Light issues

[JTBernhardt]

About a week ago while driving home fuse 8 started smoking and melted a bit. I removed the fuse, and had no further issues. The next day I checked all the wiring hoping to fix the issue. The yellow wire (which goes to the tail lights) was slightly melted, but seemed to be intact. I replaced the fuse, and checked and turned on my headlights to make sure my tail lights were working; I had no tail light marker lights, no side marker lights, no blinker marker lights or dash lights. My blinker lights and brake lights work just fine, but when the headlight switch is on I only have headlights. I replaced my headlight switch with no results.

Today I tried some actual trouble shooting. I replaced the black and white wire going from the #7 fuse to the v terminal on the headlights switch. It was slightly melted, and I thought that might have explained why I had no lights. I also replaced the first length of the yellow wire on the #8 fuse that looked a bit melted. I then replaced a shotty looking wire in my trunk along with checking all the grounds in the trunk. Unfortunately I still only have headlights with the headlight switch on. I'm not getting any voltage from the black and white wire that goes from the v terminal on the headlight switch to the #7 fuse, or voltage from the yellow wire on the #8 fuse.

Am I missing anything obvious?

[aj81spider]

You've got a short circuit. The melted wires are a symptom of that. The fuse blowing kept them from melting completely and perhaps causing a fire. Because fuse 8 blew, the short is on the other side of that fuse - so the black wire going to 7 is not the source of the original problem.

I would remove the fuse (8), then check the voltage on the black wire. The short is probably holding the voltage down. I'm guessing that there will be voltage on the black wire going to 7 when you do that. If there isn't then the short has destroyed something in that path and you have two problems.

If the fuse removed gives voltage on the black wire to 7, then you can start tracing the yellow wires to see where the short is. I would start by disconnecting the lights to see if the short is in any of them. Then work back from the lights disconnecting connectors.

Did you do anything to the car recently? If so I would also look there. It's possible that a wire got damaged when it got pinched under something.

If you have the wiring diagrams it will be straightforward (albeit tedious) to find. If you don't have the wiring diagrams PM me and I'll send you a set.

[majicwrench]

Hmmmm, if fuse 8 was melting and smoking, that is due to heat, which is due to the fuse not making good contact with the fusebox connections. You didn't say, did the fuse actually blow?? What amp fuse was it?

Is really common for the terminals the fuse sits in to get corroded and not make a connection.
I see no mention of checking voltage, do you have a voltmeter or test light??

[aj81spider]

I agree the fuses have issues with contact and it's worth checking. However higher resistance in the fuse means lower current in the wires. The wires melting would indicate that too much current was being drawn.

[JTBernhardt]

I did check both the yellow wire (off the #8 fuse) and the black and white wire (off the #7 fuse) with a volt meter.

"I'm not getting any voltage from the black and white wire that goes from the v terminal on the headlight switch to the #7 fuse, or voltage from the yellow wire on the #8 fuse."

I did forget to mention that I removed all the fuses, cleaned the terminals as well as snugged them up. I also checked the wiring going into the back of the fuse box and cleaned contacts as needed.

I just checked for voltage at the black and white wire from the #7 fuse after removing the #8 fuse. I went from getting nothing to getting 0.03 volts. I'm also not getting voltage at from the black and yellow wire off the #7 fuse.

The fuse that melted did not blow. It was a 16amp fuse.

I'm also confused as to why the dash lights stopped working; they're on a completely different circuit.

Thanks for the help

[aj81spider]

According to the wiring diagram I have the dash lights come off of fuse 7, which is hard connected to fuse 8. If there is no voltage coming into fuse 8 there is also none coming into fuse 7.

If you pulled fuse 8 (also make sure you pulled 7 as well just to make sure the short isn't on that half of the circuit) and there is still no voltage at the black wire then you are not getting voltage further back in the circuit. According to the wiring diagram the black wire comes from the two position lighting switch, which is powered from the ignition switch. Check at the lighting switch to make sure there is voltage there. If not then check at the ignition switch.

Hopefully you have a wiring diagram to help you trace all this back to the source of the problem.

[baltobernie]

The fuse that melted did not blow. It was a 16amp fuse.

You have lights on a 16A fuse? Light circuits are all 8A. Check your manual before you burn up your car.

[majicwrench]

YOu don't need to clean fusebox, you need to test fusebox. Very gently test for voltage on fuse terminals. Test the hot fuse terminal, the hot fuse end, the other end of fuse and the protected terminal, make dang sure current is running thru fuse and out the other side.

Sorry, didn't catch the volt mention in your OP

[JTBernhardt]

I checked the wires at the headlight switch. I was getting voltage on the black/brown wire coming from the ignition switch, as well as to the green wire. I wasn't getting voltage to the black/white wire that powers the fuse #7/8. Turns out the wiring diagram I have was wrong about the placement of the black/white wire. I moved the black/white wire to the correct terminal, and I now have tail lights, interior lights and everything else working.

I have replaced the wrong 16amp fuse with the correct 8 amp fuse, and everything seems to be working perfectly.

Thanks a lot for all the help!

Now to fix my alignment problem...