tail light issue on 2002 honda odyssey

Whats up peeps,

Wondering if anyone ever ran into this problem? I worked on an odyssey recently and the tail light circuit fried. :o):

I don't know what I might have done wrong or if I did do anything wrong.  I installed an overhead with a built-in dvd player.  The screen and the player needed 12-volt ignition and ground. I got the igniton from the deck harness. Then I hooked up the domelight which was 12-volt constant, 12-volt trigger, and ground.  I got constant at the deck harness but the trigger wire I got from the domelight switch. The domelight wire was a negative pulse so used a relay to reverse the polarity. All grounds were grounded to metal and all power leads fused.

Dude came back twice. First time the 15 amp courtesy light fuse was blown and I replaced it.  The second time it was blown again but this time it blew has soon as I replaced it. He took it to his mechanic who found a crunched wire at the passenger visor. He said it crunched when the visor was put back. And that explained it all.

But, a) Why did everything I install still work, even after the circuit fried? b) Why didn't the circuit fry immediately after I crunched the wire instead of two weeks later? c) Why didn't any fuses blow? d) Is the tail light circuit even related to the couresty/domelight circuit? I can see the domelight circuit being together with the visor lights, but not the tail lights.

I just want to avoid this problem in the future.

Whoops....the fuse that blew was NOT the courtesy light fuse it was the tail light fuse...15 amp on...on the passenger side fuse box. My mistake.

Thanks for the support people,

The owners mechanic says I pinched a wire when I screwed the passenger visor back onto the car. But no blown fuse? Overhead and domelight still works weeks later? And the courtesy lights circuit is separate from the tail light circuit...

Well its all over and done with now. Life goes on.

The light in the visor only illuminates at night.  It is connected to the taillight fuse.  The reason it took a couple weeks was because the wire was pinched, but the insulation was not penetrated.  The vehicle driving around eventually penetrated the insulation of the wire.

Earlier I stated nothing you installed was associated with the illumination circuit.  I was right in that satement.  I did not know you removed the visors or the headliner.

How long does it take you to install an overhead?  Do you always remove the visors?

i am an idiot wrote:

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The light in the visor only illuminates at night.  It is connected to the taillight fuse.  The reason it took a couple weeks was because the wire was pinched, but the insulation was not penetrated.  The vehicle driving around eventually penetrated the insulation of the wire.

Earlier I stated nothing you installed was associated with the illumination circuit.  I was right in that satement.  I did not know you removed the visors or the headliner.

How long does it take you to install an overhead?  Do you always remove the visors?

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That particular overhead install took me 2-3 hours not including the time it took to make the domelight connections, but I've had overheads that have taking me up to 6 hours. It really all depends on the car or truck. I just remove the necessary panels to get the job done and that could mean dropping down half the headliner or just a few panels. I've heard of guys who remove the entire headliner to weld support brackets but I have never done that myself. The visor is usually a panel I have to remove to run a/v leads. And I'm usually not is a rush. I always check for clearence. But like they say doodie happens.  I'm not denying I crunched a wire but I am still skeptical that the interior courtesy lights are on the same circuit as the exterior taillights. I've had Honda customers in the past with blown taillights and all the interior lights were still working. I do see how it can take a few weeks for a crunched/pierced wire to eventually short to ground or voltage, but still feel I was wrongly accused.