Tail light and Front panel lights out!!

[cubdh23]

Hello, I need to get the expert advice of the panel once again.
I installed a new tape deck in my car and i only messed with the wires relevant to the audio. The cassette system works perfectly. Problem is the Tail light and park lights and front panel lights dont work. I checked all the fuses they are all good. I am completely stumped. No idea what could be wrong. Any ideas? Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Russlk]

The tail lights and panel lights are on the same circuit so you are alerted to a problem with the tail lights when the panel lights don't work. This is normally a fuse, but if the fuse is good, you have to trouble-shoot. Check for voltage at the fuse. If there is no voltage, check the light switch, etc.

 

[cubdh23]

Just checked the voltage at the fuse and there is Zero Voltage. I guess i have to trouble shoot tomarrow. Does this mean that the power wire is probably loose or something like that ?

 

[jrz126]

I had this problem with my parking lights, I just used the fuse to push and hold another piece of wire which i connected to 12V.
Seeems to be doing the job.

And i pushed it in so that the fuse is still in the circuit.

 

[Ravi]

If there is no voltage at the fuse, this means that you are not getting the power from the main wire. Probably you have messed up the wires during installing the tape deck.

If you can not fix the problem, alternative is to get a new wire from the battery up to the fuse. But make sure that this wire can withstand the current in the circket.

 

[cubdh23]

OK updated stats on the car problem. Thank you for the suggestions but i made a mistake in my initial post. I still have not figured out the problem but I have some additional information.
First of all it was the fuse that was blown. Inside the car the fuse is good but the fuse is blown near the battery. I replaced the fuse and in less than a second its blown again, and again and again. I disconnected the Tape deck then put another fuse and then the tail lights worked. I plugged back in the tape deck then when i turn on the lights the tape deck shuts off. When i turn off the lights the tape deck comes on. I did this a couple of times until boom, the fuse went out again. What the hell is going on??? Does this mean that somehow, somewhere in the wiring, the taill light wires and the cassette power wires are touching each other???? The tape deck fuse is rated at 15A and the tail lights is rated at 10A, i guess this would explain why only the tail light gets blown out and not the cassette fuse. Would you recommend i stick in a 15A fuse instead of the 10A for the tail light?? OR would this just mask the problem and cause danger? One last thing, the wiring harness that clicks into the tape deck, the power continous wire is kinda loose, that wouldnt cause this though right? Should i try using a new wiring harness maybe since the continous power wire is loose? any ideas would be nice. Thanks

 

[jrz126]

kinda sounds like you have a short inside your tape deck for the lights.
The loose wire shouldnt affect it.

 

[cubdh23]

So you are saying that i may have a short in the tape deck circuitry?
The tape deck was on my carpet at first and i found a bunch of black ants walking all over it. But if that was the case i would think the tape deck would not work.

 

[Johnson777717]

Cub,
What make / model / year vehicle are we talking about here?

Regarding your question about replacing a 10A fuse with a 15A fuse, I think this is a bad idea. This will only temporarily hide the issue.

I would not suggest running additional wires from the battery...by this, you're merely escaping the root cause with a band-aid. Try and figure out the root cause, and attack that, rather than building around the problem.

A good place to start is to study what you changed when you hooked up your radio. Think about which wires you cut or spliced, etc. If possible, try and rewire your system as it was before you installed your radio, then, wire by wire, re-install your radio...with each wire, test, measure and make sure everything works, then move to the next wire.

Also, if you have a wiring diagram for your car (automotive repair manual), that would probably help you a bunch. Public libraries often have these books if you're not excited about bying one. It's difficult to tell you what's wrong without being there, or being able to look at a diagram and study what has been changed. It's frustrating, but it's a neat learning experience. (Been in your shoes many times )

Good luck!

 

[cubdh23]

Thanks for the help. Well i finnaly found and fixed the problem. Not sure if it is putting a band aid on the problem but it works.
I realized that the GROUND wire for the tape deck, changes to 12 Volts when i turn on the light. So what i did is i just split the Ground wire from the Cig Lighter and hooked it up to the Radio. Problem solved.
And YES i am sure that that is the GROUND and not the ignition wire. For some reason it is crossed up with the Lights wires.