Dash Light Fuse Keeps Blowing

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Lights, Neon, LEDs, HIDs
Forum Discription: Under Car Lighting, Strobe Lights, Fog Lights, Headlights, HIDs, DRL, Tail Lights, Brake Lights, Dashboard Lights, WigWag, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=69549
Printed Date: April 27, 2024 at 10:50 PM

Topic: Dash Light Fuse Keeps Blowing

Posted By: mcraghead
Subject: Dash Light Fuse Keeps Blowing
Date Posted: December 29, 2005 at 11:12 PM

Let me start by saying that I'm an electrical newbie and do not know much, if anything, about electrical systems.

This is not an install or an add-on type problem but I thought with the wealth of knowledge on this forum that someone might be able to help me with my problem.

I have a 2005 Ford F-150 and my dash lights went out on me the other night. I was driving and I just happened to notice that they went out. I don't think anything out of the ordinary was going on and I know that nothing of an electrical nature had been modified in the truck. My guess was that the fuse was blown so I finally got around to changing it today but because it was light outside it was hard to tell if the dash was lit. I discovered tonight that the fuse had blown again so I changed it again and it must have blown immediately because the dash never lit up.

What would cause this to happen? Could it be a bad ground connection? I know whenever I get out of my truck I get a shock. Maybe the two are unrelated. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Michael

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Michael K. Craghead

Replies:

Posted By: auex
Date Posted: December 29, 2005 at 11:16 PM

It could be a short or blown bulb anywhere in the parking light circuit, so the corner lights/tail lights as well as the dash lights.

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Certified Security Specialist
Always check info with a digital multimeter.
I promise to be good.
Tell Darwin I sent you.

I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.

Posted By: mcraghead
Date Posted: December 29, 2005 at 11:21 PM

That should have said 2003 Ford F-150. Sorry.

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Michael K. Craghead

Posted By: mcraghead
Date Posted: December 29, 2005 at 11:31 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have a follow-up question: If a light in the circuit was out wouldn't that not complete the circuit and thus not draw any electrical power, let alone enough power to blow the fuse? Thanks.

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Michael K. Craghead

Posted By: mcraghead
Date Posted: December 30, 2005 at 12:39 PM

I checked the other lights and they are all fine. According to the manual the instrument cluster is the only thing supported by that fuse (5A).

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Michael K. Craghead

Posted By: the_dj92002
Date Posted: January 22, 2006 at 11:46 AM

I have a ford escort and i found that my stero was grounded to the illumination cable when that happens the dash light fuse blows so i suggest if you have just fitted a new headunit then look at the wireing. I also had this problem with a friends ford KA after i regrounded the headunit there has not been a problem since.

I hope this helps posted_image

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Thanks the_DJ
Ford escort 1.6 16V

Posted By: ingolf
Date Posted: January 22, 2006 at 1:19 PM

like dj said, do you have anything aftermarket on there?

be it a stereo, or speakers?

Posted By: mcraghead
Date Posted: January 23, 2006 at 7:43 AM

I do have a aftermarket headunit. I pull it, change the fuse and see if it still blows without the stereo in the vehicle. Thanks.

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Michael K. Craghead

Posted By: ingolf
Date Posted: January 23, 2006 at 9:22 PM

id check all the connections on the head unit. including grounds

Posted By: firstrax
Date Posted: January 24, 2006 at 12:15 AM

Got an alarm? I have seen people including myself connect to the wrong wire for parking light flash and blow out the dash lights.

Posted By: mcraghead
Date Posted: January 24, 2006 at 12:50 PM

I have yet to install a vehicle security system on the truck so that would not be a factor. Thanks.

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Michael K. Craghead

Posted By: ingolf
Date Posted: January 24, 2006 at 6:51 PM

do the head unit first, then respond back

Posted By: the_dj92002
Date Posted: January 31, 2006 at 5:49 PM

How is the fuse blowing going has it stopped now??

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Thanks the_DJ
Ford escort 1.6 16V

Posted By: electrostatic
Date Posted: January 31, 2006 at 8:42 PM

mcraghead, good intuition. in a series circuit with a blown light bulb there would be no current draw. also a power surge sufficient to blow the fuse could blow the light bulb as well.
so you get zapped when you get out of your car? its called electrostatic-discharge (esd for short). synthetic fabrics are notorious esd generators, such as polyester. a few solutions to this would be, the obvious one don't wear synthetic fabrics, wear cotton, etc. find for yourself a static dissipative seatcover. before you get out of your seat touch the metal of your door so that you are at the same electrical potential and wont experience an esd event (get zapped). or you could touch your key to the metal of the door after you get out of your seat and prior to touching the metal of your door with bare hand to discharge your static charge. the arc will occur from key to metal and not from your skin to metal of door and you wont feel the ouch. prepare yourself i'm about to start preaching about esd. hehe. here's just a side point about esd, you feel the zapp when the voltage is apx. 4,000 volts + and you see the arc when its around 8,000 volts. with newer electronic components requiring less power and spaced closer together on circuit boards less than 100 volts is all it takes to destroy some components. so keep that in mind the next time you bare hand a circuit board without proper esd equipment.

Posted By: mcraghead
Date Posted: February 16, 2006 at 8:05 PM

I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to this. Between being sick and working all the time I just got around to pulling the headunit today.

To be honest I didn't really think that the headunit, or the headunit wiring, would be the issue. The unit had basically been working just fine for the better part of a year with all functionality before this fuse blowing thing started. I did say "basically" working fine. posted_image

The headunit had a problem playing certain CDs. I always attributed it to smugges on the disc or something until I noticed that I had a few brand new, just out the wrapper, CDs that it wouldn't play either. I finally got tired of the whole thing and decided to pull the unit today since it was nice. I did notice that the plastic on the crimps that I used had melted on the dimmer wire.

I actually planned on having the headunit serviced since I was having the problem with the tracking/playing (not because of the fuse thing). I called Sony to inquire about the warranty and to find out where to send it. They suggested that I run a cleaner disc through the system followed by a system reset. I'm thinking, OK, maybe that will clean the lens but would it be so dirty that it would now start playing my CDs? Plus, what was the system reset for? It wasn't like it wasn't playing at all. I had no reason to even have considered doing a system reset. I thought in the end I'd just have to pull the unit again and I'd be out another fuse.

Plugged it in, turned it on...Shazam!!!! It worked! The fuse didn't blow and the unit was now playing CDs that it had refused to play before. I'm so glad everything it working. Most people would leave it at that. My curiousity is peaked. What was going on in the headunit that would cause it to draw enough extra power to blow the fuse but at the same time function almost normally? Was it the cleaning or the reset that fixed the tracking/playing issue? I wish I knew. It's one thing to get it working again, but it's another to understand what the problem was. I'd like to understand the problem. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks to everyone that helped me out on this. I really appreciate all of the input. I realize that I may never know what was really wrong but if someone can enlighten me please do. Thanks again.

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Michael K. Craghead