Zenkiowns

Finally got my 5 newbie posts so now I can address this!

I have an '88 NA with a nightmare of an electrical issue.

My tail lights no longer go on. it kept blowing fuses 25 miles or so from home, so I put a 25amp in to endure the trip. I know it was a bad idea, but police around here would write me a ticket for having my hazards on.

It burnt up my headlight switch, so that has been replaced. Afterward, the tails flashed on and it blew another fuse.

Now My headlights won't go down and it continues to blow the 15amp fuse.

For reference, My headlights work, as do my brake lights,

Thanks in advance,

Mark.

HAILERS

[QUOTE=Zenkiowns;8675069]Finally got my 5 newbie posts so now I can address this!

I have an '88 NA with a nightmare of an electrical issue.

My tail lights no longer go on. it kept blowing fuses 25 miles or so from home, so I put a 25amp in to endure the trip. I know it was a bad idea, but police around here would write me a ticket for having my hazards on.

It burnt up my headlight switch, so that has been replaced. Afterward, the tails flashed on and it blew another fuse.

Now My headlights won't go down and it continues to blow the 15amp fuse.

For reference, My headlights work, as do my brake lights,

Thanks in advance,
************************************************** ************************************************** ******************************

It's kinda, sorta hard to tell what is wrong.

First I'd look at that elect plug that goes on the switch. I'd look for burnt wires/sockets. IT could be your problem lies at that plug. There's three wires on one end that are relevant to the tail, side lights and interior lights for the instrument cluster and several *****. Your looking at the W/G, R/B and R/G wires for a burnt condition or melting b/t those wires and others inside the plug.

You have a short and you know you have a short, but where, That plug and those wires could be it. OR it could be an aftermarket miswire and I can't answer that because I don't know if some piece of aftermarket stuff is in that car or not.

I think you have a burnt plug myself, but, say you don't. Then pull that plug off the switch. With a good fuse, now jumper b/t the W/G wire and the R/G first. That's the safest ones to jumper. The lights in the instrument cluster should come on along with the cigar lighters light buld plus a few others. See if the fuse now blows. Wait a good five minutes with those two wires jumpered.

So, lets say the fuse did not blow. So now jumper b/t the W/G and the R/B at the plug. I'd guess that the fuse is going to blow when you do that. The tail lights and side lights should have come on if the fuse does not blow. If it blows, then either one of the side lights has a short or one of the tail lights has a short.

That's as far as this post needs to go until you do those things.

Zenkiowns

I replaced the harness behind the switch as well. I used a test light afterward and still have no net results. Thanks for your help, but after some rewording of my search bar I'm going to COMPLETELY remove my CD player, as all I have done during testing was undo the plug in the back of the deck. I will update afterward with results.

HAILERS

It would be a Red/Green wire. The rest of the players wires are not players.

You really should get a piece of wire. Bare both ends. Then do the jumper jobs I suggested above and in the order I suggested. That will point to the direction of the problem. The direction of the short. It'll cut your trouble shooting in half, give you a sense of direction.

Zenkiowns

Thank you, I'll give it a shot and respond here for future searching.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

if that wiring does not solve your problem, completely trace the headlight wiring and look for a break or grounding or any wires. most likely as mentioned a short is causing the problem and a wire is pinched, causing it to ground itself and create the short. look for signs of splicing or tampering with wiring.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

it's highly likely that you have some ghetto aftermarket wiring. check all the radio wiring especially.

Zenkiowns

After removing the radio, replacing the headlight switch and turning the dimmer back on. (jesus, if every fix was that much common sense!) I now have fully functional lights

BUT.....!

Now my headlight motors don't activate.

They went up the first time flawlessly but won't go back down. Is that a fail safe for safety?