My power door locks, mirrors, hatch release and pulldown, overhead light, and rearview mirror lights dont work. I figured OK no problem, its probably a blown fuse. So I pulled the fuse and BINGO there it is. So I replace it with the proper fuse and as soon as it makes contact with the fusebox it pops. I repeated this with 2 more fuses just to be sure I was doing this right (?!) and I was. So I just spent the better part of the day tearing down the car looking for a grounded wire. A friend of mine hooked a multimeter up to it and the side of the fuseport that is supposed to be nothing, has a constant flow of 15.0-15.1 leaving me to think it is grounding out somewhere. Does anyone have a CLUE where this could be? I would hate to get rid of this car but I dont want something with electrical issues. Do I have to remove the whole dash and entire interior to find this? Please help a n00b out.

 

I figured I should add in that it does have an aftermarket CD player installed that works fine. A friend told me that it could be wired up wrong (I bought the car with the CD player in it) and that I should check it. I havent done this yet because I would think that since the CD player works fine that it is not the cause of the short.

 

How is your cd player wired for its power source. also, drop the fuse panel down and check to see if there are any stray strands of wire shorting your fuse out up there. Do you have anything wired to the cigarette lighter or plugged into it? Maybe a coin stuck in it.

 

i know this doesn't help at all but i have the same damn prob., but i have the stock stereo in

 

A problem like this definately isn't grounds (no pun intended ) to sell a car. There's another post like this a few down with the same problem. Just gotta do it systematically and figure out what part of the circuit is grounding out and tracing those wires to find the damaged section.

 

I dont know where it gets its power from. I bought it like that and the CD player works fine. I unhooked the wiring harness from the back of the CD player and it still shorts out. Yet the CD player still remains to work fine and dandy. Nothing is in the cigarette lighter or anything. I even pulled it out and unhooked it completely and the fuse still shorts. My friend dropped the fusebox for me and looked at it since I couldnt (Fat people dont maneuver into that spot very well at all), and he said everything looked fine. Quick question though: (Honestly not trying to be a smart***) given the angle of the cigarette lighter, how would a coin get stuck in it. Ive read a few posts where people have done this.

If you figure it out, PM me I'll do the same for you if I figure it out.

Just curious but what all exactly is connected to the ACC fuse? I think I am going to remove the cars interior this weekend if I have time. If I have to rip out the dash, seats, carpet, etc... to find it then so be it.

 

How do coins and bad things get into the cigarette lighter. Curious young children and not so nice friends playing a joke to name a few. What all is connected to the ACC fuse? Look at the picture below.

 

Oooooohhhh niiice. Looks like I have some work to do LOL!

 

Just a little!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think the coin in the cigarette lighter is mostly a firebird thing as it's down by the ashtray i beleive.

I have a question though, how does a 15 amp draw blow a 20 amp fuse?

 

SAME exact thing happened to me, same things burning out, and when you put a new fuse in it pops. I found in my car the cig lighter had rusted pretty bad and was shorting itself out, blowing the fuses instantly. i removed it and cleaned it up a bit, now i've had the same fuse in for a year without a problem. hope that helps.

 

******UPDATE IF ANYONE CARES******

I have found the short! After tearing down the car entirely and searching EVERY wire, I could not find a thing. (I know a LOT about this car now though) I finally decided to take a VERY dangerous and RISKY approach at this. I substituted the fuse with a wire. Yeah I know but it worked. I figured if I see smoke, I know where its at. The point I had reached, I pretty much didn't care what happened. I had unhooked everything and it was still popping fuses. So I sucked it up and accepted that I may damage something but I just couldn't find the short. So wire goes in and no smoke But I kept hearing a clicking noise coming from the dash area (OOHH! DING DING DING) and upon close inspection I noticed that it was coming from the cigarette lighter. I thought to myself that Trickster mentioned to check the lighter and I did WAYYYY before doing this so this was odd. I even unhooked the lighter and it still shorted (?!?!). Yet I saw the thing spark so I knew it HAD to be there. I took it out and noticed that the contact on the inside was touching the housing causing a constant feed.

So I put the car back together and decided to take it out for a drive tonight. On the way back home I noticed that the car was acting kinda funky. Almost like how a car acts when it FIRST starts to run out of gas. But the car didnt lose any power. 20 seconds later, the Service Engine Soon light comes on. I think I just need to give up.

:hail: ---> My car

 

There! There!, take a deep breath, kick a few trash cans, throw a couple of tools (not at car or family), go for a smoke (if smoker), pop a couple of excedrins for migraine headache, now go back to car and pull the code and see what it is. BTW, good job on finding the short.

 

Thanks.

I have to have a diagnostics tool to pull the code dont I? I dont have any tools like that and Autozone is too far to drive an uninsured car Now what Trickster? I dont have the car insured because I dont really ever drive it. I was going to begin work on restoring it (will take a few years cuz Im on a TIIIIIIIIIGHT budget) and I figured I would do it over time. Hopefully in a year or so I will have all of the BAD stuff worked out and be ready to start on the easy stuff. First thing is first though, I wanna get ALL rust off of it. It doesnt have a lot but it has some. Sorry for the big story but thats why I cant get it to Autozone

 

Nope, you just need the handy-dandy mechanic's code puller (also known as a paperclip). With the key in the "OFF" position, use the paper clip to jumper pin "A" & "B" of the ALDL. Turn the key to the "ON" position with the engine off. The service engine soon light will start to flash. The first code will be 12 (FLASH....FLASH FLASH), this is a normal code. It will flash this 3 times and go to the next code which will also flash 3 times. Example: FLASH FLASH.....FLASH FLASH FLASH = code 23. BTW, when you jumper the ALDL the fans will come on. This is normal so don't get nervous about it. Thanks to VADER for the picture below.

 

Hey guys, I've got a fairly recent short in my car. It didn't (and still might not) effect anything until recently. There is only one thing on my car that has stopped working and that's the courtesy lights for when you open the passenger door. I figured it was the pin inside the door that was just old, but could it be my mysterious popping relay? The popping noise is coming from the passenger side of the dash. I took off the cover where the relays for the antenna and stuff are, but couldn't find a short. How do I dig deeper into my dash for this thing? Every time I hit a bump it starts popping like crazy any help would be appreciated!

 

_

 

WOW! This post was dead about 4 years ago.

 

Just because this post is "dead" doesn't mean it has lost its relevance. Does it make you feel cool to put someone down who is trying to get help? If so, kudos to you.

 

Take it easy,
definately didn't think I was putting you down by pointing out this was an old post.

As for your courtesy light take a look at a wiring diagram and do some simple troubleshooting. I would start at the door switch (pass. side), since I assume lights still work when the drivers side is open, to see if power is getting to it and if it isn't then work your way back to find out why.

sorry for offending you