Fuses keep popping, getting tired of it!

[1992blkGT]

A few months ago I rewired my foglights to work with the driving lights and also to stop flickering. I followed the tech instructions from the Corral about the whole process. It worked for awhile. Then one day the foglights wouldn't come on, and everytime I put a new fuse in the fuse holder (the one that was installed with the rewiring process) it pops. I don't want to tear my dash out again until I know exactly what the problem is, I'm tired of taking it off and putting it back on.

I figure it might be a bad ground. The green lights for the headlight and foglight switch that light up when the headlights are on are also out. The lights for the emergency flasher and defroster on the other side of the dash works though. Oh and I tried looking at the wiring while the car was running, I yanked out the headlight/foglight switch and started moving around the brown wires (the grounds) and the car shutoff. Why would the headlight/foglight switch have any effect with the car running?

Sorry for the long description but this is getting annoying and I don't know much about wiring. Can someone please help? Thanks!

 

[Notchbck93]

Fusses pop because too much amperage is going through them. ? is why. Bad grounds wont cause fuses to pop , if power cant ground , how can it flow? Chances are something has shorted to ground. Unfortunately I dont know your wiring harness set up that you installed with the fuse. What you need to do is see what part is grounding the circuit out. Take the hot wire, disconnect it from the power source and do a continuity test. It shouldnt be hard to find if you know what you are doing.

And lucky that the fuse popped instead of your car burning to the ground!


Good luck!

 

[1992blkGT]

Fusses pop because too much amperage is going through them. ? is why. Bad grounds wont cause fuses to pop , if power cant ground , how can it flow? Chances are something has shorted to ground. Unfortunately I dont know your wiring harness set up that you installed with the fuse. What you need to do is see what part is grounding the circuit out. Take the hot wire, disconnect it from the power source and do a continuity test. It shouldnt be hard to find if you know what you are doing.

And lucky that the fuse popped instead of your car burning to the ground!


Good luck!

I really appreciate the help! My setup is that I connected a power wire directly from the battery to the fuse holder (the one that keeps popping) and then to a fuse relay that connects to the foglight on/off switch. The entire wiring setup is on the Corral under tech articles. I guess I'll just trace the power wire and see if it's grounding on anything. Should I just randomly connect a voltmeter to various wires? Thanks again for the help!

 

[Notchbck93]

send the link for the wiring diagram so I can review it and give you some diagnostic tips.

Haven't forgot about ya ,, just battling the flu

 

[1992blkGT]

send the link for the wiring diagram so I can review it and give you some diagnostic tips.

Haven't forgot about ya ,, just battling the flu

Sorry to hear about the flu, that really sucks! Here is the link to the tech article: http://www.corral.net/tech/maintenance/foglights.html

I followed those directions to a 'T', except I didn't use any sauder, just a lot of electrical tape (which might also be the problem). If you could help me out I would really appreciate it!! Except for rewiring the foglights, I am absolutely clueless about electrical problems (and I even messed up rewiring the foglights so that should tell you something). Any help you could provide will be useful. Thanks a lot for your time!

 

[Notchbck93]

I read the instructions, and I can't say that I was tickled by them. One, I hate not having soldered connections. Soldering and heat shrink is well worth the time and money. Two, those splice in connectors are junk as well. Anyways, what I want you to do is pull off the FL1 from the 30/51 on the relay and then turn on the switch. Let me know if the fuse still pops!

If it doesn't pop , it is most likely in the tan orange wiring that goes to your fog lights. From the tan orange wire that runs to your foglamps ,, I am assuming because I dont have a wiring schematic to review, the wiring is grounded. Now , to test the wire, you need to remove your bulbs from your fog lights and reinstall the sockets. Get a good continuity tester. Ground one lead and hook the other up to the orn/tan wire, back at the female connector, and see if the meter beeps. I have seen on GTs where the socket itself failed causing an amperage overdraw.

I hope this gets you pointed in the right direction. Let me know what turns up.

No problem with the time, I write for a local college paper in an automotive advice column, always glad to help.

If the orn/tan wire beeps, shows a ground, I will tell you what you need to do to figure out which socket went south or how to hunt down the short elsewhere.

Best luck to ya

 

[tmoss]

take the bulbs out of the fog lamps. Pull the relay from the cicuit. Use an ohmeter and check the wiring to the lamps to ground for continuity on the Rx1 scale. If you get anything below 5,000 ohms, the wiring is grounded somewhere. If the wirting checks out OK, replace the relay.

 

[1992blkGT]

I read the instructions, and I can't say that I was tickled by them. One, I hate not having soldered connections. Soldering and heat shrink is well worth the time and money. Two, those splice in connectors are junk as well. Anyways, what I want you to do is pull off the FL1 from the 30/51 on the relay and then turn on the switch. Let me know if the fuse still pops!

If it doesn't pop , it is most likely in the tan orange wiring that goes to your fog lights. From the tan orange wire that runs to your foglamps ,, I am assuming because I dont have a wiring schematic to review, the wiring is grounded. Now , to test the wire, you need to remove your bulbs from your fog lights and reinstall the sockets. Get a good continuity tester. Ground one lead and hook the other up to the orn/tan wire, back at the female connector, and see if the meter beeps. I have seen on GTs where the socket itself failed causing an amperage overdraw.

I hope this gets you pointed in the right direction. Let me know what turns up.

No problem with the time, I write for a local college paper in an automotive advice column, always glad to help.

If the orn/tan wire beeps, shows a ground, I will tell you what you need to do to figure out which socket went south or how to hunt down the short elsewhere.

Best luck to ya

I will try out everything you suggested. It's pouring rain outside and I don't have a garage to work in so I'm going to wait to rip apart the dash and foglight bulbs for when the weather gets a little better. I really appreciate the help!

 

[D347643]

you also have to remember that a short to power from another circuit to the foglight circuit could also cause your fuse to blow if its before the load on circuit x and after on the fog light one.

later,

Drew