Fuse keeps blowing out!!
#16
Fuse 14 Blowing
I had the recall done for the cruise control and within 5 minutes of pulling out of the dealership the fuse blew out again. For some getting the recall worked but not on mine. I decided one day to just see if i could see any visible shorts. I took off the front door panels and went thru the wires and sure enough i found one in the wire connection for the interior lighting (btw my interior lighting and door chime has not worked for years, it just wasnt that big of an issue for me...till now). It seems, along with a few other wires wrapped in electrical tape and those black protective wire coverings, that ford used interline wire connectors and my wire had slipped out. I just replaced the connector and my lights started working and (for several months now) no more blown fuse! BTW the door open light would only work on the left side after fixing, so i checked the right side door panel and it was the same wire! I still find it odd that out of those four wires on both sides only those ones had come unconnected.
I do feel i should point out that i had found one other short. On the passenger side, right under the the glove compartment, all the way to the right, under the plastic panel that pulls off by the door, i found one other lone wire that the plastic had been rubbed thru and was touching the frame. I just wrapped it in some electrical tape. It's a little hard to find because there are alot of wires under that panel and i'm not even sure what it goes to but if the other fix doesn't work it's worth a try.
...Sorry if this is confusing, I'm just an amateur that likes to try and do things on her own without paying a fortune and wanted to let anyone know of the fix.
I do feel i should point out that i had found one other short. On the passenger side, right under the the glove compartment, all the way to the right, under the plastic panel that pulls off by the door, i found one other lone wire that the plastic had been rubbed thru and was touching the frame. I just wrapped it in some electrical tape. It's a little hard to find because there are alot of wires under that panel and i'm not even sure what it goes to but if the other fix doesn't work it's worth a try.
...Sorry if this is confusing, I'm just an amateur that likes to try and do things on her own without paying a fortune and wanted to let anyone know of the fix.
Last edited by scttmares; 03-21-2016 at 02:05 PM.
#17
My #14 fuse keeps blowing 1997 Ford F-150
My #14 fuse under the dash keeps blowing 1997 Ford F-150 4.2 V-6. It works my power windows and dome light. In my manual is says it controls the Interior lamps and accessory delay Relay.
I have been trying to find the problem for over a week now can someone please point me in the right directions
Thanks for any advise.
I have been trying to find the problem for over a week now can someone please point me in the right directions
Thanks for any advise.
#18
Fuse 14 Keeps blowing.
My #14 fuse under the dash keeps blowing 1997 Ford F-150 4.2 V-6. It works my power windows and dome light. In my manual is says it controls the Interior lamps and accessory delay Relay.
I have been trying to find the problem for over a week now can someone please point me in the right directions
Thanks for any advise.
I have been trying to find the problem for over a week now can someone please point me in the right directions
Thanks for any advise.
Anyways, keep in touch with me offline as well, and we can share what we learn with each other. scttmares at yhoo. I will be sure to post the solution to this problem once and for all once I figure it out. I've paid for and downloaded a bunch of diagrams for the wiring of these type trucks, and in looking over those, I've found that the 5 relays in the interior fuse panel all seem to work in conjunction with each other. The relays are controlled by the GEM module. The first and primary relay in the circuit is the battery saver relay. This is relay #2 in the fuse panel. It is one of the smaller of the two type of relays installed there, and if you pop it out, you can install fuse #14, and it won't blow. However, you will also get no functionality from any of the circuits that this fuse and relay control. The stuff not working after you remove the battery saver relay will include all the devices that were affected by the fuse 14 being blown. That's because relay#2 is the relay which ALL current for fuse 14 flows through. The battery saver relay is basically the on/off switch for the entire fuse 14 circuit. The GEM module controls when the battery saver relay is turned on and off. I don't know the logic of the GEM internals, but the GEM seems to activate the battery saver relay as soon as the door is open. This allows for the interior lighting to turn on so that you can see to get your key into the ignition. Other devices in the fuse 14 circuit will be activated once the ignition key is turned to the run or acc position. The most important of these devices is your windows. The battery saver relay will also cut power to the windows and lights after you have turned off the engine, and before any door has been opened. Once a door is opened after stopping the engine, the GEM cuts power to the windows, but continues to allow the lights to remain on.
