HELP with electrical/fuse issue!

[KILLSHOTS]

Hey guys,

OK, here's the deal...

On Tuesday afternoon, I backed the car out, covered the entire engine/intake system with plastic sheeting and towels, went to town on the rest of the engine compartment with a scrub brush and hose, and then carefully hand-dried everything afterward. (I knew the areas I covered are NOT water-tolerant. Every other car I've ever owned has been fine with being cleaned this way under the hood, so I figured "what the hell?") So today (4 days later in the Arizona heat, so everything should be totally dry) I notice that my #1 fuse is blown. (radio antenna, A/C, courtesy lights) I went to replace it with the recommended 15 amp and it blows again as I put it in. I thought maybe the underhood lights got wet, so I took them apart. Nope. Just to be sure, I unplugged them and tried another fuse. Blew as I put it in.

It was OK before I cleaned the engine on Tuesday and now it isn't. As I mentioned, it should be OK with 4 Arizona days and a couple of hot drives to dry it, but something is still off. Any ideas?

Thanks for the help!!

[Franke]

Do you have a compressor? If so try blowing air over the wiring harnesses and any other areas where you had the towels. The towels may prevent water coming thru at first but when they get wet they tend not to function as well. Go over every area near the AC compressor and wiring behind the engine. I know how hot it gets down there but its not enough to clean water out of wiring and connectors and such.

[KILLSHOTS]

Originally Posted by Franke

Do you have a compressor? If so try blowing air over the wiring harnesses and any other areas where you had the towels. The towels may prevent water coming thru at first but when they get wet they tend not to function as well. Go over every area near the AC compressor and wiring behind the engine. I know how hot it gets down there but its not enough to clean water out of wiring and connectors and such.

No, I don't have a compressor, unfortunately. But if I understand correctly, it's the A/C compressor area I should be focusing on? When everything dries out, this issue should go away? BTW, I did cover the entire engine and intake with plastic, tucked it in everywhere, and then placed a towel over that just for extra protection. THANKS!

[Franke]

Looking at the FSM I would say that since its the courtesy fuse that's blown (15 amp) then the under hood lights seem to be the place to go including the wiring harness. Not the AC compressor as that is run off of a separate fuse (25 amp). I see that you already checked the under hood lights. The FSM shows the connections for the ctsy fuse are: lighted rear view mirror, LH door ctsy lamp, Console glove compartment lamp, heater and A/C control assembly, Amplifier relay (Delco Bose only), LH footwell lamp, RH footwell lamp, Passenger glove compartment lamp, LH engine lamp, RH engine lamp, Cigar lighter, RH door ctsy lamp, LH & RH cargo compartment lamps, Spare tire Lamp, Antenna relay. So these circuits need to be checked for a short to ground. Did you do any other work on the car?

[KILLSHOTS]

Originally Posted by Franke

Looking at the FSM I would say that since its the courtesy fuse that's blown (15 amp) then the under hood lights seem to be the place to go including the wiring harness. Not the AC compressor as that is run off of a separate fuse (25 amp). I see that you already checked the under hood lights. The FSM shows the connections for the ctsy fuse are: lighted rear view mirror, LH door ctsy lamp, Console glove compartment lamp, heater and A/C control assembly, Amplifier relay (Delco Bose only), LH footwell lamp, RH footwell lamp, Passenger glove compartment lamp, LH engine lamp, RH engine lamp, Cigar lighter, RH door ctsy lamp, LH & RH cargo compartment lamps, Spare tire Lamp, Antenna relay. So 1 of these circuits or more need to be checked. Did you do any other work on the car?

Thanks so much! Yes, I initially thought the underhood lights could be the source of the problem. I know they were DEFINITELY on when I started to clean but I can't remember whether they were on when I dropped the hood; just wasn't thinking about it. If I had to guess, I'd say they were off. But the weird thing is that I unhooked those lights this afternoon during my investigation (individual connections under each headlight) and I'm still blowing the fuse. Seems to me that this must eliminate those lights as a potential cause. Or am I missing something? Thanks again bro!

[Franke]

It eliminates the UH lights but does not eliminate the wiring and connectors back to the fuse box. There is a splice S241 which ties all of these together from the ctsy fuse. I'll see if I can locate where its at.

[KILLSHOTS]

Damn, just don't know where to go looking now. Just leave it alone and it will dry out? I also saw on the other forum something about problems with the cig lighter causing this. But nothing has changed with mine. Frustrating!

[Franke]

The splice I mentioned is inside the car near the radio rcvr box so that is ruled out. Since you worked under the hood it would seem logical that is where the issue lies and i would think it has something to do with the wiring harness.

[KILLSHOTS]

Well, thanks so much for checking for me!

[KILLSHOTS]

Anybody have any new thoughts on this? It definitely seems like cleaning under the hood caused this, but the only thing on this circuit that could have gotten wet is the underhood lights, and I've already isolated those. I've checked every connection that I can unhook everywhere, and NOTHING anywhere under the hood is wet anymore. Still blowing fuses as I put them in, though. I unhooked the negative battery terminal and put in a fuse, and the fuse lasted for about 30 seconds after I reconnected the battery.

PLEASE HELP!! Between this and the backfiring, I am frustrated beyond belief with this damn car.

TIA!