Gauges fog up/ instrument fuse blows
 

My temp gauge fogs up, and after a long period of driving, my big
gauges on the main panel ( tach, speedo, fuel) fog up, too. This
car just had a topend rebuild and the heaters had lots of oil inside them from before the work was done on the motor due
to PR tube leaks, and I was running the heaters today when this occurred. Aside from that, my car is going through fuses on the dash lights. I'm not much of a wiring guy, but it'd be nice if I didn;t have to pay someone 75.00 and hour to fix this one ( just paid a huge bill). Is there anything in particular that that is likely to be caused by that I should be looking for going in there? I've blown
fuses on sharp turns, and restarting the headlights after shutting them down, if that helps.
http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/...s/a_frusty.gif

The gauges can be opened up and the glass cleaned really, really thoroughly. If the lenses are plastic, I'm not sure what to use frankly. If they're glass, a good glass cleaner, possibly followed up by something like acetone, will get them clean-clean-clean. There won't be anything for the "fog" to form on, and they should stay clearer for longer.

You can substitute glass for plastic lenses if yours are plastic.

See the Tech Article on gauge rebuilding for details.

As for the fuses, you'll have to look at the wiring diagrams (in Haynes in B&W, or around here in color) to see what is "downstream" from the fuses. Start tracing those wires for bare spots or (more likely) broken or unplugged wires. An ohmmeter can help--zero ohms from the fuse to ground means a dead short which should pop the fuse...

For some general principles (just to get you started), see http://members.rennlist.com/damp_dave/electric.html
...This is a sneak peek at an upcoming Pelican Technical Article!! :D

--DD