HELP! no dash or tail lights! have already tried everything i know
 

I have a 90 SV Na gxl, the other day the the 15a Illum fuse and replaced it. The next time i turned the headlights on the fuse blew right away.

I then removed all exterior lights from there socket, (front/rear turn, all markers, and the tail/brake lights) replaced the fuse again and blew once more.

returned all the bulbs to there sockets and then started on the dash. i pull the cluster out and unplugged all turn/headlight/cruise/ and the wiper.

i swaped the headlight switch for another i had laying around and the same thing happened.

where else can I look for a short or is there a common problem with this issue.

any suggestions will help

thanks

your headlight switch harness could be fried. also check all aftermarket wiring behind the radio. I had a similar problem and it was my own shoddy wiring to blame (a wire had gotten loose and grounded out, causing a short and a blown headlight switch)

if i have already swapped out for another that would rule the headlight switch out for being bad correct? its possible the harness could be a culprint but how do i go about confirming the harness is what is defective.?

Is it burnt?

Yes = replace the harness, it is bad
No= harness probably fine

and it is very common to have multiple bad junkyard headlight switches.

i had this same problem and i tracked down what was causing it...take a look in the storage bins in the back. they have a little lite in them. mine were unplugged and the two wires were touching each other. so you may have to take the inside carpet out of the bins to get to the wires.. i hope this fixes your problem...

let me know if that was the problem...

Pull the plug off the light switch. Get a piece of wire and jumper the WG to the RB. If the fuse is good the side lights and tail lights should light up. IF they don't, then the fuse has blown due to a short in the wiring.

Make sure the fuse is good prior to doing that.

thanks for all the good info guys, just a quick update to all.

So far i have narrowed it down to a short somewhere in the front turn signal or the front marker lights. tuesday is the next day i will have time to look at her again and try to pin down exactly where this short is coming from.

again thanks for all the help.

haha its funny cuz i juat had this problem a few days ago, i kept blowing fuses.... turned out it was my bin light harness groudning out on the chasis, causing a short. lol

worse part was that my lights went out while i was canyon driving in Malibu lol

hope you find it and GL

see i got the same issue right now but my fuses arent blowing, my harness keep getting burnt at the w/g wire. and its the second time i replaced the harness.

Check the headlight relays that sit infront of the rad, by the driver side. I had a similar prblm. Bad relay.

another quick update for everyone. I've tracked it down to the main dash harness. most likely right were the harness exits the interior and enters underneath the hood. my best guess when i ran my aftermarket alarm i may have exposed a wire there when pulling the wires through the firewall. tomorrow night i will try to track down exactly where the short is. If i cannot find tomorrow then the whole dash is coming out and some much tlc will be done to the interior and dash wiring.

again thanks for the help and ideas.

i had no dash or park lights. was burnt pin in headlight switch connector. changed that and all was well.

so today after work i continued my search for the short. I removed the center console and the radio. after the removal i tryed the headlight switch again and the short was gone! one of the wires behind the radio must have been grounding or something. I dont want to reassemble until i actually discover exactly what happened

oh..its probably the wire for the cigarette lighter light

i have no dash lights daytime running lights as well as my tailights and sidemarkers... i checked all my fuses im gonna check my bins n headlight switch.

ok, dash and inside illumination now work, now its just my tailights, side markers and running lights