I saw posts like this before, but I wanted to re-ask to see if anyone had any ideas. Ok, today I got in my car and I turned on my lights and everything seemed fine. I pulled up to a stop light, and noticed my dash lights werent on. There was a truck behind me, so I could see that all my tail lights were working...and I knew my front lights were working. So I get home, and while taking a break from the EGR fix, I replaced the 5A fuse that blew. It seemed to work. All my dash lights worked fine. So later I hope in, hit the lights, and dash is still working. About 2 minutes down the road, I hear the fuse pop and they go out. What could cause them to work for a few minutes then go out? Also my hatch-pop doesnt work, so Im assuming they are on the same circuit. Could the pop motor be causing a short somehow??? Let me know on where a good place to start looking is. Tomorrow Im gonna pull the wire off the pop motor, and try that. If it isnt that, then I guess Ill be lost. Driving at night is a pain with a dark dash. Let me know what you think!! Thanks in advance.
Justin

P.S. I have the regular gauges in an 87 Trans AM.

 

The console lamps are also on the IP lighting circuit. The wiring in there can get pretty congested. There is also the ash try lamp (just above the HVAC controls), all the IP lamps, the lamp warning chime, and radio display on the IP lighting circuit. Any of those or their wiring could be eating fuses.

 

visit my "Dashlight Troubleshooting" page:

http://www.p71interceptor.com/thirdgen/remotedimmer

 

Do you have an aftermarket radio if so the dimmer wire may be loose up behind the radio and grounding out. The same thing happened to me and thats what I found

 

Hey thanks for the reply. I unhooked the power pop on the hatch, and Im leaving the dimmer switch on the halfway point. I havent had a problem since. So, when I have time, Im gonna crank the dimmer up all the way and see what happens. If they blow, I can assume the dimmer has issues. If they dont, then Im gonna hook up the power pop... If they blow then, then I know something is up with the pop wiring or the pop motor or switch. Thanks for the ideas though... That site with the dash light trouble shooting helped alot in understanding the way the remote dimmer works. Thanks again.
Justin