Print Page | Close Window

parking flash fuse blows

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: General Mobile Electronics Questions and Answers
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=123305
Printed Date: March 29, 2024 at 12:16 AM


Topic: parking flash fuse blows

Posted By: hawks
Subject: parking flash fuse blows
Date Posted: August 29, 2010 at 8:17 PM

My alarm (Clifford 50.7x) has been working great for several months with no problems.  The other day I noticed that the lights were not flashing when I locked or unlocked the truck (99 Chevy Crew Cab) or when it was running after I started it with the remote start.  I checked the fuse in the alarm and it was blown so I pulled it out and put a new one in and it blew as soon as I hit the lock button on the key fob.  I then turned the headlight switch on and the fuse for the parking/dash lights in the dash fuse panel blew.  I can't figure out what went wrong since everything has been working perfectly fine and I haven't been driving the vehicle becasue I am doing an audio system install along with nav, HD radio as well as dynamating the doors and rear panel.  I have considered the fact that I may have accidentally knocked something loose or shorted a wire but I don't really see how since I haven't really been working under that side of the dash or with the lighting.  The only thing I have done is run speaker and power wires around the floor and into the doors and there isn't any parking or dash light wiring in any of those areas as far as I can tell.  No wires run to the back of the cab and then outside as far as can see.  I have run wires from the glove box area up into the stereo area but I don't see any parking or dashlighting issues there either.  I even dissconnected the white parking light output from the alarm to the parking light wire and the fuse in the alarm still blows and if I turn the headlight switch the fuse in the dash panel still blows.  So, I am stumped any help or advice on where and how to start looking for a problem would be greatly appreciated.




Replies:

Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: August 29, 2010 at 8:59 PM
If you installed the audio system recently, you could have grounded the radio to the vehicle's illumination wire. 




Posted By: hawks
Date Posted: August 29, 2010 at 10:02 PM

Thank you for the suggestion but I think that is unlikely as I used a schoshe wiring harness that plugs directly into the factory harness.  Plus the deck is not currently installed.  I will take a close look at it though.





Posted By: KPierson
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 5:42 AM
With the white wire disconnected it still blows the alarms fuse? That seems nearly impossible.

Is it possible you have shorted out the vehicles parking light wire somewhere in the car or ran a screw through the OEM parking light wire? Chances are you've got an OEM wire running down the drivers side to the back of the vehicle.

It could also be a shorted bulb - I had that happen to me once.

-------------
Kevin Pierson




Posted By: hawks
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 9:58 AM

Yes it still blows the fuse in the alarm even with the white wire disconnected when I hit lock on the key fob but the dash panel fuse dosen't blow until I turn the light switch on which is one of the reasons I am a little stumped.  I just thought of something though what about the locking system?  Maybe I should disconnect the locking wire and then try the remote start and see if the alarm fuse blows.  I only tried locking it.  I have only run screws in to mount speakers in the doors and rear pillars but there are no dash or parking light wiring going thru those areas I would think.  I also screwed down the amps to the floor but they are in the center of the floor over the drive shaft so I wouldn't think I would hit any of that wiring there either.  I haven't actually checked all the bulbs yet that I will do today.  The only thing I have done on the drivers side of the dash is run wires for speakers and power.





Posted By: hawks
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 11:54 AM
I take that back the fuse in the alarm unit dose not still blow with the white wire disconnected.  I must have left the blown one in or had put in a new dash panel fuse when I was trying to troubleshoot.  The blinkers all still work fine none are burnt out.  Maybe a bad switch?  Had would I test that?  Not very experienced with the multimeter but I have one.




Posted By: KPierson
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 12:20 PM

If the switch is in the "OFF" position and the fuse blows when you apply the voltage from the alarm chances are it is not the switch.  You need to check your parking lights, NOT your blinkers, as they are on seperate circuits. 

Have you removed any trim pieces that were screwed down?  That is one area where I have personally seen people nick wires.

The "big picture" troubleshooting for an issue like this is to verify your problem (most likely your parking light circuit is shorted to ground) and then isolate the system as much as possible and test each individual portion for a short to ground.  If you had a detailed wiring diagram for the truck possibly you could find where the front and back lights split off from each other - that would be a great place to start checking.  IE if you can determine that the problem is with the back lights at least you'll know which direction to go.  At a bare minimum possibly you could look up the alarm info for your truck and find where the parking light connection is and at that connection cut the wire and see which side is grounded.



-------------
Kevin Pierson




Posted By: wrenches
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 2:22 PM
Do you have a trailer hitch with the wire harness out the back?  Seen more than one of those done poorly and blowing fuses.

-------------
Think. It's not illegal yet.




Posted By: gabedemelo
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 2:26 PM
do the doors not have lights on them? maybe damaged illumination wire while going into door? try using relay for lights maybe module is defective?

-------------
GreenGables




Posted By: hawks
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 2:54 PM

That does make sense that if the switch is off and the alarm tries to flash the lights then the fuse in the alarm blows that the switch is not bad.  The only trim pieces that have screws that I have removed are the door sill strips.

I do have a trailer hitch but like I said the truck has been sitting so I don't think that would be it but it is worth a look...thanks.

The doors do have lights in them and all are working fine as well as interior lighting.  On a diffrent circuit.

Since I have the dash apart I disconnected the wires from the heat/AC panel to eliminate it as the problem and still blows fuses.  I am going to do the same with the gauge pod and see what happens.  If that isn't it then I am going to hunt down a schematic and start tracing wires I guess.

Any other suggestions would be great.





Posted By: joch1314
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 7:56 PM

Remove the screws that are holding your amps down.  i know you said that you have them mounted to the floor and you don't think there's wires there but it's not unlikely.  Wires can/have been known to run down the center of the vehicle, and if you undo what you did before the problems started we have a good chance at finding the culprit.  Had that happen to one of the guys i worked with.....the customer kept blowing fuses when his right signal turned on and ONLY when it turned on.  Turns out it was a screw that mounted the amp to the floor that also went through a spool of wires running down the middle of the truck and only hit that wire, and of course when it got power it grounded and blew the fuse.  It's worth a shot....   



-------------
...half of the truth can be worse than a lie. <----Roger Russell said that..




Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 8:32 PM
Take one of the blown fuses and grind the plastic away from both top corners.  Solder a wire to each leg of the fuse.  Connect the other ends of the wires to a 12 volt lamp.  Plug the fuse back into the socket and turn the lights on.  The lamp should illuminate brightly.  Begin moving wires and removing bulbs, when the short is eliminated the other lamps should illuminate a bit and the brightness of the lamp across the fuse will dim a bit.  Cheaper than tons of fuses to test.




Posted By: hawks
Date Posted: August 30, 2010 at 11:44 PM

Hey i am an idiot that is a pretty cool trick..I will have to try that next time I have this problem because I did go thru about 15 fuses before I figured out the problem.  The problem was I am an idiot.  When I was cutting holes in the door panels for speakers with my dremel I accidentally cut thru the rear passenger door window and lock wiring harness.  They some how came loose from the inner door panel and were laying up against the outer door panel.  Anyway I had soldered the wires all back together and apparently put the wires back in the plug reverse of what they should be.  So I took it apart and put the wires in the right place and presto.  Everything is once again working perfectly.  I did'nt even think about this being the problem I guess because I thought I had fixed it.  I also didn't think about it being part of the dash lighting circuit until I pulled the drivers door controls to check for any possible shorts I may have caused and as soon as I opened it up and I saw the little bulbs in the back of the controls a light bulb went off in my head to check that plug.  I am glad it was an easy fix but I feel like a dumba*s.

Thanks all for your input.






Print Page | Close Window