30A Headlight Fuse keeps popping??

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Whitts6872

Whitts6872

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Disclaimer.....I used a Painless wiring kit a few years ago to completely rewire the car. Everything worked great until driving home one evening and the fuse popped. I've checked continuity on the power wires to the fuse block and the power wire for the system. Checked good. Sometimes the lights will last for 5+ minutes then pop. Other times it's immediate. I disconnected every connector except the light switch connector from the instrument cluster and the lights seemed to work for up to 10 min, but the brake lights suddenly wouldn't work if the light switch was off? I found this to be odd since this was never an issue prior. I plugged in the round display plug to the cluster and checked the brake switch by swapping connections and suddenly we're back to popping? I replaced the voltage regulator on the instrument gauge. Nothing is a smoking gun, and I'm not quite sure what to check next. I'm ready to install another turn signal switch to see if that's the cause. Any guidance/guesses are welcome. Thank you
 
I'm thinking a dead short either a wire is shorting out or a switch or connector has burned and melted things together. Its also possible that a wire got hot and melted itself to a ground etc. These are just guesses ,of course you'll have to troubleshoot.
 
Dartswinger70 said:
I'm thinking a dead short either a wire is shorting out or a switch or connector has burned and melted things together. Its also possible that a wire got hot and melted itself to a ground etc. These are just guesses ,of course you'll have to troubleshoot.
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I appreciate the thoughts. I already installed a new light switch as well. I haven't found a bad wire yet. So far, they're checking good. Could a bad Brake Switch cause this? I'm tempted to swap that out as well.
 
Whitts6872 said:
I appreciate the thoughts. I already installed a new light switch as well. I haven't found a bad wire yet. So far, they're checking good. Could a bad Brake Switch cause this? I'm tempted to swap that out as well.
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The blinkers work just fine. I know they're on a different circuit and switch, but the brake lights run through both the turn signal switch and the lights switch.
 
What exactly do you have for headlights?

If you can not find anything else, do not discount the fuse holder itself. Poor/ damaged connector terminals generate heat which will cause the fuse to blow.
 

67Dart273 said:
What exactly do you have for headlights?

If you can not find anything else, do not discount the fuse holder itself. Poor/ damaged connector terminals generate heat which will cause the fuse to blow.
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Good question. Factory sockets and bulbs. I haven't changed them. I've considered swapping them for LED to lower the draw, but figure that's a bandaid and not solving the problem.
 
I have no idea on the "painless/painful" wiring. However the Mopar factory wiring does not have a fuse in the headlight circuit. There is a "self resetting" circuit breaker as part of the headlight switch. The taillights and directional signals are not on the headlight circuit. You need to get a wiring diagram for the painless wiring harness, and see what is common to those circuits.
 
Charrlie_S said:
I have no idea on the "painless/painful" wiring. However the Mopar factory wiring does not have a fuse in the headlight circuit. There is a "self resetting" circuit breaker as part of the headlight switch. The taillights and directional signals are not on the headlight circuit. You need to get a wiring diagram for the painless wiring harness, and see what is common to those circuits.
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Yeah this isn't factory anymore. Their wiring was "painless". Somethings changed, and I can't figure it out. This has a fuse block for each circuit now. The problem is in the 30 amp Headlight run. I've been looking at their diagrams. I'll find it eventually.
 
If the painless wiring has a fuse in the headlight circuit, that is dangerous. As you have found out if the fuse "pops" you are in the dark. You can't see, and no one can see you. That is the reason every OEM manufacturer I am aware of, uses a self-resetting circuit breaker. If a short develops, the breaker will trip, the lights will go out for a short period, then the breaker resets, and the lights will come back on. Rinse/repeat. It will give you light enough to get safely off the road.
 
Charrlie_S said:
If the painless wiring has a fuse in the headlight circuit, that is dangerous. As you have found out if the fuse "pops" you are in the dark. You can't see, and no one can see you. That is the reason every OEM manufacturer I am aware of, uses a self-resetting circuit breaker. If a short develops, the breaker will trip, the lights will go out for a short period, then the breaker resets, and the lights will come back on. Rinse/repeat. It will give you light enough to get safely off the road.
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Interesting and good to know, but definitely not what's happening.
 
The downside to the self resetting breaker, it will continue to roast the harness wherever the issue resides.
powered up = roast, off =rest, on = roast

Sounds like there is a pinched wire or short somewhere in the system. I'd disconnect one headlight at a time and see if the time it takes to pop increases. Have to narrow down where the issue is in that circuit.
 
crackedback said:
The downside to the self resetting breaker, it will continue to roast the harness wherever the issue resides.
powered up = roast, off =rest, on = roast

Sounds like there is a pinched wire or short somewhere in the system. I'd disconnect one headlight at a time and see if the time it takes to pop increases. Have to narrow down where the issue is in that circuit.
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Good idea. I'll try that and see what happens. Thanks
 
Whitts6872 said:
I've been shooting the wires and each check good. That's what makes this frustrating. I feel like somethings making contact where it shouldn't be.
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Are you testing for ohms or a more easy test is continuity its a beep hook one end to ground probe wire see if it beeps etc. you could use a test light hooked to battery positive but that isn't a common practice
 
crackedback said:
Sounds like there is a pinched wire or short somewhere in the system. I'd disconnect one headlight at a time and see if the time it takes to pop increases. Have to narrow down where the issue is in that circuit.
Click to expand...

OR, instead of using up fuses, use an ammeter, like an old aftermarket dashboard 60A ammeter (we've all got one or two somewhere).


Whitts6872 said:
I've checked continuity on the power wires to the fuse block and the power wire for the system. Checked good.
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To be explicitly clear: Your goal here is not to check for continuity of the wire from where it's supposed to come from to where it's supposed to go to.

You need to check continuity to things it is NOT supposed to go to, especially Ground.

Your headlights work. You know there's continuity there.
You need to find out where the wire is ALSO connected to ground (or to something else that ultimately goes to ground).

- Eric
 
You can buy some dummy fuses with pigtails so you can use them to measure amperage in a circuit. I would rig whatever it takes to measure the current draw in the circuit. Because you are having problems, I WOULD add an external fuse in the test circuit, or at least a breaker. Once again, could be right in the fuse holder itself.

Factory 6014's are rated at 60W each so that is about 10A for the two. If you have some glitch with the dimmer switch or miswiring, you may be running the low beams along with the high beams, which is not normal.

If for some reason all 4 filaments are running on high beam, that would be somewhere around 20A draw.
 
Another point: The original wiring has the headlights terminal (B1) on the light switch fed from the ammeter circuit. B1 runs ONLY the headlights. B2 on the light switch runs the park/ tail/ instrument cluster. They were fed separately from a fuse in the panel. Do you have these tied together? This will of course increase draw on that circuit.

Bear in mind that the OEM headlight switch has a breaker in the switch for the B1/ headlights circuit.
 
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