What I've found through a bit of measuring and troubleshooting is that, at least in my situation, when the circuit isn't completely in an all out short situation, I still have roughly 4 amps of current constantly running through the Fuse 14 circuit when the battery saver relay is engaged, and when the door is open(key not inserted or turned). This may be the normal state condition for this circuit. I'll check the reading again later when the key is turned to the run position. Four amps isn't much, and it shouldn't be enough to blow the 15A fuse. The short circuit situation I'm facing is random, and at some point, when I slam a door, when something is moved, when a vibration in the body occurs, or whenever the right condition presents itself, an exposed wire comes into contact with ground somewhere, and that will obviously blow the fuse.
To do some initial troubleshooting, I briefly inserted a wire across fuse 14 position, and although it didn't immediately start glowing red, I could feel through the insulation that the wire was warming up. After a few minutes, something moved in the car, or in the wiring, and the short out condition activated, causing the insulation on the wire started smoking and melting off the wire. NOT GOOD! This can start electrical fires, and burn up your wiring harness, so be careful doing this kind of thing for anything more than troubleshooting for very brief periods of time. Never leave it unattended like that. By doing what I did with the wire across the fuse though, I was able to see what was and wasn't still working while the 'fuse wasn't blown'. During the brief period when the short activated, what I found is that the both the battery saver relay(#2), and the interior lighting relay(#1) were both getting super hot. The reason I know this, is because afterwards, both of the smaller relays were pretty hard to pull out. Apparently the plastic fuse panel was starting to stick to them. When I pulled both relays, a visual check showed that the metal blades of the load side of the relays #1 and #2 were discolored from the high heat. Although I do risk burning out the relays by doing this, I should also be able to find a melted pathway to the short if it keeps happening.
My strategy to figuring this problem out was to divide up the big Fuse 14 circuit into smaller individual circuits. To do this, I could just start cutting wires, but first, I thought I'd go the easy route and start pulling relays(switches that activate the other parts of the larger circuit). I'm using the relay sockets as test points in the larger circuit to figure out what part of the circuit is causing the problem. Based on the wiring diagram, since ALL current goes through the 'master switch' of the fuse 14 circuit(the battery saver relay #2), whatever part of the entire circuit that is shorting, is obviously also going to cause the battery saver relay to heat up. I started by watching the current levels change on my ammeter while pulling and installing different relays. What I found is that the interior lighting circuit relay(relay #1) adds about 3+ amps to the load when I install it. That seems a bit high to me, but I'm good with it. It's not enough to blow the 15A fuse. IMO, lighting circuits like these(without halogen or other such high wattage light bulbs) should be more like an amp or so depending on which type, and how many lights are on at the same time inside the passenger compartment.
Regardless of the whatever the normal current levels in the fuse 14 circuit are, I just figured that if I pull relay #1, and that prevents fuse 14 from blowing any more, at least I will be able to use my windows. If you are in need of the interior lights though, of course they won't work with relay #1 pulled out. As long as I can keep my windows operating, I'll be able to pass my safety inspection while I work to figure out the shorting issue in the lights part of the larger circuit. By subdividing the circuits using the relays, I will be able to narrow down the general location of the short in the wiring. If the fuse stops blowing with the interior lighting relay removed, then that tells me that the short is located in the interior lighting section of the fuse 14 circuit. I'm also considering seeing if I can find a light bulb/power resistor combination that can handle the current, and then just install that into the fuse 14 position. That way, I might have a way to monitor the varying current levels in that circuit. I might also be able to watch the intensity of the light as I bang and move things around. While I'm moving the cabling, if it gets super bright, then I have found the area of the short. Once, all I did was close the passenger door, and the fuse blew. It may be over on the right side of the wiring harness.
Last edited by scttmares; 03-21-2016 at 02:51 PM.
