chevy s-10 1988 taillights and dashboard not working and horn.
Asked by chief1954 Aug 16, 2015 at 12:48 PM about the 1988 Chevrolet S-10 RWD
Question type: General
check all grounds and looked fine so I ran a jumper wire from the horn to the radio, and
guess what everything works now,but still got to find the short someplace but rite now I'm
leaving it alone cuz its working.
7 Answers
Goodwrench707 answered 8 years ago
Well, if you ran a jumper wire, and it was on the Positive (+12v), I doubt you lost your ground to these accessories. Dumb question, but did you check all of your fuses, one by one, pulling them out? There is also something called a fusible link. It protects the power feed on a wire to the fuse box. Some are located directly off of the positive terminal on the battery, some can be seen on the large terminal on the engine starter. Fusible links are roughly half as thick as the wire they are protecting, and about 6 to 8 inches in length. They should always be replaced with the same type/size link from your parts supplier. Never replace them with regular wire. These fusible links are designed to fail, to protect the heavier supply wire. If a fusible link has failed, check the rest of the wire it was protecting. Meaning that it didn't get rubbed through somewhere (very important). Failure to replace the link with same size or type, can cause a fire under the hood. It is also possible, due to age of the vehicle, that the terminal on the end of the link corroded off. If that's the case, all you need to do is replace the terminal, ****(Disconnect the negative "-" battery terminal, before attempting to repair a fusible link)**** If you don't, you find out the hard way, why "that" is important, and I don't wish this on you. I worked on GMC S-10's. GMC mechanic for about 8 years, 20 years + in automotive. Sorry, couldn't find an accurate electrical schematic, and can't work from memory. Too many vehicles under my belt, and I don't have schematics imprinted in my brain, but have vast knowledge of electrical circuits. If you can't find any problem, and still wish to use that jumper wire, at least put a fuse inline with it. That jumper, I highly don't recommend, but it's your vehicle. I hate to give suggestions of what size fuse to start with first, but to be on safe side, start with about 2-3amp. If it blows, you can go larger, in steps, but don't exceed 15 amp. Even this is wrong for me to suggest, as a certified mechanic. But I've also performed temporary, unorthodox fixes, to get my car home. The key word here is "temporary". I strongly urge you to research/find the root cause of the problem, or have it repaired by someone that has the knowledge. An unprotected jumper wire, can cause a car fire.
yes I did put a fusible line in for safety,and this week-end I'm going to check out the other fusible links also thanks ago for your help.I used a15 amp fuse seems to work ok just needed it to get back and forth to work. again thank you.
Thanks Goodwrench 707 now the week is here found one fusible line had a slice connector on it when i touch it it arc so I fixed that now my headlights and horn stays working and even heard the buzzer for my key switch, now Mr. Goodwrench707 having done all that still have problems with the dash and taillights not working and yes fuse does keep blowing out,I in my 60's and sometimes its hard for me to get on my knees to look for problems on wring so any help would be nice sir thank you
Goodwrench707 answered 8 years ago
Can you tell me which fuse is blowing? Is it the 20 amp "T/L CTSY", or the 15 amp "STOP/HAZ"?
Goodwrench707 answered 8 years ago
If it's the 20 amp T/L CTSY fuse, you can start by removing the rear tail light bulbs, and checking the sockets/bulbs/wires. A list of bulbs on this fuse. Rear tail lights. Front parking lamps. All, side marker lamps. License plate lamps. If you remove all of these bulbs, sockets look ok, and fuse still blows, you may have a rubbed through wire somewhere. If the fuse is OK, with the bulbs removed, start putting them back, one by one. When the fuse blows, you have narrowed your problem to that bulb/socket/wiring. Also, if you have a trailer connector/wiring, check that too. It can also have as short. Unfortunately, wiring diagrams for this truck, are anemic at best. I can't find what else works off of this fuse. I hope some of this helps?
Goodwrench707 answered 8 years ago
Also, if you or someone replaced one of these bulbs recently?.... I would start with looking at that one first. I've come across bulbs that look fine, but were internally shorted, or not properly seated in the socket.
