My Dashboard/Tail Lights won't illuminate

Question

1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse DOHC 2.0 GS

My taillights and my dashboard won't light up. Every time I replace the fuse (15A) it pops. I'm lost. I followed the wiring and disconnected some of it at several junctions. The fuse still pops. The light bulbs are all new on the dash and taillights. PLEASE HELP! I can't afford to get pulled over again.

Answer 1

ur gonna get pulled

Answer 2

you have a wire somewhere that has been pinched and is touching metal and grounding out or shorted take it to a mechanic and leave it alone before you start a fire.

Answer 3

Ok, if your going to do this yourself get a wiring diagram from autozone.com (its free) then I would start at the tailights and work my way forward. You can buy a tool that plugs into the fuse socket and will draw the short so you can more easily find the problem. Look at the tail light sockets and the wires when they go into the trunk first. Those are the usual places that get pinched-chaffed.  

Answer 4

mike is right. you have a short somewhere. i guess the first place id look is around the clutch and brake pedals. try un plugging the lite switch, trace wires to front marker lites too. good chance on same curcuit. any pinched or bare wire. is there a trailer hitch harness?  good luck.

Answer 5

it will be necessary to obtain a wiring schematic of the taillights to fix this problem.  You have a short circuit on the feed wire of the taillight circuit.  On most vehicles, the taillight fuse feeds voltage to the dash illumination fuse, so that explains why both subsystems have dropped out with one blown fuse.

With short circuits, you use a schematic to locate points along the circuit you can disconnect, attempting to cut your problem in half with every disconnect, until you isolate the area of the short.  

Without the wiring schematic, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

good luck

Answer 6

Check for recalls on this problem, ask other Mitsu owners or dealer (ask the parts guys or techs if you can).You are on the right track, trying to isolate the problem by disconnecting at junctions. Get a wiring diagram, try disconnecting  headlight switch, and dash dimmer.