blinker fuse keeps blowing

ds475 · 10-22-2003, 05:54 PM

my blinker fuse blew 3 times yesterday, i'm about to just short it with some wire. why would it all of a sudden start eating fuses one day. i have never blown a fuse before.

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

I had this happen to me as well, and in one large repair I cleaned all of the buld sockets with steel wool, and the negative battery grounds, and also the turn signal switch contacts.

Problem went away, but I don't know which phase of the repair arrested the problem.

Macfreak007 · 10-22-2003, 06:28 PM

my problem went away after cleaning the grounds in the hatch area, I think it started after i go those a little bit wet vback there, when i was cleaning, give it a try, hopefully it fixes it, its a pain i know!

pearldrum · 10-22-2003, 06:52 PM

Speaking of grounds, alot of the problems that arise in these cars come from grounds. I would go ahead and clean all of them you can get to. There's a big one on the back of the engine, one next to and below the coolant tank on the frame, one by the headlight motor on the frame and a few other small random ones bolted in odd places. These are the main ones though.

ds475 · 10-22-2003, 10:12 PM

why would a bad ground cause a fuse to blow? it seems like it would be the other way around...

ds475 · 10-22-2003, 10:18 PM

i just thought of an idea, too. after steel wooling/sanding my ground, i'm going to get some silicone and try to seal the ground connection off from moisture. seems like a pretty good idea to me.

ds475 · 10-22-2003, 10:43 PM

Wilk, i don't get your comment with the quote...

ds475 · 10-23-2003, 08:09 AM

is the reason that when your grounds "go bad" you blow fuses, because there is more resistance, and therefore draws more current, and since the fuses/electronics are in series with the ground (no *****), it then blows your fuse(s)?

adrian jaye · 10-23-2003, 08:27 AM

ds,

dont, dont dont, hear me now DONT
short the fuse, its dangerous and if anything happens you'll invalidate your insurance.

fix the problem, as, has been suggested

laters

Cebu · 10-23-2003, 09:08 AM

Use bearing grease or vaseline on ground connections and battery connections (after cleaning) and prevent corrosion and contact problems. On systems with dual contact bulbs, When the turn signal is activated, (it has wiper contacts inside the mechanism)if the ground is bad, the system seeks a ground and it is reverse current through the bulb contacts that causes the fuse to blow or the bulb to explode.

ds475 · 10-23-2003, 05:15 PM

well... it's not like i have comprehensive anyway...

ds475 · 11-17-2003, 10:43 AM

Macfreak007, your idea worked! after i finally got around to cleaning the ground on the very back, and all of the corrosion off of the bulbs in my rear lights (and front blinkers) it stopped eating fuses! thanks!

P.S. in your post you stated that you cleaned all of the grounds in the hatch... i only know of one, and thats the one in the very back.

Dark Skies · 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ds475
i just thought of an idea, too. after steel wooling/sanding my ground, i'm going to get some silicone and try to seal the ground connection off from moisture. seems like a pretty good idea to me.

You should use liquid rubber / Sikaflex or similar - don't use the type used for sealing plumbing / baths etc - it's usually got acetic acid in it and corrodes your wires / metal.

Better - put a dollop of coppaslip on it.

Macfreak007 · 11-17-2003, 03:45 PM

haha, awesome, yeah its amazing sometimes the things you never thought would help really do. Something as simple as grounds. Glad to hear it fixed the problem. That main ground is the only one i remember in the back i was wrong. But glad it worked