My buddy and I installed a set of aftermarket fog lights on my Protege and they worked fine for a couple months. The only thing wrong was that I had not yet mounted the switch so it was dangling down around to the left of my feet because the switch was too big to go anywhere. When i finally got a smaller switch, the wires were just too short to reach, so my dumbass decides to just give them a little tug. The wires were still too short so I just put the new switch on but left it hanging down. When I tried to turn them on, they would't work, and when I checked, the fuse was blown. I thought it might just be the switch at first cuz the two were different sizes, with different size prongs for the wires, so i replaced the fuse and put the old switch back on, and blew another fuse. The only thing i could think of was that in pulling the wires, it had caught something and peeled back the outer layer and the wire was touching the frame or something. But I've checked the entire length of wire twice and can't find anything, and I just keep blowing fuses. What else could be causing this, or am I just missing and exposed part of the wire. Thanks.

 

I know it might be a pain, but I would re-wire the whole thing.

Pull out all the wiring, and re-install with new wiring you know is good. And make it long enough to reach your switch!!

You probably did make a tiny cut in the insulation, and I can't believe you can possibly check the ENTIRE length of the wire, unless you ran them along the outside of the car . Probably pinched it somewhere you can't see.

Just spend a couple of hours (if it takes that long) and do it right. You'll thank yourself in the end when everything works properly and you can sleep at night knowing your wiring is solid and your car is not going to burn to the ground someday.

~HH

 

Yeap, what he just said. You notched a wire somewhere, and that created an improper (extra) groud for you. You definately need to rewire it. Good luck.

 

I guess that's what I'll have to do then. Does it matter what guage line I use? Does it have to be the same as what came with the lights?

 

That would be optimal. Use the same gauge or even a little thicker can't hurt. Just don't go thinner.

~HH