Fuses blowing!

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

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

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! :)

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.

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:

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

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

Attachment 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)

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?

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!

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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

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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. :)

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

Attachment 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.
Attachment 10537

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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

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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.