blows....
In the end the issue was the cig lighter housing.
Its been many years and its more than a little foggy but there is a (very short) wire on the base that had melted the insulation and was occasionally grounding on the housing, pita job but replaced the stupid little wire, phantoms disappeared and the lighter started working again.
I only mention it as I spent hours looking for the problem and only caught it by fluke, was very hard to see.
Might be worth a look for anyone still going down that most frustrating road.
BB

[Wrench]

8723Hey guys, I'm a new Van owner and I've been trying to tackle some of the little issues my van has! After reading this thread and doing some testing I've figured out the courtesy door light switch on the driver's door is blowing my dome light fuse. I noticed under the rubber the switch seems to be held together by a ~12mm nut. Can I remove this nut to remove the switch without too much hassle or do I need to get into the body panel? If I remove the switch this way could it permanently mess up the spring? I might like to tackle the short at some point in the future to get everything working properly so I don't want to butcher it, but right now I feel like bypassing the door switches and just having working dome lights + clock would be a major victory! Thanks in advance, here's a picture of my Van! (88 LE)

[Wrench]

well I took the driver s door switch out and taped it so it couldn't spring back, but that didn't solve the issue, so it's pretty clear there must be a loose connection in the wiring in the door jamb as previous posters outlined. Is there any particular good place to look for the issue? How will I solve it? Can I just cut the red and red/white wires?

[Wrench]

So frustrating! I have an old service manual for the van and it seems to include a wiring diagram for just about everything EXCEPT the dome fuse!

[timsrv]

If it's blowing a fuse it's a short to ground. Loose wires typically won't cause this. Most likely location for a short would be the door switches and the lamp/bulb sockets. Pinched wires would also be on my list of thing to check. I would also recommend removing all the bulbs and check to see if the fuse still blows. If it doesn't, then put bulbs back in one at a time. If the fuse blows on installation of a particular bulb, then it's possible the bulb is shorted or perhaps not the correct one. It's also possible there's a problem with that particular bulb socket. Good luck. Tim

[Wrench]

If it's blowing a fuse it's a short to ground. Loose wires typically won't cause this. Most likely location for a short would be the door switches and the lamp/bulb sockets. Pinched wires would also be on my list of thing to check. I would also recommend removing all the bulbs and check to see if the fuse still blows. If it doesn't, then put bulbs back in one at a time. If the fuse blows on installation of a particular bulb, then it's possible the bulb is shorted or perhaps not the correct one. It's also possible there's a problem with that particular bulb socket. Good luck. Tim
Hey Tim! I removed the door panel and found a worn wire casing near the plug in for the courtesy light. I taped it up and now everything works! I also unplugged the wiring harness going to the door and plugged it back in while trying to access the wires. I was certain the short would be in the door jamb where the wires flex, but the problem is solved at least for now! Thanks for the reply. :)

[timsrv]

A chaffing wire with insulation worn/scrapped off would definitely do it. Glad you found it! :dance2:

[Busyboy]

10538:dance2:Thank you Wonderwagon;4220 I had this problem and you had the answer, I read 6 threads before I fell into a coma but when I woke up the next line down was "the clock had an internal short" line. I can't tell you how may lines I was probing to find where the short occurred and almost started to pull the entire dash out. I did that before to rebuild the heater motor. Now it's ready, I'm selling it... with working lights.
10537

[Jan-Willem]

If you have the courtesy lamps in your doors, then another common place for this sort of problem is where the wires go between the doors and the body (in the door jam area). If yours is so equipped, you might try unplugging the door harnesses one at a time and leave them unplugged long enough to know if the problem still exists or not. If the problem goes away while a particular door is unplugged, but returns when that door is plugged back in, then focus your attention on that door harness. The wires to look at are the red and the red/white. Tim

Thanks! Mine had exactly this issue! I suspected it had something to do with the door, as it blew once when I closed the door. I wonder if it could be that these lights are mounted upside down on mine, the wire grind against the sharp metal, but if I flip them upside down, plug-side up, it fits with plenty of space to move freely.