Hello everyone, I recently purchased a 1989 Trans Am GTA and the gauge cluster fuse keeps blowing. The guy I bought it from figured it was just a short in the wiring somewhere and never cared to fix it, given he didn't drive the car much. I figured that was fine, but the problem has seemed to worsen, specifically when I raised the idle a little bit--because the car was having trouble idling in the cold. Now the fuse blows as soon as the car turns on when the in park, and the only way I can get it to not blow is to shift the car into drive immediately so that the RPMs lower.

The other thing is that there is a bundle of wires leading behind the dash that dangle over the brake pedal and get shifted usually by my feet when I'm applying or releasing the brake-- when I put the car in neutral, the fuse would hold, but as I slowly released the brake the fuse would blow. Could it simply be the wire moving and shorting on something, and the RPMs are simply a coincidence? I'm by no means a mechanic, and I know close to nothing about electronics, so forgive my lack of knowledge. I ran out of fuses to test with, but if anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate anything. I'll include some pictures of the wires.

The forum wouldn't let me post the pics, they might be too large, so I uploaded them as links.
https://prnt.sc/20x14dy (dangling wire bundle over brake)

There's also these two orange wires that come from under the dash, not sure what they mean or if they're related.
https://prnt.sc/20x1205 (two orange wires)

 

Obviously a short. You'll have to figure out where unless someone else can physically look at it in-person...

 

Spare me if this is a silly question, but how do you determine its a short and not something else? What factors or signs lead you to that conclusion? This is my first project car, I'm trying to learn more about diagnostics n stuff.

 

Only 2 things can cause a fuse to blow; drawing too much current, or a short. Unless some after market accessory has been connected to that circuit causing excessive current draw, it's most likely a short...

 

Do you think the RPMs and/or brakes have anything to do with it then? or just coincidental.

 

I think your brake switch goes through the Gages fuse for the lock-up torque converter (if your car has auto trans). Check the wiring diagram for the model year of your car to be sure. A short could blow the fuse...

 

I have gone through this as well, except the fuse blows when flooring the car to downshift, the EGR connector was broken and lose, so that may be my issue, I have unplugged the cruise control and it hasn't blown since, so I will plug it back and and try that after repairing the EGR connector.

 

Fix the obvious stuff first. Secure that bundle of wires up where nothing causes it to move.


Then, do something about this:




Additionally, you're going to need a Factory Service Manual for your specific car if you plan to work on it yourself. They turn up frequently on ebay, FB Marketplace, and craigslist. To attempt to troubleshoot problems in 3rd gens without one is an exercise in futility.


BTW, there are dozens of free photo-editing programs available online that allow you to size-reduce photos so that they'll directly post.

 

I went through a fair amount of troubleshooting on my 83 Trans Am, to discover the cowl induction flap was the problem, at WOT the fuse would blow, I know only a few things happen when you punch it, also, when connecting the ALDL terminals the fuse would blow, and when you make that connection the flap opens, unplugged the flap, no more fuse blowing. Now time for a new solenoid.