need help ASAP my jobs on the line!

I was geetin in my truck to head for work i work at 4am thursday morning. when i flip my key on i have all lights blinkers etc... accept tails.. They work when i push the brake pedal down thats it. the fuse keeps blowin no matter what size and i noticed some smoke comin from below...what the hell...anyone know whats up? ive checked everywhere for grounding out and i see nothing

Something is shorting out plain and simple. Putting a bigger fuse in is not a viable fix. It could possibly cause bigger problems.

You need to look for a break in the wires insulation that could be grounding out. Also check all the plugs in the system and make sure no wires have worked their way out of the connector. Check the bulbs also just to be certain they are not causing some sort of problem.

Whatever it is, it sounds like the short is not an intermittent problem. Could check the wiring with a test light/multimeter and try to chase the short that way.

Our trucks are old and wiring demons are a pain to track down.
Good luck

ive replaced the turn signal headlight blinker switch, traced the wires all the way from back of cab and back to rear tail lights there good. The black wire with red is melted under the dash. I looked under the hood traced the wires to the headlights and no wires are touching or grounding out.??? weird i just have no running lights and dash lights. i put a new fuse in and pop it goes bad everytime i try to turn the lights on..any ideas? i bought new wiring harness for 15$. i will look closer in the engine compartment in a couple days..any ideas??

Edited: 6/19/2008 5:15:36 AM by crux131

If the dash lights and running lights are both giving you problems, check the wiring in the dash also.

Maybe something with the dimmer switch is bad???

Hope you get it figured out.

don't know if this will help but a customer at my work had the same problem with his tails. bulbs keept burning up and blowing fuses. problem was a fuse holder was pinched which caused the fuse to repeadly blow. check it out might be you problem too

Hey I just now saw this. I had the exact same problem with my truck. Well actually my last two trucks. And it ended up being a shitty connection on a clear corner. The passenger side to be exact. I unhooked it and bam no more blown fuses. Get some fuses and whatever you do don't put a bigger one in it than what it calls for (it may be too late) and try unhooking each corner light and taillight until it quits blowing fuses. I don't know if you have stock taillights or not but I've also heard that the euro taillights can cause the same problem. Hope this helps.

what does this have to do with ur job?

kinda going off what Andy said, I know on my 89 chevy, when I first bought it, both my taillights and instrument panel lights didn't work. What it ended up being was a loose connection with the instrument panel. But like others have said, if the fuse keeps blowing there has to be some kind of grounding problem. I know you said you have looked but I would look one more time

well its to late for my job i called in thank god i need the extra 8grand a month. anyways i went to the local wreckin yard and picked up a new wiring harness for my truck for 15$ plus about a 100 fuses. i have clear corners and yea its on my passenger side. im goin to put in the new harness seems some of the wires are now meltede togeather..SH*T!!!

ok so i installed the new harness and checked all grounds....Still same problem the fuse keeps blowin...now what?