#19
Fuse blowing
The 5 amp fuse that controls the interior dome ligts, the windows, the wipers, but most important the gear shifter keeps blowing out. After it blew out for the first time I replaced it, it only lasted about a month before it blew out again, since then it has blown out twice in the same day. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Using the override for the gear shifter to get it out of Park is no fun. thanks,
Thanks for any help
#21
Fuse 14
Had same problem. Fuse "14" on my 1999 f150 4.2 gave me problems. Ended up being relay #4 in the dash fuse panel. Went thru everything and ended up being a 10 dollor relay. Was caused by wires in dome light exposed and touching the metal roof. If windows etc. Stop working there is obviously exposed wired somewhere touching metal or another wire. Untill the wires are found and addressed will keep blowing. In my case it would blow fuse 14 and relay 4..
#22
Speed controll recall
I vought my 1999 f150 xlt from a friend . I heard on here about a recall. Does that mean if you bought the truck third party and not directly from a dealer you can take it to ford for help? I have always bought my vehicles with cash and never leased, will i be able to get recall help?
#23
That is a cruise control recall and applies to any owner regardless of truck age. Go to this site and enter your VIN:
https://owner.ford.com/tools/account...e/recalls.html
Any Ford dealer will do the recall at no charge.
Depending on state of registration, there is also a recall on the gas tank straps.
https://owner.ford.com/tools/account...e/recalls.html
Any Ford dealer will do the recall at no charge.
Depending on state of registration, there is also a recall on the gas tank straps.
#25
Shorted Fuse 14: So, did you fix your own problem???
@Jkelsey82:
[QUOTE=Jkelsey82;5204684]Had same problem. Fuse "14" on my 1999 f150 4.2 gave me problems. Ended up being relay #4 in the dash fuse panel. Went thru everything and ended up being a 10 dollor relay. Was caused by wires in dome light exposed and touching the metal roof. If windows etc. Stop working there is obviously exposed wired somewhere touching metal or another wire. Untill the wires are found and addressed will keep blowing. In my case it would blow fuse 14 and relay 4..[/QUOTE
So, did you replace the relay, or did you fix the wiring, or did you do both? Did you actually find exposed wires in your truck, or were you just making an assumption that that's what the problem likely was? I just pulled a relay(I think relay #2), to get my fuse 14 to stop blowing. I'm getting tired of not having interior lights though. Would be good to fix the shorting problem for good. I pulled my dome light and checked it, but I didn't see anything obvious. Need to track this down.
[QUOTE=Jkelsey82;5204684]Had same problem. Fuse "14" on my 1999 f150 4.2 gave me problems. Ended up being relay #4 in the dash fuse panel. Went thru everything and ended up being a 10 dollor relay. Was caused by wires in dome light exposed and touching the metal roof. If windows etc. Stop working there is obviously exposed wired somewhere touching metal or another wire. Untill the wires are found and addressed will keep blowing. In my case it would blow fuse 14 and relay 4..[/QUOTE
So, did you replace the relay, or did you fix the wiring, or did you do both? Did you actually find exposed wires in your truck, or were you just making an assumption that that's what the problem likely was? I just pulled a relay(I think relay #2), to get my fuse 14 to stop blowing. I'm getting tired of not having interior lights though. Would be good to fix the shorting problem for good. I pulled my dome light and checked it, but I didn't see anything obvious. Need to track this down.
Last edited by scttmares; 10-24-2016 at 08:41 AM.
#26
Yes i actually found exposed wires. I found 2 exposed sections that were under the driver side window switch. Also a small portion somehow got exposed above the dome light.. once i taped them up and replaced the relay its worked fine. There seems to be quite a bit in the electrical thats associated with that. I have a diagram i will post if thatll help any. It seemed to me like if anything in the system was shorting it would short my light. Hence window switch wires touching afgecting lights as well. I am new to this forum so i have to figure out how to upoad it but i will post the electrical diagram i have in a minute. Good luck
#27
#30
This problem with these trucks is so widespread, so troublesome, and so hard to pinpoint because of its intermittent nature, that the more detailed information you can provide, the more helpful your information will be, and the more that literally thousands of owners will be helped in getting their trucks fixed properly. Any detail diagrams, whether done on the computer or hand drawn, pictures, or very detailed text description of where you found the problems would be of great help.