interior light fuse keeps blowing I'm stumped

AWD1990Tsi

Registered User
The interior light fuse keeps blowing in my car, within seconds of replacing it. I even popped in a 30 amper just to see if that would help solve anything. But it still gave up the ghost withing 5 seconds.

So what all runs off that fuse so I atleast know what to look at? Up until the fuse goes the rear lights and the lights on the mirror all work. I haven't paid attention to see if the footwell lights work or not.

Thanks in advance,

Randy
 
the plug for the under hood light wasn't plugged in when I got it. So I'll have to look around for where it plugs into.
 
The interior light fuse keeps blowing in my car, within seconds of replacing it. I even popped in a 30 amper just to see if that would help solve anything. But it still gave up the ghost withing 5 seconds.

So what all runs off that fuse so I atleast know what to look at? Up until the fuse goes the rear lights and the lights on the mirror all work. I haven't paid attention to see if the footwell lights work or not.

Thanks in advance,

Randy

Check the Visors! Remove them one by one and check the wire going inside{single green/yellow? been awhile}Vanity mirrors are on that fuse{#8?} I had a TON of issues with the wire breaking/fraying inside the metal mount and swing hinge, while in the Dealership.
 
I am not 100% sure that the interior lights are on this circuit ... but there is a big wiring splice in the channel in the floor, just beside the driver's seat. Some people have had problems with it in the past.
 
I am not 100% sure that the interior lights are on this circuit ... but there is a big wiring splice in the channel in the floor, just beside the driver's seat. Some people have had problems with it in the past.

Depends on the fuse # he's blowing. I spent 12 years during this era in the dealerships{Mechanic} if its fuse #8, that's the FIRST place I'd check. If its another, YES there is a splice {and numerous wires}in the channel beneath the rocker trim that could have rubbed/rusted and making contact with floorpan or a screw. It could also be a door switch {in jamb} or the wiring to it. Its def a hot at all times circuit.
 
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...I even popped in a 30 amper just to see if that would help solve anything.

Don't be doing that! If it blows the factory-sized fuse, you have a problem, period! Depending on wire sizes and condition, you may end up melting some insulation, or causing more damage.

If you don't find the problem easily, it would be a good idea to get wiring diagrams for the car to help trace the problem down, but of course SCer's will have a good idea of some of the problem areas (as you see! :)). Just don't try to oversize or jumper the fuses!
 
well finally somehow it isn't popping the fuse right away and I've poked around looking for issues, the visor light wiring all seems to be good atleast the amount I can see of it. And both the lights on the visors work and are fairly bright. What I did notice is that some lights are bright and others are not even if they are all on at the same time. For instance. The glove box and center console, and even the trunk light, as well as the passenger side footwell light (drivers side footwell bulb is blown) Are all bright, but the lights on the rearview mirror and in the Rear seat pillars are very very dim. The lights in the bottom of the doors don't work at all and I haven't looked into if it's bulbs or not yet.

Could the bright/dim weirdness be some sort of clue as to the issue? Another odd thing I noticed was right after I put the new fuse in the now dim lights were all bright, but after a minute or so even though the lights were off during that minute, they were dim every time I turn them on again.

Any thoughts? I've been trying to think of any lights left on the interior that could have a wiring issue but I got thrown off by the whole some bright some dim deal.
 
What year is your SC - My 94 has had this same problem since the day I picked it up 2 years ago. I'm thinking its possibly my keyless entry feature thats causing the issues.

I have a thread sometime back - I pulled the drivetrain to do a rebuild over the winter so I've yet to really dig into the problem, but was wondering what features/ year yours is.

On my 94 the glovebox light works just fine, but it seems to be on a different fuse. Also sometimes my Keyless entry will illuminate - other times it does not.

Wondering if any of this is similar.

Thanks.

-Tim
 
It could be a similar issue. Mine is an 89 sc with pretty much every option available that year except the automatic transmission. Power seats, windows, mirrors, moon roof, keyless entry, etc. I know that my glove box is on the same fuse as the rest of the lights, and apparently my keyless entry is on the same fuse as well.

It also turns out I must have gotten the super fuse because it didn't blow, but while I was trying to make sure the keyless entry code i found worked (which it did) I noticed smoke coming from under the dash around the fuse box. So I quickly pulled the battery cable and then the fuse. Thankfully it didn't burst into flames. now I'm a little confused as to how the fuse didn't blow but yet the wires were getting hot enough to smoke.

I really don't want to tear into the whole wiring harness to fix this problem, or even really tear out the dash atleast not until I can afford to buy the black dash I want to put in. But it's looking like I might have to. Because without my keyless entry working I can't lock my doors (I got it with a broken key, and still haven't been able to get the broken half back to make a new key) And well the interior lights would just be a nice thing to have.
 
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