2001 Ford Escort Instument Illumination and Exterior Lighti

2001 FORD ESCORT
62,000 MILES • 4 CYL • 2WD • MANUAL
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VASQUEJJ
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About a week ago, I noticed that my instrument panel lights were not working, Prior to this incident my car would not start I located the problem and it was a bad negative terminal on the battery, I had a temporary fix in which I crimped vice grips to lead, so I could drive my car. The proplem with the illumination was a blown fuse. I replaced the fuse and not five minutes later the fuse blew again. I replaved the bad terminal with a new one, and attempted to replace the fuse again, with the same results. Do you know what this problem could be caused by?
Sep 26, 2009 at 7:26 AM
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JDL
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Welcome to the forum. Which fuse is blowing, tail-lamps fuse? Does the fuse blow as soon as you plug it in?
Sep 26, 2009 at 2:47 PM
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VASQUEJJ
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Yes the fuse that blows is the tail lamps fuse which also controls my instrument panel illumination. The fuse does not blow as soon as I plug it in, it blows soon after I would say about 3-5 minutes later, but it has done this two times know with the same exact results, being 3-5 minutes later it blows.
Sep 27, 2009 at 9:26 AM
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JDL
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Are you saying, the fuse blows without turning on the headlamps--key or anything? Voltage from the tail-lamps fuse goes to the parklamp relay, that relay is controlled by the headlamp switch. Might be a problem with a wiring circuit and not a relay or switch. You can pull the park lamp relay, use a testlight between the terminals for the fuse, with nothing turned on, if the lite comes on, there is a short before the relay.
Sep 27, 2009 at 11:11 AM