electrical problem... agree or disagree?

[4.6vertGT]

alright i have no idea what the hell happened but i am pissed cuz minor stuff wont stop going wrong with the car. anyways, i go to work when its completely dry and everything is working properly. i go to break about 4 hours later and i cant unlock the car. it is now pouring rain with alot of thunder and lightning. i unlock it manually and procede to start the car to see if the battery was just dead. however, the car started and a few things decided not to work. all interior lights, the radio, the clock thing my 96 has, and some other random stuff. I immediatly think fuse. i find out that all those things are connected to fuse #8 i believe. i have an extra 10a fuse in the car ( which is the correct fuse) and try to pop it in. Right when it connects, its pops instantly. What could have caused this problem and what do you think is wrong. Lightning caused it?
anyways, when i start driving, the spedometer didnt work. Is this connected to the fuse. Im pretty sure the 96 came with mechanical spedometer so i dont know how it could be related. please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gunmetal5.0]

Hmmmm. If it were mechanical it would be driven by a speedometer cable which you probably already knew. It seems to me that you're right about them all being on the same fuse and your point looks to be proven when the thing blew right when you put it in. Maybe you can test to see how much amperage it's getting?

 

[4.6vertGT]

alright, is it possible that theres a leak that i cant see that would get a wire wet and cause it do that?

 

[gunmetal5.0]

That's what I was thinking because you had said that it was dry when you went to work and the problems started happening when it was wet. So you have no door locks? that seems like the only one of the non working items that could get wet. How is the weatherstripping?

 

[COramprat]

It's shorting out somewhere probably but finding it could be a problem. Best bet would be to check door switches and such.

 

[4.6vertGT]

uh oh. when i looked in the manual it says the instrument cluster is hooked to this fuse to and now i realized the milage isnt recording and gas gauge isnt working either. oh well, i cant really tell when ill run out of gas.

 

[gunmetal5.0]

I can tell when i'm going to run out of gas because my fuel pump becomes extremely loud. The thing is loud enough to begin with Lol. Could it be something on the ignition switch? If it was a fusible link coming from the starter relay I believe you would get nothing at the 10a fuse.

 

[gunmetal5.0]

I guess this answers if your speedo is mechanical

 

[Superhereaux]

problem sounds like a short to ground

there's a wire rubbing against metal (ground) or one of the components in that circuit has grounded internally. if you really want to hunt this down you'll need a wiring diagram and a digital multimeter

wait till it dries up out there and try another fuse. the storm might just be a coincidence

 

[Mike97gt]

problem sounds like a short to ground

there's a wire rubbing against metal (ground) or one of the components in that circuit has grounded internally. if you really want to hunt this down you'll need a wiring diagram and a digital multimeter

wait till it dries up out there and try another fuse. the storm might just be a coincidence

agreed... a short to ground would cause the problems he is having. it is also possible that he has a water leak that is making the problem worse..

one thing you can do to try and find the source of the short is too disconnect all components on that fuse and then put a fuse in and start connecting stuff until it blows

if it still blows with everything disconnected check all the wiring and see if you can see any damaged wires. I start looking in areas where it's easy for wires to get damaged such as under the dash in the foot well areas.. another common place for shorts to happen is along the wire harness that runs to the back of the car, these wires are routed under the rug just inboard of the door sills.

 

[01Steeda]

thats what I was going to recommend. Isolate and eliminate. thats pretty much all a cable tech has to know haha

 

[4.6vertGT]

whoo hoo. sounds like its gonna be a fun scavenger hunt for me. oh well, at least my miles arent being recorded. haha