zupmanZ28

Well, I went up to Newark DE (about an hour trip) around 8 this evening to pick up a friend who had been up there all day and needed a ride home. SO i got up there picked him up and am in Newark heading back when a guy pulls up next to me and tells me my tailights are out. So figure the damn fuse must have blown again, no problem ive got extras. So i replace it, turn the lights on, nothing. Check fuse, fuse is blown again. I repeated this process about 6 times before giving up. Since it was still a little light out i figured i'd just drive it and keep my foot on the brake so the tailights would come on. Well after about 20 minutes of this what do i see behind me? Nice bright red lights. Unfortunately they where on top of a state police cruiser. He pulled me over, told me my tailights where out, and told him i'd stop and pick up some fuses at the next station. Well i get to the station and pick up another box of fuses, but of course it just continues to blow them. So smart *** me decides to rig something up. I pulled the wire for my tach and my radio (both have connectors on them, and spliced them together (basically made a huge ghetto fuse) and stuck it in there. And to my amazment it worked. SO i get in and start driving. Well about ten minutes later i smell smoke and i look down to see sparks coming out of the box. I slam on my brakes, fly into the median and shut the car off, smother the flames with and Absorber and size up the damage. Nothing major, blew out two other fuses (one of which was for the guages). So at this point i have no tailights no Tach, no radio and no speedometer. At this point i am pretty much determined to make it home so i say screw it, im just gonna put my foot on the brake again. I actually make it home without anything else happening. What a crock that was. i dont know why it keeps blowing fuses everywhere, and i have no idea how to fix it. Ive never dealt with any kind of wiring system before so i dont even know where to start, and my tools for the problem and EXTREMELY limited. anybody have some ideas as to why this is happening? COuld it just be the fuse block is bad? Or is this something majorly complicated that im gonna have to have someone else look at?

Thanks for everyones help,
Eric

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My 1986 Z28
GM350, T-5, 3.23's, lots of go fast goodies, 4th gen Firebird interior etc...
85 IROC w/ 1364 miles!

You'll always find what you've lost in the last place you look

R.I.P Dale Earnhardt

HIX5000

If the fuse keeps blowing then you have a short somewhere in your wiring Start tracing wires looking for burnt or bare wires. Good luck

JRoy91RS

Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone! I did the exact same thing to my dad's truck (91 chevy) a few weeks back. It had a short and was blowing fuses. I put a fuse that was too large in and smoke, etc., etc. Everything shuts down. A shop estimated 2-3K bucks!! A friend of mine and I fixed it in an afternoon. We had to replace all the burnt wires. WE just cut some harnesses off of some junkyard trucks and pigtailed those into the old harness. Also had to replace the canceller switch, stoplight switch. Let me know if you have any questions about what I did. Electrical prbs suck! We figured out that the short was being caused by a frayed wire in the pigtail that went to the trailer lights.

zupmanZ28

yay, fun. sounds like im gonna be looking for this one for a couple weeks.... there about 10 miles of wire under there.......

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My 1986 Z28
GM350, T-5, 3.23's, lots of go fast goodies, 4th gen Firebird interior etc...
85 IROC w/ 1364 miles!

You'll always find what you've lost in the last place you look

R.I.P Dale Earnhardt

zupmanZ28

Ok, i think i found my problem. On the back of the fuse box there is one orange wire that appears to be going right where the taillight fuse goes that the casing has melted away on. The problem with that is that it's right by the fuse the box, and i cant get to it to replace/ repair it. I need to know how to pull that wire from the box. I tried just sorta yankin on it with some needle nose pliers, but its not working. Please help me out with this, i need my car soon, it's my daily driver right now. Until i get this fixed im stuck driving my Mustang, so please hurry!!!

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My 1986 Z28
GM350, T-5, 3.23's, lots of go fast goodies, 4th gen Firebird interior etc...
85 IROC w/ 1364 miles!

You'll always find what you've lost in the last place you look

R.I.P Dale Earnhardt

zupmanZ28

ok, so what i thought was the problem doesn't look like it is anymore. i think its the power lead going to the fuse block that supplies the tailights and the accesory fuses with power. I have tried several different things and there all giving me screwed up results that i dont understand at all. i cut the original wire i had found to be frayed off of the back of the fuse box, and spliced in an inline fuse holder. I put the 20w fuse in it, and connected it to the power side terminal of the original tailight spot on the fuse box. It again blew a fuse out. So i moved the wire to one of the battery slots in the box and tried that. this time, the tailights did not turn on, but the fuse for them didn't blow. the fuse for the accesories however did blow. So i think one of problems is with the power lead for that portion of the block. This however does not explain why the lights didn't come on when i plugged them into the battery location on the fuse block. Im completely lost as to what to do here, i can't think of what else could be wrong. Im getting extremely frustrated here, and am losing patience quickly. this problem has to get fixed soon, cause this is my daily driver.

Im going to buy a multimeter tomoroww so i can see exactly how much power is going to the block from that one lead. Does anyone know how much should be?

man this is getting on my nerves.....

Eric

88TArascal

hey guys not to cut in on your problem but i have a very similar one excep tthe fuse is not blowing! its fine and it seems on the side of the fuse that recieves power (left side) isnt getting any. I put a test light to the prong where the fuse is held and no power there! my guage lights and tailights dont work. but now when i buypass the circuit that gives the lights power and put a 12 volt lead right to the fuse things begin to get VERY hot and not in a good way haha so when the gauges get hot the right turn signal indicator turns on and the tach freezes. what gives guys. btw sometimes when i hit my right turn signal the tach goes up and down when i dont have the lights even rigged to be on!. please hlep my out guys

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'86 Camaro z-28
Carbed 350
Shorty Headers
Flowmaster Exhaust
B&M Shift Kit
Borg-Warner SuperMag wires

zupmanZ28

welcome to my nightmare Rascal!!!! hopefully we'll get some help here soon....

88TArascal

i have a camaro nwo but i had the same exact problem with my ta haha never fixed it. oh well maybe this time around

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'86 Camaro z-28
Carbed 350
Shorty Headers
Flowmaster Exhaust
B&M Shift Kit
Borg-Warner SuperMag wires