I have a problem where the fuse for the interior light keeps blowing. The time clock, hatch release solinoid and the horn are also on this circuit. The fuse used to last a couple of weeks and the blow but now it's going more regularly. When I put in a new fuse and leave the drivers door open the fuse pops after a few minutes. I suspect its the door switch as it seems to get stuck sometimes, but not sure. Has anyone else had a simular problem.

If I need a door switch where would I get them new besides classic industries as they a crazy amount of money for international shipping.

Thanks

 

Go to a junkyard and get one. You could also check the old one and see if the wires are touching the car frame. Also check the cigarette lighter, there have been a few board members lately that have found some strange things in the lighter socket.

 

Can go to a junk yard as there are only a handfull of these cars here in Ireland so I will have to order ones from the states.

 

Sorry Gholian,

I forgot where you are, however these switches are common to a lot of cars other that GM.

 

How could the door jam switch cause the fuse to blow. That is a ground switch I thought.

 

It is a ground switch. On the drivers side it is a two prong switch with an orange wire and a white wire. When the door is opened, the spring loaded button on the switch extends and closes the circuit for the lights to come on. Pushing the button in opens the circuit and turns the lights off. A stray strand of wire or a bare wire touching the frame will cause a short in the circuit when the door is opened and blow the fuse. The switch on the passenger side is a single prong switch.

 

I don't know how the door jamb switch could cause the fuse to blow. I was thinking the same thing but if I put in a new fuse and close the door the fuse will pop after a minute or so. It takes time for the current to build up. I don't think it's the hatch solinoid or the horn. I will start with the door switch and see if that sorts it.

 

I replaced the door jam switch a few weeks ago and i had two white wires like in this diagram. There isn't 12v going to either of them. I had the joy of tracing down a short yesterday in the same circuit. Turned out to be an orange power door lock wire in the passenger door. I didn't secure it correctly last time i put the doors on and ran the wire in them. It was getting pinched between the door glass and the door when the window was rolled down.

 

I'd suspect the horns and the cigar lighter long before the door pin switches. Of the 10 some odd thirdgens I've owned only 3 have had working horns. On my 6cyl 91 Firebird the horn issues caused the battery to die overnight, blown fuses, etc.

Isolate the issue, try pulling the horn relay and see if the problem goes away, disconnect the power wire from the cigar lighter and insulate it and see if it goes away. If it still occurs with both those items disconnected then its likely the problem is elsewhere in the circuit. Just start at one end of the circuit and work to the other.

 

Drew you're right. I need to approach this logically. I will disconnect the horn, cigar lighter, hatch release one at a time and see if I can find the fault. I can't under stand why the fuse will blow a minute or so after I close or open the door and some times it could last for a week. Oh, one more thing Where is the horn relay located.

Thanks

 

Maybe your probablem is similar to mine. Possibly a frayed wire in the door or entering the door. I beleive the horn relay is located in the convienence center under the dash with the flashers.

 

Gholian,

Just curious here, in your first post you said the fuse would pop when you left the drivers door open a few minutes and now you say it pops a minute or so after you close the door. Which one is it?

 

It's both actually!. I had a look at it again last night. I put a new Fuse in and closed the door. I thought it might hold for a while not leaving the door open for long but a minute or two later I looked in the car and the digital clock was off. This is on the same fuse as the interior lights.

 

Maybe this thread can help me. Not that I mean to hijack it, but I'm in the same boat. I've blown the INST LPS fue twice in the last two weeks now and am very quickly running out of 5 amp fuses. Now, I have interior lighting (dome lamp and map lights) horns, and the hatch pulldown does work when I connect it up (mostly removed due to bad housing that I don't feel like fixing at the moment), but twice now when I turn the lights on to check for bad bulbs and wiring (keeping ready for inspection and one bulb seems to go per week) the buzzer don't ring and the instrument lamps don't come on. I have had this apart before and reconnected it with no problems until now. I have replaced the standard white 161's with red 194's in the inst cluster, but that was well over a month ago and this just started last week or so. The wiring for the radio has been cut down inside the wiring harness with plenty of insulation, the wiring for the shift indicator is good (not hacked at all), and this doesn't seem to be tied to the doors or anything else. Could this be the dimmer transistor going bad?