Stranded with blown fuse that keeps on blowing

GetLuckiFX

GetLuckiFX

Premium Member
Premium
Location
Hollywood, CA
Car
2004 Infiniti FX45
Name
Adam
Hey guys,

I'm stranded now away from home. Was about to drive back from the beach, get in and my parking/ tail lights, and lights on my radio, shifter are out. Find it to be 10A fuse behind the battery. I put a new one in and it burns out right away. What could be causing it? I am out of fuses and looks like I will be sleeping in my car, since I can't drive her with no tail lights.

I haven't done anything to her in months everything worked fine until now. Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
Same thing happened to me, it was a short causing the fuse to constantly blow.

Unfortunately you don't have more fuses to play around with but maybe you can swap a 10A from a non-vital function to the taillights for now? I would remove the side marker bulbs from the tails and also the parking lights first and try to see if the fuse still blows. In my case it was a LED bulb that was shorting everything out.

GL with the fix, hopefully someone can come to the rescue too
 
I think you could drive slowly home. Just dont make any sudden stops. I had a similar thing happen where my taillights went out due to a wiring issue. I just drove it home from an out of town show. It was a long drive, but zero issues.

Or if its really bothering you, you could swap a bigger fuse in just to get you home. Not really recommended, but ive done it in the past in a pinch. A 10A fuse is minimal draw, sometimes, a minor issue can cause it to blow. But if you put a 15 or 20 in and it blows immediately, something is shorting out and it wont be something like a bad led.
 
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Walked to an autozone 4 mikes down the road. Got a few more fuses. Got back, put a bigger one first and walked around the car to see if I could see maybe a light flickering etc.
well turns out someone must have backed into my FX, I noticed a smoke coming out of the bumper reflector, which is also now cracked, so seems like it got pinched by a piece of plastic disconnected it, swapped the fuse with the right one and problem solved, but thanks to some asshole who doesn't know how to get out of the parking space I have now a broken reflector. Hopefully no other damage to the bumper. Too dark to see anyways. But just glad to be home.
Thanks for the suggestions and fast replies. Made me feel a bit better. :)
 
Glad you got back on tbe road, Lucki. Too bad about the dutcher screwing your night up though. Just for reference, on another car long long ago, I had to up fuse sizes. It got worse later and I up'ed it again. Stuff started to heat too much and melt on the 3rd up size. For that car, a little melted plastic was the least of its problems. But now I know that 2 sizes were fine and the 3rd size was the breaking point.
 
Up'ing the size works in situations where you are in a pinch, but you should always go back and try to find the source of the problem. Chance are if you don't you will run into bigger problems down the road.

And electrical gremlins in a car like the FX would be hell to trace...
 
Adam, glad you found the pinched wire causing the fuse keep blowing out. I remember you had LED in there. Hope that no other damage other then the cracked reflector.
 
Thanks guys. Looks like I need to buy a new reflector. Whoever backed into the car literally pushed it in, small paint scuff that I already got rid off but no saving of the light. Cracked in 2 places with a small piece missing.
Hopefully I can find a used one. If not, hello
Mr Dealership ;). But yeah glad it's only this. Wouldn't mind sleeping in the car but after whole day of kayaking and all I was ready for the bed.
 
I wouldn't overlook the opportunity of how much cash you can save by sleeping in the FX, this incident may have been a sign.
 
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