Blowing Fuses?

I have a 1989 Honda Civic that I use for my gas saver.  I have put a lot of work into this vehicle for it to have a nice cosmetic look to it.  Interior and exterior both is to my sastifactory level.  Now I'm just having a little eletrical problem.  One day I was driving home and all of a sudden my dashlights went out.  Pull on the side of the road to see if my tail lights were out also.  Tail lights and dashlights are out so the first thing I do is to check for blow fuse.  Fuse was blown so when I tried to replace it with a good fuse it blew that one before I can even turn the lights back on.  So I tried upgrading the amperage of the fuse from 10amps (factory spec.) to all the way to 30 amps and it blew that one also.  I have glowing foot pedals for the clutch, brake, and gas pedals that I hooked to my low beam fuse.  I even removed that and I still got the same result.  I even made a "blow-proof" fuse and then when I stuck that in smoke came from my harness and I saw a wire melting.   Can anyone help me?  What can be causing these fuses to blow.  I know it's a possiblity that wires can be crossed somewhere but where should I begin to search for the problem?  Help would be greatly appreciated.

Oh yeah I also did the "Stereo stays on until door opens relay project."  The wouldn't have affect would it?

Sounds like you've got a short somewhere between the fuses and the lights.

Paul

Upgrading a fuse that keeps blowing is not a bright idea. You are asking for a nice little dash fire by doing so. I agree that you most likley have a short somewhere. Check the wiring that you added first as it is more likely there than in the factory wiring. Maybe even remove all the add-ons just to narrow things down.

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Nik
Jeeputer Progress
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Check it out.

I'd start checking at the switch, since the fuse blew even with the lights off.  I'd check the switch for proper operation first.  Assuming your switch is working properly, you have a short to ground between the switch and the fuse block.  It maybe a pinched wire somewhere, or something simple like that.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

i would look at the melting wire, see where it leads.

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If the amp is on fire you did somthing wrong!

check the location of where you spliced into the low beam power.

Further note: This is obviously a short, no offence but I think you need to let professionals work on your car for further modifications of this kind. A person with an amount of knowledge able to copmlete this kind of work competently would be able to recognize the problem in a bat of an eyelid. I hope that you have done no further damage to your car. Like I said please take no offence, but what happened could esily of endangered yours and or passengers life. A car fire whilst flying down the highway of a night time is no fun for anyone, let alone the occupants of the car. I suggest taking your car to a professional to rectify the fault and doing some more research on automotive electronics before commencing any further work.

Yours sincerely Raymond Wilkinson-Reed.

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Check all advice given with a meter

sounds like you probably hooked up too much sh*t wired up, and shorted something...

i agree with KD, follow the melting wire and it is probably shorted somewhere. if it runs to a switch then the switch is probably bad. if its a wire you tapped into for acc then unplug the acc.

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spittin2rock wrote:

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I have a 1989 Honda Civic that I use for my gas saver.  I have put a lot of work into this vehicle for it to have a nice cosmetic look to it.  Interior and exterior both is to my sastifactory level.  Now I'm just having a little eletrical problem.  One day I was driving home and all of a sudden my dashlights went out.  Pull on the side of the road to see if my tail lights were out also.  Tail lights and dashlights are out so the first thing I do is to check for blow fuse.  Fuse was blown so when I tried to replace it with a good fuse it blew that one before I can even turn the lights back on.  So I tried upgrading the amperage of the fuse from 10amps (factory spec.) to all the way to 30 amps and it blew that one also.  .

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I currently have  EXACTLY the same problem with my 83malibu, the  part that I dont understand is when I arm or disarm my alarm (dei rattler) all the park lights including dash  and tail still flash. is there any way that someone could draw a simple schematic showing how this is possible? I got a ticket already for no tail lights and its dangerous. limited to driving in the day time. 

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Nick Scott

I wanna know what a "blow proof" fuse is ?

Sounds like what ever it is, it's "not a fuse" to me !

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Nick, it sounds like you have a bad switch, assuming your fuse is good.  A lot of alarms have a fuse used to power parking lights.  Also, if you had a bad switch, the lights would still flash since alarms are connected to the parking light wires after the switch.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

The same thing has been happening to the horn fuse on my car, I have tried upgrading from a 20 to a 30, but it still blows whenever I honk the horn. The horn will work a few times and then I can hear the fuse blow.

