Alright, my taillights don't work and the bulbs are good and they get power. The fuse on the other hand just keeps blowing.

I've tried different bulbs, ive tried replacing the bulbs, I've tried cleaning the connection. Nothing seems to work. I've gone through probably 8 or 9 fuses and now I'm running low. Any idea as to why it keeps blowing because I'm lost

 

I'll state the obvious that there is more than the rated amount of current flowing through the fuse. Could be a short somewhere in the wiring. Does your car have any parasitic power loss issues? Any rust issues? Any known previous visitations from Fievel?

 

Does the fuse blow regardless of whether the TLs are on or not?

 

No rust issues on the car and no parasitic loss, now that I think about it I'm pretty sure I said it's getting power which doesn't make sense because it has to go through the fuse first and it wouldn't get power at the light. The shorts a good thought I'm gonna have to check that.

 

I have to turn the lights on for it to blow.

 

As a quick stab in the dark, I'll suggest this;

In the rear left (driver's side) lockable storage compartment, the one that originally had the goofy cardboard insert that invariably falls apart over time, do you have any tools or anything like that stored in there? The taillight wiring harness runs through there and I've seen more than once those wires mashed by stored stuff causing short circuits.

If not, I think I recall there being a connector (somewhere*) in the harness that you can unplug to "split" the system, unplugging that and trying a new (properly rated) fuse will tell you if the short is before or after that connector.

* I truly don't recall where the connector might be, or even if it's on all thirdgens.

 

good thought with the compartment and there is stuff in it I'm gonna have to check that out

 

I feel as though I should mention this aswell, the brake lights work as they should as do all other lights it is just the taillights when the switch is pulled to turn them on

 

Firebird or Camaro?

In Camaros, the Power Wire from the Tail-Light fuse only goes one place...
Directly into the Exterior Lights Switch.

Two Circuits are powered from this section of the Exterior Lights Switch...
One is the Parking Lights Circuit.
The Other goes into the Potentiometer (The Dimmer Dial) that will supply Power to the Gauge Illumination Fuse/ Circuit.


Firebirds can have more complicated Tail Light Circuits with matched fixed resistance Circuit Sections...
This was a early simple way to monitor for an inoperable Bulb, and alert the Driver.

 

I checked the compartment, the wires are a safe distance away from it but i still checked and the seem fine but to be certain i found the plug. It on the drivers side right behind the door. I unplugged it and tried a new fuse and it still blew.

 

That's the "Fisher Body" connector. As vorteciroc can probably tell you more about than I can, it was installed in the body before the body was shipped to the assembly plant; at which point it was plugged into the rest of the car.

So, fairly straightforward: the problem is under the dash somewhere, at least doesn't require pulling seats, ripping up carpet, etc. to examine the wiring all the way from there back to the rear of the car.

Is this a Camaro or a Firebird? That's important.

 

That Connector (C301) changes between Camaros and Firebirds, as well as changes from Older Models to Newer Models.

That Connector was updated 5 times I believe...
So the Model and Model Year are very Important here.

In the beginning C301 was an 8-Way Mixed Connector.
One half was Female Pack-Con.
The other was Male Metri-Pack 280.

At the End it was an 8-Way Metri-Pack 150 Connector on both sides.

There is also another Connector INLINE to these Circuits in Early Cars:
-C208 at the A-Pillar Kick-Paanel Area (Updated/ Changed multiple times).
-C208 at the B-Pillar near the Speaker and Seat-Belt Area.
-C206 in the same place.
-Then NO Connector used here at all for the Late Cars.

 

it's a camaro and I've already ripped apart the interior and took seats out to trace the wires. I checked another thread and saw a guy saying check behind the radio because he had the same issue. I put a new radio in and since then the issue seems to have been occurring. I checked behind there and the orange and black wire is hooked to the red wire from the radio.

Call me an idiot if im wrong but that wire I'm pretty sure now might control the dash lights and dimmer switch and I have hooked up wrong causing the short. The problem now is I don't know how to power the radio without detaching the orange/black wire. The orange and black wire also just ends and doesn't seem to carry on anywhere so I don't know where to connect it either.

 

Alright **** me I got it. The orange and black wire is grounded with some electrical tape on rusted metal. The fuse doesn't blow and now the radio doesn't work. I'm gonna get some spare wire, jam it into the fuse box and run it to the radio and find a better ground