Ok so here's the deal I left my lights on when I got home from work. Battery died. Jumped it before work everything works except the dash lights and the inst lps fuse keeps blowing as soon as I turn the lights on. Didn't have this problem until the battery died. Have no other electrical issues. All lights inside and out work except the dash. Can't figure it out and don't want to keep spending money on fuses that are just gonna blow. It's a 87 2.8 v6

 

Anyone have any idea?

 

Aftermarket stereo?

 

Yank all the bulbs and put a fuse in. If it hold put the bulbs back one by one. If it doesn't you have a coincidental wiring issue.

 

The INSUSRUMENT fuse (5 AMP ) gets it's power from the Light switch ( GREEN wire ) and sends it to the dash, console and panel lighting on a GREY wire. This fuse should only "blow" when the Head or Park lights are turned on.

I'd pull the cluster first ( rather than blub-by-bulb ) install a good fuse and turn on the lights,... If the fuse didn't blow than the cluster is suspect ( printed circuit !?!),... if it did blow then the cluster is probably OK. ( GREY wire feeds the cluster backlights )

Next I'd inspect the light switch. It is easy to access when the cluster is removed so now is the time. Remove the switch from the dash and unplug the connector,... check the switch and connector for melting ( it happens more then you might think. ) The DIM circuit inside the switch COULD be bad and the switch might look OK,.... so - with NO FUSE in place - check for battery voltage on the GREEN wire when the Head or Park lights are turned on.

If the switch checks out,..... the problem could be on anything connected to the GREY wire. You already checked the cluster, so now check the radio, Audio Alarm, Defogger switch, Fog Light switch, Shift bezel light and HVAC light. ( pretty sure the 87 has a tiny light under the lip of the dash-pad too ) That's about everything connected to GREY.

P.S. Check any and every black wire you find for good ground !

Good luck !

 

Thank you I'll check all that when I have the time. Yes it's got an after market stereo but it never had any issues until the battery died and I jumped it.