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so ive got this problem with my civic, its an 05 and the small light fuse keeps blowing as soon as i replace it and turn the headlights on. so none of my parking lights, front and rear, do not work. however the signal lights and brake lights work perfectly fine. ive checked to see if i have power going thru to the rear lights, and i got no power. im just completely stumped.

 
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Recent stereo install, or electrical work done ??

 
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as far as electrical work been done, the stereo has been installed for about 2 years now. about 6 months ago i hardwired a radar(from the remote wire and simple ground) other than that, nothing has been done so far

 
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A short circuit can be tough. You can put a small bulb or test light in place of the small lights fuse and it will burn bright as long as the short is present (and light sw on)

On some models the taillight wire feeding to trunk can break at junction point.... unlilkely to short to ground though.

 
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thanks alot for the help. i still havent figured it out. if i do i will put up a post just for all the others.

 
Rep Power: 188

Have you checked the fuse under the hood? Since it does it when you turn the lights on the there is a ground in the power somewhere after the switch.. could be the ballasts on the headlight too.. or it could be your headlight switch(the thing you turn on your lights with).

Try unplugging your headlights and then turn them on, if the fuse blows its not the lights, unplug your radio and turn on the lights, if it blows its not cause of the illum wire on your head unit.

Basically you need to disconnect things on the circut and test it till you find the problem..

HTH

 
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The small lights are ... parking, tail, license, side marker and dash & audio illumination.

 
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yeah its weird cause the brake lights work when i step on the brake, the turn signals work, its just the parking lights. the front corner lights dont light up when the lights are on along with the rear tail lights, license lights. however the dash still lights up along with the audio illumination. its the small light fuse that keeps burning out when i replace it and switch the lights on.

 
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so i tried the trial and error process, turns out its my headlights. not too sure where to go from here, so if you could help that would be great

 
Rep Power: 188

Glad you found it. Now gotta check the wires and make sure none of them are bare or exposed, not loose... I know you can test the switch itself but I dont have that test on hand right now...Could be a simple as one of your bulbs being bad to needing either a new on/off switch or new headlight assembly.

Unfortunatley more trial and error is ahead.. Electrical issues are a PITA.

 
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So...does the fuse blow at the 1st click ? or at the 2nd click of the headlight switch ??

 
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so i have eventually figured out the problem. turns out it was the headlights that were tripping the fuse. i unplugged them and everything worked fine, and then the weird part is i replugged my headlight bulbs back in and now everything works perfectly fine. what im thinking is that it could be just a bulb malfunction, perhaps the grounding on the bulb or bulbs isnt the greatest. im posting this up just so that it could possibly help another out. just try unplugging your headlight bulbs, turn the light switch all the way and see if the fuse trips, if not, theres an issue with the headlights

 
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Thanks for the update and glad you figured it out, These things are always a pain, especially since it can be as small as a loose connection or bad bulb.

 
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I have this same problem, it's so frustrating trying to figure it out! I've done everything other remove the seats and carpet and trace every wire. I have traced from the taillight to the conjunction by the passenger door, the switch, fuse and fuse box. I've yet to find the problem and I can't get my car safetied without these lights working.


Does anyone have any advice on what the issue could be? Even if I unplug the headlights and turn the switch and the fuse still blows and neither the rear park lights nor the front side markers work.

 
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You are talking about fuse number 2 (15A) in the under-hood fuse box, correct?

 
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yes that's correct, the blue 15amp #2 under the hood.

 
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That fuse powers quite a few things: multiplex, front side markers and parking lights, taillights, license plate lights, shift position indicator light, basically all lights in the dash.

Have you made any electrical modifications? You may have to start disconnecting things until the fuse doesn't blow anymore.

 
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Thank you for your response!

Yea I looked online to see what exactly that fuse sends power to.

I have not made ant electrical modifications. It looks like the previous owner had new headlights, a new stereo deck, and fog lights. I have tried unhooking everything including the taillights. and the fuse still blows. I have not tried disconnecting the stereo, I'm also trying to avoid stripping the interior of the car and tracing wires, that's like a last resort option.

Is there a way I can wire a light or something so I don't keep blowing fuses?

 
Rep Power: 221

not too hard to pop the stereo out, make sure the orange illumination wire on the stereo isn't connected, have you tried disconnecting all the different components that fuse feeds? because once you find that component then that's where the problem is. if everything is disconnected and the fuse still blows then it may be a problem with the fuse box itself

 
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Thank you @Colin42 for your input.

I will give it another run around unhooking everything, I've tried disconnecting all the components except for disconnecting the stereo. I will include the stereo this time around, and I will update you with my results.

Thanks again!

 
Rep Power: 133

Another vote for disconnecting the illumination connection on the aftermarket stereo.

 
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Thanks for everyone's help I have finally found the problem!

@NDNV @Colin42 you guys were correct the harness for the new radio there is a short somewhere there or its the illumination wire. Without the aftermarket stereo harness connected the fuse is okay as soon as you connect the aftermarket harness the fuse pops. I left the lights on for a few minutes to see if I was mistaken the lights work and they turn on and off no problem.

Thanks so much for the input, so happy to have this fixed

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!