TAIL SHORT

[spchahn]

ok here we go, first post here.
so i kept on blowing my tail fuse in my 93. i tried to trouble shoot the problem by unplugging the wires that go to the rear under the dash, kept on blowing fuse, so that tells me its upstream, if you will, of the tail lights, plugged back in connector for the tail light and kept poking around. now heres the weird thing. my tail lights work without the fuse now! how can that be? have i got a short to power somewhere? anyway, my middle fusible link burned out so i replaced that. and the engine bogs every time i turn on the headlights. i have never encountered anything like this before, maybe you guys can set me on the right path
spc hahn

[bravekozak]

Please post you location in your profile.

Tail lights cannot possibly come on without the TAIL fuse.

Check to see if your parking lamp relay is working properly.

[spchahn]

thats what i thought, thats why i thought i might have a short to power somewhere, checked relay and it works fine, no corrosion. unplugged it and tail lights still had power.

[bhearts]

Mine did the same thing. I ended up using the rear window defrost relay to power my tail lamps.

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[bhearts]

I would expect the engine to big with headlights though. That's roughly 55watts power bulb, or 110w total, which is a seventh of a horsepower. Ann idling engine can't be producing maybe 3hp. So of course it should slow down

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[spchahn]

bhearts, can you describe how you did that? it might help me get my festy back on the road

[spchahn]

no? no help from anyone? ok

[bhearts]

Hmm, the rear defrost relay was behind my passenger side trunk covers, right below the speaker. I just used the wire that goes 12 volts switched when you hit your manual button above your radio. Make sure you unplug the defrost unit completely because you won't want this running full time. Then run a wire from the relay to your tail lamp wire and you'll have to cut the tail lamp wire before the spot you hack in the voltage from the relay

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[bhearts]

Make sure the wire you run is from the relay terminal that you unhook your defrost wire from

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[bravekozak]

The only thing I can possibly think of where the power could be coming from, is to check the wire that runs across under the lower lip below the rear hatch (from tail light to tail light). Check for damage that could cause insulation perforation. The cargo lamp wire is always hot and grounds the lamp through the tailgate latch from inside the hatch. It goes to the cargo lamp first (white/red wire) together with the red/green wire for the tail lights in the same harness .
With the TAIL fuse removed, pull the ROOM fuse and see if the tail lights go out.
If it's not the ROOM fuse, then put it back in and keep pulling fuses one at a time until the tail lights go out.

Who wants to bet against me on the ROOM fuse?

If it's not from a cargo hit, do you think it could be vermin?

[bravekozak]

If you pull every fuse and the tail lights don't go out, then start pulling fusible links until they do. If they still won't go out, I will call Guiness Records and come over personally.