Electrical Issue

[88_GT_5_oh]

k so i'm driving to work at 5 am, and poof my who dash goes black, i'm like this is just f'ing great, just what i wanted to do tonight, hunt down an electrical problem. anyway i'v pretty well narrowed it down to fuse 13, but i've put 2 new ones in and as soon as i click the switch for the parking lights, it blows it, i hooked up my multi meter to it and it was drawing about 20 amps, then a couple mins ago i hooked it up again and it was around 12 amps. according to the manual it's only supposed to be a 5 amp fuse in there, the guy before me stuck in a 20 amp fuse, and it takes a bit with a 20 amp fuse, but it will blow this one, when i put a proper 5 amp fuse it blows it right away, also when i hook up the multi meter the wires on the meter get hot!!!! that ain't good, i know this, what i am wondering is does any one have a better diagram on where the wires go, because my haynes book is pretty hard to read,or if anyone has had this problem let me know how it was sloved. i am about to go rip my dash apart, i'll be checking this to see if any one can help me.

BTW, the head lights still turn on and off

thanks in advance, sorry for the long post

 

[jrichker]

See http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/16/71/3c/0900823d8016713c.jsp

Or

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/16/71/3c/0900823d8016713c.jsp for wiring diagrams

 

[88_GT_5_oh]

thanks man.......i'm still fighting with this, i replaced the dimmer beacuse it was shot anyway. still have no illumination, gonna try some more stuff then call it a night

 

[88_GT_5_oh]

god i f'ing hate electrical.....lol, i was fighting with it for like 8 hours tonight, and after wiggling the same set of wires like thousands of times, now it works all of a sudden.. i mean WTF, i geuss i gotta find the bare wire, hopefully its not too hard, thats the end of my tired rant.

BTW thank you again jrichker , those helped me out, i didn't need to squint at my haynes manual

 

[HISSIN50]

you are on the right track. gotta wiggle and play. think of where all the ISO wires are. often, the radio illumination was ditched with an aftermarket deck installation, and the wire grounds itself - something to check.

i cant remember if the stangs have a light in the ashtray - if so, check it and its wiring.

good luck.

 

[1986LX2002]

gotta love the backyard mechanic way dealing with electrical problems. AHH fuse blows put in a bigger amp fuse. I've seen this cause huge problems because the fuse wont blow something else along the way will. Friends camaro caught on fire due to this problem stuck a 30amp fuse for headlights. Well the harness caught on fire. I basically redid the wiring in my car and god what a pain, but i put relays on the headlights so now there brighter and now get a true 12V and easier to fix when something goes bad. Good luck though hope you fixed your problem.

 

[88_GT_5_oh]

ISO wires?....i seen that in the book......what are they? car won't start any more though, i can boost it and it will run but when you shut it off,,,, theres nothing, anyone got any ideas?

 

[HISSIN50]

the ISO circuit is fused by fuse 13. it is for the instrument illumination.

i would think the starting issues are unrelated.
i would check the car-off voltage at the battery. then check your cable connections - a loose or corroded cable can cause a 'nothing happens' situation.

good luck.

 

[88_GT_5_oh]

man this thing is just popin up new problems, what happens is you can boost it then if you shut it off and try and restart it ,it will start but if you wait like 1 min then it wont start, you can just hear the relay clicking. maybe the battery is toast, or maybe the relay. any one got any more idea's it could be? also the yellow wire that hook up to the realy that branchs off to 4 fuseable links, when i take that off and hook up the multimeter to it and the other half to the ground cable without the cable hooked up to the battery, it shows 0 resistance, i think that means theres a bare wire touching ground? am i right?.......man i hate auto electrical.....its looking like i'm taking the bicycle to work

 

[HISSIN50]

charge your battery up. when you jump it, there is not enough time to charge the battery back up (charging a nearly dead battery off the alternator is very hard on the alternator too). gotta just charge the battery and then go from there.

i think you might want to re-think how to do your testing with the DMM.

good luck.