# tail lights and dash light short



## corvetteman (Jun 6, 2012)

my tail light and dash light went out other day on my 98 sentra.tried to replace fuse and blew out even tried a 20 amp never even seen them come on for a split second. is there an easy way trace this down. could i piggyback off front lights or just run seperate circuit with switch on dash. whats easiest and cheapest. i only need this car to last another year or two


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

"Must....resist...."
The voices in my head are telling me...
"Must....resist...."
....(Help!)....


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

You should never put a higher rated fuse in place than what is rated; this could potentially cause wires to burn up or even cause a fire. The bottom line is you need to find the shorted circuit. Start with the easiest and check your bulbs and sockets that run on that circuit. If the bulbs are okay, then a wiring diagram must be obtained and the circuit must be traced to isolate the location of the short.


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## Jdoggsc (Dec 25, 2007)

this exact problem happened on my brother's dodge dakota a couple of months ago. His problem was that a wiring harness had drooped into his wheel well, and whenever he took a turn, his tire chewed up the wires and their insulation, causing a short. This type of fuse-blowing is invariably caused by a wire shorting to ground (either via chassis or otherwise). 

look at a wiring diagram. look for where the wires leave the fuse and go to combo switch. your circuit gets really hairy from there, going not only to the front side lights, but to rear lights, license plate lights, and the high-mounted stop lamp in the rear.


first things first (and you might need several fuses, or else buy yourself some alligator clips and a testing circuit breaker like seen 



.

disconnect front turn signals, rear lights, rear center mount light and license plate lights. Actually pull the bulbs out of the sockets. put a new fuse in, turn the lights on. if it blows, then your problem is on that side of the circuit (found on EL-60 and EL-61 of factory service manual). does it blow when you hit the brakes only? if so, then your problem is easier to find, and is on the circuit on page EL-61 (the brakes part) of the Factory Service Manual. the reason for disconnecting the lights is because it stops current from flowing through that segment of the circuit. if nothing blows, then start adding them in one by one, checking with lights/brake pedal each time you add one until you come to a problem. then check that circuit. Looking at the diagram, it's very possible (more likely, even) that the short is located in the circuitry before any of the bulbs, but if not, then this would be an easy was to pinpoint it.

it's pretty much impossible to explain how to do this over a forum post, but look at the youtube link i posted. he explains how to do it very well (



) and you can get the idea. this one isn't as good for your situation because it doesn't go into wires as much, but it uses a standard multimeter that you would more likely use.

whatever the case, be prepared to trace wiring, pull off interior body panels, pull the carpet back a little. you're looking for wire with cut insulation, or fraying, or anything like that. hope this isn't too confusing. if it is, ask, and I'll try to be more clear.

good luck.


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