Back when the horn worked it would change pitch if you hled it down for a few seconds. It would also go off at random times when the car was off and locked sitting in my driveway and the school parking lot, I would have to hit the horn button on the steering wheel a few times before it would shut off. I dont have a alarm or anything.

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geepherder wrote:

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Nick, it sounds like you have a bad switch, assuming your fuse is good.  A lot of alarms have a fuse used to power parking lights.  Also, if you had a bad switch, the lights would still flash since alarms are connected to the parking light wires after the switch.

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the fuse to power the parking lights to the alarm never blows. only the one in the fuse box. i'll try  replacing the switch and let you know my outcome

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Nick Scott

Nick,

yes, that's exactly what I mean.  If there's a short to ground anywhere between the fuse and the switch, the factory fuse will blow, without even turning the lights on. 

The alarm will still flash the parking lights as long as the short is not after the switch.  If the short were after the switch, the alarm fuse would blow as well.

Rather than just replacing the switch, I'd check out the wiring at the switch itself.  It's possible that there's a pinched wire  or exposed strands touching ground.  It could be a screw touching the wire as well. 

From what you've written, I don't think your switch is the problem, rather the wires leading to it.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

Pimpin,

your short is somewhere after the horn switch.  You've either got a pinched wire, or exposed wire touching metal.

I'd first disconnect the horns and ohm them out to ensure this is not the problem.  I don't think you have a horn relay, but look in your manual.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

thank you electrical god geepherder,

I replaced the switch and every thing seems to be working fine, there was some ripped sleeving on one of the wires leading to the back of the switch but only touching plastic no metal I just taped that up. thanks again. if I have any problems I wont hesitate to post.

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Nick Scott

Guess I was a little harsh in my previous post, sorry about that. It's just that I've attended to many car fires caused through bad wiring. I'm Volunteer fire fighter and well....you see some bad stuff....One car crashed over turned and went up in flames....Removing the occupant was easy, there was no sterring wheel..just a pair of lockjaw pliers gripped onto the wheel, it impaled him. There was also a car that the driver wanted to run his car on LPG, he had the gass bottle on the back seat with a hose going into the regulator feeding the carby, his throttle was his hand on the tap!. But the most common car fires I see are unfused connections.

Malibu, sorry for jumping down your throat in my last post. I just get kind of worked up when I see stuff like that happening, after reading through the rest of your posts I realised that your not as clueless as I first thought, My sincere apologies to you.

Yours Sincerly, Raymond Wilkinson-Reed

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Check all advice given with a meter

Overworked2 I think your apology should go to spittin2rock, not me. I never said anything about me making my own "blow proof" fuse. Thats cool that you apologized tho.

by the way I spoke too soon, fuse blew again sucks 2 b me 

now I am trying to figure out what is triggering it because they stayed on for at least 30min. would exposed strands touching ground before the fusebox blow the fuse?

if I am wrong correct me on my idea of how the loop works:

12v from battery go into fuse box, through corrosponding fuse, then out to switch, using switch one controls what lights come on, then from switch to lights, and from lights to ground.

are the headlights on a different fuse b/c the never go out?

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Nick Scott

Look folks, NEVER replace factory fuses with larger ones or try and defeat a fuse (fer crissakes).  This is pure stupidity and when your car fries around you I hope you survive.  And don't expect your insurance to cover you if a fuse swap to a larger rating has occurred and they discover it.

If you have a fuse that is blowing one of two issues happening: Either

1) You have added loads to the car's electrical system beyond what the wiring is intended to support.  In this case, you must REPLACE ALL THE WIRING with larger gage wire, or run a dedicated, properly fused circuit for your new loads.  Simply increasing the amperage value of the existing fuse is extremely dangerous as you will possibly exceed the capacity of the vehicle's wiring.

2) You have an electrical fault like a short to ground and the fuse is doing exactly what it is intended to do, which is to protect you and your car from catching fire.  This condition needs to be repaired by a competent electrician before the fuse is replaced.

ANY time a fuse blows, you have a problem and replacing it should be your last step AFTER you figure out what is wrong and correct it.

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