help quick - 60 amp fuse blows - FIXED

[greatwhite02]

i have a 94 explorer, and i was driving home last night and the car just died out of no where, upon looking at it, i noticed the fuse 1 60 amp ignition fuse in the underhood fuse panel was blown, so i put another in, and as soon as the key gets turned on it blows, amd ideas on what commonly causes this or where to go with it, i dont see anything obviously pinched or rubbed thru
thanks guys

 

[Iron Weasel]

Fuse 1 is for the ignition switch, nothing else, so I would be willing to bet the switch is bad.

It's less than $15 for it, so it might be a good idea to just replace it.

 

[greatwhite02]

ok, ya the schematic showed it goin to the ignition switch, i just didnt know those could dead short like that
thank you very much

 

[Maniak]

If its not the switch, check the wires coming off the switch. Someone had hooked the stereo directly to the output of the ignition switch (previous owner) and that wire was shorting out (connection was taped).

When it would bounce it would sometimes touch and blow the fuse. Eventually it bounces just right and was a constant short.

~Mark

 

[Iron Weasel]

It could be a short to ground between the fuse and switch which would complete the circuit and cause the fuse to blow, but like Maniak said, someone would almost have to go under the dash and screw with the wires in some way to be able to do that. The wiring looms under the dash are fairly secure and aren't really subject to a whole lot of vibration, so they shouldn't be rubbing against something else frequently enough to rub through the insulation.

Also, the fact that the fuse blows when you turn the switch on but stays intact before that is what makes me think it's the switch. If it were a short to ground before the switch, then the fuse would blow as soon as you put a new one in.

 

[greatwhite02]

i replaced the ignition switch and still no luck, still has the same problem

 

[Iron Weasel]

Well, time to get out a test light and / or meter and track down where the problem is.

You have a wiring diagram, I assume?

 

[greatwhite02]

ya, i figured out that the root cause was a shorted ignition coil pack, as soon as that was unplugged the fuse wouldnt blow, replaced it and now all is good

 

[Maniak]

Woohoo.. Glad you got that fixed.

How'd you track that down? Did you did out the wiring diagram, look what was plugged in and start pulling things off and use a DVM to check if the short went away?

~Mark

 

[greatwhite02]

actually i left my dvom at work accidentally, so i had the wiring diagram and found out what was plugged in after the ignition switch since it only blew with key on, so i unplugged 4 things after the ignition switch and plugged them in one by one till the fuse blew, and this time it happned to be the coil

 

[Maniak]

Ahh.. at least you attacked it the right way. It only cost you 1 fuse to test it like that.. Good thinking.

~Mark

 

[94PurpleFordExplorer]

actually i left my dvom at work accidentally, so i had the wiring diagram and found out what was plugged in after the ignition switch since it only blew with key on, so i unplugged 4 things after the ignition switch and plugged them in one by one till the fuse blew, and this time it happned to be the coil

By any chance can tell us what were the four things you unplugged?

 

[ChildIdenticant]

By any chance can tell us what were the four things you unplugged?

Welcome to explorerforum @94PurpleFordExplorer / thread necromancer.
You are better assisted to create a new post.

 

[94PurpleFordExplorer]

Welcome to explorerforum @94PurpleFordExplorer / thread necromancer.
You are better assisted to create a new post.

Ok. Thank you.