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MoparDan

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I had to go somewhere, and turned the headlights on, the gauges wouldn't light up, the fuse (I think 3a) looked ok but since I have a bunch of extra fuses I put a new one in anyway, didn't make a difference, fuck it I turned the light on my phone on the speedo and drove off, then I had to get something out of the truck and I see the taillights aren't on either, ok I pull that fuse and it's burnt, new fuse in, i turn the lights on and they still don't work, ok defective fuse, i put another one in, same thing, I tried 5 fuses, gauges light for a split second and the fuse blows, whats going on? The headlights work, so do the turn signals and hazard lights, but not the any other other outside lights, and none of the inside lights: gauges or dome light, what is going on?
 

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As it blows the fuse, there's most likely a short in some of the cables. Also check at the brake light switch.
As turn/hazard works, but also look at rear lights.

Have a similar e-gremlin at a friends LeBaron (not solved, yet). You need to measure all around :eek:

On a 67 fury, inside wiring harness turned out to have some partly burned cables (good he has fuses in...)
 

MoparDan

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As it blows the fuse, there's most likely a short in some of the cables. Also check at the brake light switch.
As turn/hazard works, but also look at rear lights.

Have a similar e-gremlin at a friends LeBaron (not solved, yet). You need to measure all around :eek:

On a 67 fury, inside wiring harness turned out to have some partly burned cables (good he has fuses in...)
I've never touched the brake switch, how would I check that? I've had issues with the taillights, I've had to fix a couple of ground wires, I've thought of that, but then how come the parking lights in the front aren't working either?
 

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Same circuit for the parking lights front & rear, IIRC.

Brake light works as intended?
 

Aspen500

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Parking, side, tail and dash lights are on the same fuse. A short to ground in the wiring, sockets, or even a bulb will blow the fuse.
 

MoparDan

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Same circuit for the parking lights front & rear, IIRC.

Brake light works as intended?
The brake lights are not working, I have had issues in the past with the taillight wiring, I've had to splice a couple of wires to get them all working
 
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69-

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But turn signal/flasher work in the rear?

Look & test the brake light switch, it's above the pedal assembly. If you have speed control, it has two functions: turn on brake light (contact closed when switch extended) and turn of speed control (contact open when switch extended).
 

MoparDan

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But turn signal/flasher work in the rear?

Look & test the brake light switch, it's above the pedal assembly. If you have speed control, it has two functions: turn on brake light (contact closed when switch extended) and turn of speed control (contact open when switch extended).
Yes the turn signals work in the rear, all of them. No factory cruise control, but it was added at some point, I'd guess pretty early on since the instructions say Sears and Roebuck
 

MoparDan

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The brake lights work now, when the lights first went out I checked that fuse too, I must've put one of the burnt fuses in, because they were still working when running lights first went out, so one mystery solved, Friday I'm going to check the wires from the fuse box, back and look for anything obvious, it seems like it is the taillight wiring in the truck, given all the repairs I've had to make to it
 

Aspen500

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Check the bulbs, also. It's rare, but I've seen bulbs being the cause of a short to ground a handful of times in 40 years as an auto tech.
 

MoparDan

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I found the problem, the license plate light wires were touching each other, I'd replaced the taillight wiring on 10/22/2022 because The Cherry Bomb's was shorting out so badly, but all I could find was an '87 Fifth Avenue (probably the one from Moyes) and the license plate lights are different on a Fifth Avenue so I had to splice the old plate light to it, and i didn't have any connectors so I used electrical tape and forgot all about it, the tape came loose and the wires were touching. Problem solved everything lights up like it should now
 
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