Illum circuit problem
 

I've been tracing down electrical problems for the past couple of days. At first I had no head lights (they wouldn't go up even) and no dash lights. So first of course I checked the fuses. The Illum fuse was the only one burnt out. Any time it is replaced, it instantly pops. So, the person before me used the black/red wire to ground the stereo. Got rid of that, still blows. Took the dash apart looking for shorts. Fixed some more shoddy wiring jobs. I found the in dash connector for the defrost/turn signal/headlamp switch wasnt even plugged in all the way. Fixed the headlight problem, but still no dash lights that would be run by the dimmer switch. To try to narrow down the short, I unpluged everything from the fuse block in the car and used a test light to see if there was still voltage across the circuit; there was. So this should make it btw the fuse block and the engine bay fuse block. From what I can tell, the only wire connectin them is the red/white wire that goes to the BTN fuse. Is this right? When I remove that fuse, the power is the circuit is cut, so wouldn't that mean that the short is in that wire?

Hopefully this is it or there is some common thing that I'm overlooking that could be causing the short. LMK if you have any suggestions. BTW it will pop anything from a 15 (spec) to 25 amp fuse (that is as high as I went anyway to see how large the draw was. My fluke is at school).

The FAQ for FC sticky thread found at the top of this section suggests that you look at the back of the light switch, to confirm the condition of the light switch plug.

So, I am assuming that you have done this, and the plug is not discolored or burnt/damaged in any way before posting.

Which then leads to if the fuse is blowing, then you are loosing the parking lights and dash lights. Correct???? if not, then you are missing something or not telling us something.

There are two circuits (entirly different wires) for the dash lights and parking lights, yet they share the same fuse. So if the fuse is blowing it could be either the dash light circuit (Red/Green) or the parking light circuit (red/black).

Yes, I have inspected the light switch. The headlights and defroster are in working order now, it wasnt even plugged in at first.
Yes, I do lose the parking and dash illumination lights.

To narrow down if it was coming from the under dash circuits, I unplugged the three harnesses coming out of the fuse box. Doesnt that mean it wouldnt be from either r/grn or r/blk?