I drove all the way to Ocean City, MD. this weekend (150 miles). No problems.
Drove all over down there. No problems.
Started to drive home and.... the lights go out inside the Jeep!!
Pulled over, checked the fuses, and found that the ACC/LPS fuse was blown.
Replaced it... Two minutes down the road... happens again!!
I put a 7.5amp fuse in instead of the 5. 20 minutes later, no lights again.
Put in a 10, drove for an hour, hit a bump, and AGAIN!!!! No lights.
What could keep blowing this fuse? Loose wire? Bare wire?
IF so, where should I look?
Someone help please.
Thanks
Bryan/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif
Hello there, This might not be the answer but you might want to give it a try.. When my headlights are on in my 84 cj7 and the dash and gauge lights are on...if I turn the headlight knob for the interior lights to come on, all my dash lights go out. Only if,,,and I really play with the knob will they both stay on. I am guessing that my headlight knob needs replacing. I havent blown any fuses yet but it might happen soon. You might just want to check your headlight switch to see that it is ok. Hope I helped a little.
I don't have the foot switch, it's on the side of the steering column.
It seems to go out with bumps on the road; like a pothole.
The fuse actually blows every time. I've never had this problem before, so I guess this means the dash has to come apart again. Damn/wwwthreads_images/icons/mad.gif
I guess no one could really know since there is so much wiring under there. Just wanted to see if anyone ever had that happen on a rough road.
Thanks
Bryan/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif
Fuses blow for one of two reasons, either a dead short or an overload condition. It doesn't sound like you have an overload condition because you said it blew after you hit a bump. This makes me think its a short to ground. I've had this happen in my boat, every so often when I hit a wave the fuse in the ignition circuit woould blow an the damn think would stop dead in the water. I would change fuses floating down the river and they would keep blowing. i'd tow the thing home and start to trace the circuit and the short would be gone, put in a fuse and the thing would start right up. Intermittant shorts are a bitch to find. The only thing I can suggest is to trace the wirng to see if you can find it. The best thing that can happen to you right now is that the short stays dead, atleast then you can trace it. Do you loose your dash lights? if you do you may want to pull your instrument cluster and check the circuit board they are cheaply made. I had a problem with a short in mine and evertime i went off road, hit some bumps the oil pressure gauge would drop to zero. All i did was cut out the bad part of the trace on the board and solder across it with a jumper. Now it works great. That's my two cents.
It sounds like a bare wire is intermittently hitting a good ground and shorting things out. Check any "quick splices" that may be under the dash--they're the kind that you put over the whole wire you're getting the current from and put the wire you're sending the current to in and squish the piece of metal into the wires and snap the cover over. Most I've seen are blue plastic and about 1/2" by 1/2" square when they're done. If you drove down during the day, and back at night, and you didn't have any problems, check all the wires coming off the dash lights. If you or the previous owner tied anything into the dash lights (added a lighted water temp gauge for example) and tied the light connection into the existing dash lights, especially with one of those quick splices, that would be the first place I would look. Also check where the stereo takes its auxiliary power; the stuff that lights it up when you turn on the lights not necessarily the main power.
Electrical problems are really irritating as they usually don't act up when you're sitting in the garage. Try moving the wires around with something insulated--a stick works good--to try to pop the fuse in the garage. It may help get you closer to where the short is.
Try getting a friend to jump up and down on the bumper while you look under the hood. Make sure the hood is secured up so it doesn't fall on your head. Also you may want to do this in the dark (with a flashlight in hand) so you can see any sparking that may occur.
it was already said that it could be a short in the wiring. I had this same problem and took the whole dash apart, re wired everything, etc. It turned out to be a wire under the hood that melted on the manifold. Had nothing to do with the lights or anything. SOmething to do with emissions or something. Keep that in mind...
Unless you're looking for a fire, DON'T put in a fuse that is larger than the one you removed or is supposed to be for that circuit. Follow the advice in the other posts, good advice, just don't put back a larger fuse. Hope this helps.
Bird
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