Fuses melting and blowing please help

[watts]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to forums so please bare with me, i have a dodge dart and a ragtop cuda and have recently bought myself a m1008 (don't hate me for also lovin mopars), my truck is all stock apart from some bigger dia tires, its in the 3 colour camo and turns every head here in the UK.
I have one slight problem and hopefully someone may be able to help.

The fuse for the headlights gets so hot it melts the plastic on the fuse itself and then eventually blows, the last one was 30amps.

any ideas why would be very helpful.

many thanks

Watts.

 

[FMJ]

Umm, you need to check for a short circuit with a meter, DON'T put higher amperage fuses in. unplug both head lights and check for short circuits......if you blew a 30 amp fuse you may have damaged the wiring already, you may need to hand over hand the wiring from the fuse box all the way to the headlights......

 

[CCATLETT1984]

check under the front battery tray, its been discussed as a known chaffing point.

 

[devilman96]

Sounds like a bad connection to me... Could be any number of things but tracing the heat source is usualy the quick way of finding it unless you have a load tester. Feeling along the harness to find the hotest point will sever just as well...

It could be the contacts in the fuse block itself.

 

[cranetruck]

Re: RE: Fuses melting and blowing please help

Umm, you need to check for a short circuit with a meter, DON'T put higher amperage fuses in. unplug both head lights and check for short circuits......if you blew a 30 amp fuse you may have damaged the wiring already, you may need to hand over hand the wiring from the fuse box all the way to the headlights......

Good advise.

 

[CCATLETT1984]

i forgot to ask, does the fuse blow immediately? or after some time with the lights on?

 

[mangus580]

CUCV Headlight fuses are known for being on the edge. I have seen a few fuseboxes that have poor sockets for that fuse, and/or are melted at that spot. Make sure your fuse is seated properly. And as stated above, look for wiring that is worn through.

 

[Jones]

Is this any time any lights are on; park, black out, turn signals or is it just the headlights themselves? Narrowing down the suspect circuits is a big help in ferreting out problems. I'd start by looking around any place where debris can collect close to terminals. My first thought would be around the underside of the headlight dimmer switch or any terminal blocks where wiring downstream from the switch splits off to the individual lights. If all that appears good then check to see if any wiring harnesses are missing their protective boots or grommets where they come through sheetmetal components; your vehicle may have insulation chaffed off from rubbing against a sharp edge. These can be sneaky as they're often on the underside of a wiring harness.
Happy hunting.

 

[chuck500cc]

BTW...Welcome.

Chuck XD Fan

 

[watts]

Cheers guys for all this advise, all the lights work and stay working for weeks, probably replaced the fuse three times in the last 4 months, ive checked and cleaned the fuse holder contacts will try under the battery tray and will pop the headlights out this weekend and check continuity, all in all sounds like its going to take a while to track down, i'll try all the helpful suggestions above and get back to you.
Many thanks
Paul.

 

[mangus580]

Paul, it sounds like you have an intermittent problem. I suspect you probably have a wire rubbing and touching only sometimes. It will be tough to find, but have faith....

 

[watts]

Thanks again guys for your help and support.