Wiring Question

[bchcky]

*please admins dont move to zj, xj forum, i want opinions from cj, tj and yj owners who may not read that thread*

i have a 96 zj for starters. i had one of those 300k candle watt lights for night trails that plugs into the cigarette lighter. well...it blew some fuses (i think they were originally 15 amp fuses) so i got some larger ones (25 and 30) and put those in there....well now nothing works, cant get the radar detector to work, the light and i even found the lighter, and it doesnt get hot and pop out. so i checked the fuses again, and they're fine, so my guess is that it unfortunately shorted somewhere else in line.....

ideas anyone? could one of the wires really have fried? what should i check to help narrow down my diagnostic? thanks in advance!

 

[White]

pull the lighter, check for voltage off the center pin and ground. maybe you just cooked the socket.
But, yes by installing a fuse bigger then its circuit you could of fried a wire (usually followed by a bad smell) or even a fire..

 

[Snitty]

get behind there and check the socket to the assembly.. that will tell you if it is the wiring or the assembly... if it is the assembly, simply replace it.. if it is wiring... well... two things... you can chase wires (not fun)... or you can run a fused constant wire to the positive wire of the socket and not have to have the jeep on ACC to run power to the lighter

 

[Saurian]

Anyone know if that year still incorporated fusible links (wires that were designed to melt, before the introduction of those big, fat Maxi-Fuses)? Running higher amperage than the circuit was designed for by fuse could have caused one of them to go, just an idea. Failing that, if other things are not working, it is probably a wire that was not designed to melt...

 

[bchcky]

alright so i guess i'll pull it out, look for anything obvious, and if i see nothing i'll check it with a voltmeter, thanks.

 

[firemanharry]

Check for power on both sides of the fuse, then at the end of the power lead plugged into the back of the lighter. If you have power up to this point and nothing coming through the socket then replace the socket and see what happens. If I recall right, the factory sockets are kind of cheesy anyway.

 

[WeRd2UrMuDdEr]

Being the car audio fanatic that I am, I know that one of the biggest no no's is to NEVER NEVER NEVER put a differently rated fuse/any other type of material that would pass a different amount (higher) of current than the fuse was intended to pass. If you are blowing that fuse, there is a reason for it. Are you using a higher wattage bulb in the light than what it came with? If your cigarette lighter is only designed to pass 15A and you put a 25A fuse in it, and the wire beyond the fuse is only rated to handle 15A max, guess what. Fire in your jeep :shock: I would reccomend removing the larger fuse immediately. Were you constantly blowing the 15A fuses every time you plugged in the light, or was this just a 1 time thing? If it was just a 1 time thing, perhaps the fuse was just aged, and it was time to go.
edit: If you ever plan to do any kind of custom wiring in the future, a GOOD digital multimeter is your best investment if you don't already have one. Also, i'm not sure what exactly this light is that you're describing, but if it has to be removed, maybe you can set up a run of 12 or 16GA wire directly off your battery with an appropriate sized fuse with a different type of plug in setup. Just an idea there.

 

[Snitty]

fusible links are the stupidest idea since (insert a stupid idea from a long time ago).... they are tough to track, and inconvenient to replace... an inline fuse is just as simple to install, and easy to replace... why do they put in fuslinks from the factory.... i guess to save a buck.. stupid

 

[mud4feet]

............(insert a stupid idea from a long time ago).... ...

How 'bout moving the mirrors to the removable doors! :shock:

 

[88Wrangles]

Just be sure to carry a fire extinguisher in your Jeep!! I had a little wire fire this last weekend...not too big of a deal though, except it encouraged me to replace all of my wiring up under the dash.

 

[bchcky]

Just be sure to carry a fire extinguisher in your Jeep!! I had a little wire fire this last weekend...not too big of a deal though, except it encouraged me to replace all of my wiring up under the dash.

heh....never thought the reason i'm speaking of would be my cause of a fire extinguisher situation!

hopefully taking it apart tomorrow, i might be back for more help...but hopefully not!

 

[Snitty]

............(insert a stupid idea from a long time ago).... ...

How 'bout moving the mirrors to the removable doors! :shock:

that one fits

 

[jps4jeep]

No ZJ's never had fusable links. also check the accessory fuses, should be two in the car and one under the hood, you probably fried those! and yes putting in a larger amp fuse is a bad idea, te wire is not reated to handle tht mount of amps way too many OHms, you fry the line!


I remember back in the day when I was a car audio installer ( I say thi slike it was 10 years ago, but it was probably 4) We had a customer come in with a 80? Monte Carlo ss and he put a amp in! He had put the + wire on the - terminal on the amp and in short fried the amp, but did not know this so the 30 amp fuse in the 10 guage wire he used kept popping like it should have, so he up graded to a AGN fuse (those big glass fuses) threw in a 60 amp and the wire caught on fire and melted the sheathing, burnt the cars carpet and foam insulation, he brough his car to us to have it fixed, he had no clue what had happened, he thought the smell was oil burning (like thats any better)


God Bless Lynn Massachusetts

 

[XJNick]

Hi,

well...it blew some fuses (i think they were originally 15 amp fuses) so i got some larger ones (25 and 30) and put those in there....

Terrible Idea. You should never replace fuses with new fuses of a larger size, especially if the old ones were tripping. The whole idea is to protect the wiring. By inserting larger fuses, you allow more current to flow through wiring which is undersized for it, which results in the wires turning into power resistors (aka. they get HOT HOT HOT), and you melt things and/or start a fire :shock:

With that said, it is very likely that you blew a "master" fuse, which is one that is upstream of the interior fuse block and protects the main line going to the fuse block. A fuse like this would likely be 50-80 amps in size.

The other possibility is that you melted a wire at its connection point (where a hot wire usually fails first). If that is the case, you'll have to start looking in the wiring harnesses until you find it.

-Nick :!: