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Dash and tail light out I need help

tgregg

tgregg

NAXJA Member #1444
Location
Oak Hills, CA top of Cajon Pass
Anybody know wiring? My dash lights kept blowing the fuse every time I replaced it and turned on the head lights. In the process of trying to trouble shoot that problem I must have blown something else because now I don't even have power to the hot side of the fuse. I noticed yesterday I also don't have tail running lights.
I am not good with wiring, can you give me some pointers in where to check? Everything else seems to be working. Is there another master fuse up line from the #17 that controls the dash and apparently the tail lights?
 
What is that and where do I find it? I am an electrical novice.
Thanks for the suggestion. I see another post suggesting a similar problem stems from the headlight switch....I am so glad I'm not the only one with this problem. Dash lights I can live without but I drove all the way to the lake Sat morning with the flashers flashing so no one would ram me in the dark!! I need to fix this.
 
look into the pdc(power distribution center) under the hood on the pass side.
sounds like you have a short in the taillight/dash light/headlight circuit because you kept blowing that fuse...

you could try a headlight switch....they are only like $12
 
Thanks, I looked in the fuse box thing under the hood for anything blown but I'll pull every one today and check for continuity. Right now I'm just trying to get the power back to the fuse. Once I do that I'll swap out the switch. This deal is weird because when I stopped turning on the lights last (before dayligh savings, I don't drive it at night) everything was fine. Then the first dark morning POW!
No dash lights. Very strange.
It sounds from feedback that the switch is an XJ trouble spot.
 
I have the same issue with mine. I have found that the 10 amp parking lights, headlamp warning chime/buzzer, and instrument panel lamp dimmer fuse two slots to the left is the voltage supplier to the 5 amp instrument panel illumination fuse. I have had several years experience in automotive repair but this has really got me stumped. I have actually gone and taken every possible connection loose that is tied into that circuit and all of them that are not just to try and find out why that circuit is shorted to ground woth no luck. Any help would be very appreciated from anyone who has possibly seen this problem and i hope that my info will help as well.
 
I got in there yesterday with a continuity tester and there is a dead short on the dash/tail side of the fuse. The suggestion has been made to replace the headlight switch which I have not done yet. But the switch makes sense as nothing else has changed.
I did wire my CB overhead into the hot for the keyless lock, but I've disconnected it and the fuse still blows. Thanks for the fuse link to the other fuse. I'll check that today. Right now I'm just trying to get power back to the hot side. so I can look for the short.
 
I suffered the same problem with my 1990 XJ...observed that the dash/tail/parking lights inoperative, and when I changed the fuse it instantly blew when I turned the lights on. I found the problem, but it consumed several hours.....it was the rear license light wiring, somewhere a short developed in the hatch harness, so rather than chase and repair, I ran new wiring from the upper hatch connector. I also replaced the headlight switch, but still blew fuses. Best bet is to disconnect all the items which load that particular circuit and see if the fuse holds....time consuming, and you may need a dozen fuses, but it narrows the problem and ultimately you will find it.....Electrical shorts are a PITA! Good luck finding the problem, and please post your results...
 
Yes, the hatch wiring makes sense. Before I get to that though I need to figure out what I blew upstream from the dash lights fuse and fix that. I have no power into the fuse now. My fault completely. I put in a 25 fuse thinking I somehow over loaded the circuit and it blew something upstream that I can't find. I've tried everything I can think of but still no power. I'm thinking of making a jumper with two blades and jumping power into the fuse from another hot source on the fuse panel.
I've checked all the other fuses on the panel under the dash and under the hood. Nothing else electrical seems to be dead now....I'm seriously perplexed!
 
again as i said earlier the parking lights, headlamp warning chime/buzzer, and instrument panel lamp dimmer is the fuse that supplies power to the instrument panel illumination fuse. it is a 10 amp fuse two slots to the left from the dash light and tail light 5 amp fuse. the 10 amp fuse should be hot all the time so you can tell if it is blown with the key off.
i pulled my fuse panel out and found that those two circuits use the same power wire but it is just fused through the 10 amp fuse before it gets to the dash light fuse. check this fuse and see if that doesnt help your problem.
 
I had the same problem.

Once again, as droff85 said, the parking lights, headlight warning chimer/buzzer, and insturment pannel dimmer/switch. i think theres two fuses, five and ten amp. check those.

Under the cover peice on the inside of the hatch( the one that covers everything up on the inside.) there are a bunch of connections. Un plug the one to your license plate. Thats what mine was. See if it does it still blows the fuse. Clean/Replace the light sockets, and your probably good to go.
 
thats the problem with mine it is shorted to ground through the blue wire that is tied into the light switch but i found that it also runs the headlight buzzer so ill keep checking and try to track it down.
 
85xj4dr said:
I had the same problem.

Once again, as droff85 said, the parking lights, headlight warning chimer/buzzer, and insturment pannel dimmer/switch. i think theres two fuses, five and ten amp. check those.

Under the cover peice on the inside of the hatch( the one that covers everything up on the inside.) there are a bunch of connections. Un plug the one to your license plate. Thats what mine was. See if it does it still blows the fuse. Clean/Replace the light sockets, and your probably good to go.
Click to expand...

Thanks but on my '95 it is different. I pulled every fuse on the panel and none were blown. I wish it was that easy or maybe I'm missing something!!
 
It sounds as though you cooked the headlight switch-- but I don'y see how you kept blowing fuses if there is no power to the fuse? If it was shorted before the fuse, it wouldn't blow and if it was after the fuse, the fuse should have protected the switch.?.?

I'd still check/change the switch and know it was good before I dug too deep into it.
--Shorty
 
It blew fuses every time I turned on the headlights (yes I think you may be right about the switch) But then I put a bigger fuse in to see if that would work and it blew something else up stream. So now I have no power to the hot side of the dash lights fuse. I need to get that fixed before I can trouble shoot the dash/tail lights. Yesterday the radio and door lock's went dead but I have been working and haven't had time to check fuses. Wiring stuff is a pain!
 
Well the dome lights are dead too! I have the original owners manual and it is really goofy. It lists the radio fuse as: #2, 9, & 15. The door locks as: 13. The dome locks as being on: 9 which isn't a fuse but looks like a 30amp breaker but tests OK.
It also shows that there is a RELAY CENTER up under the dash that has radio illumination and a door locks up and door locks down. This whole car is an electrical puzzle.
 
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