dash lights

[Lucille03GalantES]

k guys, newbie here.....
Just bought an '03 ES I4 at a steal of a price, but the dash doesnt illuminate. When I got the car they were out, as was the pass side tail light. Fuse for tail lights under hood blown also. I jumped on here and found out dash lights run off same fuse as tail lamps. Replaced fuse, tail lamp, dash lit up...for one night. Came back out next morning, no dash lights, tail lamp out again, and fuse blown again. Noticed tail lamp housing had about 1.3" of water sitting in bottom of it, so i cleaned that out nice and dry and replaced tail lamp bulb and fuse once again. Now tail lamps all operational, but no dash lights and fuse continues to blow. Any ideas? The dash bulbs do not light, but the indicator lamps on the dash (fog lights, cruise, etc.) all work fine. And the speedo, odom, etc, all work also....any help is appreciated. Checked all other fuses in both boxes and theyre all fine, replaced each and every last fuse. Also looked under dash closely for pinched wiring, etc. and came up empty......thanks again-

[littlerick]

did you find where the water was getting into the tail light housing? thats where i would start

[Lucille03GalantES]

yea it was cracked, altezzas in the mail should be here tuesday...

[Lucille03GalantES]

still blowing that fuse though has me stumped

[mrg7243]

bad ground somewhere??? or possibly a short

[Lucille03GalantES]

anyone know what accessories tie into that fuse? that way i could narrow it down a bit and troubleshoot the components

[Reelax]

do you have an aftermarket head unit (radio)? if it was installed poorly, it could be sorting out the illumination circuit.

[Lucille03GalantES]

it did have one in there when i bought it, im gonna rip it out tomorrow and see if thats the issue...i plan on replacing it anyway

[Reelax]

pay attention to the wire for illumination... it might be shorting or frayed or simply attached to the wrong. if that wire is shorting it will cause what you are experiencing.

[Lucille03GalantES]

Reelax you are the man homie!! That cheap ass radio was shorting the system, melted the wire for illumintaion in the harness. Removed radio, all works fine. I have a 7" Pioneer DVD player to go into the dash. My next question is when I install my new unit next week, should I tap into something else (climate control lighting) for illumination wire? Im not sure how far into the dash the wire is melted, I taped as far as I could see and reach with electrical tape. Thanks again, I now have dash lighting!!

[4g63lover]

You should just prolly use one of those ready made harnesses for 95-up Mitsus for your next headunit.

[Lucille03GalantES]

that harness was used...it fried the stock wiring from the radio plug up into the dash, not sure if it melted all the way to the fue box or not...question is once I do hook up the ready made harness for new head unit, should i tap the illumination wire into something else to avoin using the stock fried wire for illumination..