Duffman

I like what Dave (Zs-ondabrain) has done in creating a kick panel casing for his front speakers. Also, am interested in seeing what Julio creates to put in speakers in the kick panel. There is very little space behind the kick panel, requiring some kind of spacer, even for a 4" speaker. Will be interested in seeing the finished product, as well as any other ideas out there that don't require butchering the door panel!

Will, any update?

I mean your float.

Is your sending unit bent too much, thus reading full all the time?

Thanks, Arne, will do. Checked the lighter, it is not connected at this time.

Confirmed my stereo was totally disconnected from the power source, also made sure the ground was good on the stereo, which it was. Don't think it is the stereo itself causing the problem.

Good points, E, and will doublecheck them all. I have checked on resistance, per Arne, and have found no resistance (0 reading) for all connections to clock, dome light, washer, glovebox and door lights. Does that mean anything? Would have thought that I would have run into some kind of reading by now, reflecting a short..

Thanks, Arne and Ron, it is frustrating, but there has to be a simple solution, as most electrical issues have one. Time to track the short!!!

E, I went back through and disconnected the clock, lighter, dome light, etc. I also confirmed that the door and step light connections were disconnected. I ran my multimeter off of the negative terminal and the post and generated a 5 mA draw (sound right?). Therefore, not too much draw, I guess. Now, back to the blown fuse issue. After disconnecting everything, including the AC and stereo, I still cannot see anything wrong. I still cannot place a fuse in the holder without blowing, even with the ignition off. I am assuming a short at this point, though I have no clue where it could be. Would a short cause enough of a draw to blow the fuse, even if the ignition is off? Still looking for answers!!

Thanks, Enrique, your time is much appreciated!

Sorry, this fuse does not cover the gauge lights, misread my diagrams! As Arne says above, it covers the dome light, glove box light, overhead light, step lights, map light, clock and windshield washer (if I read my diagrams better this time!). Will tackle each of these tomorrow!!!

Ok, I was under the assumption that the "Dome Light" fuse also covered the gauge lights, am I wrong? The reason I ask is that when I connect the battery, with the Dome Light fuse blown, the gauge lights all work when I turn on the headlights. But the clock does not work, which it did before. What a brain twister!!

Thanks, E, I am a neophyte electrician, as you can tell. I am reading the wrong gauge, will focus on the amperage. Is it normal to have a full 12+ voltage reading between my negative pole and cable? I can understand that it would read that between the + and - poles. I believe that something is wrong as I get that voltage even with the blown fuse missing! It is confusing to me ...

As I am thinking about this, I cannot understand the high current reflected off of the negative battery terminal if the fuse is blown. I shouldn't be getting the draw with a blown fuse, or I should have other blown fuses. Therefore, I must have something directly off of the battery that is connected through the blown fuse. With that in mind, will look at battery connections and see if something is amiss. Any other thoughts, throw them my way!!!

OK, finally have a chance to work on this problem. I believe I have a positive lead connected to a negative lead somewhere in my system. As I have said before, my Dash Light fuse (10 amp) blows. Checking the draw on the fuse terminals shows me 12.5 volts, which is identical to my battery current. I checked the reading between my - battery terminal and the cable and also came up with 12.5 volts. So, even with my fuse blown and disconnected, I am still getting a 12.5 volt reading off my negative battery terminal. I am thinking I am creating a circuit that is constant even with the fuse blown. I have disconnected my stereo, my combo switch and A/C, to no avail. Am thinking I have some ground wire that is connected to a positive lead. Would that cause the problem? Am I way off on this? Any other thoughts?

Thanks, Arne, good idea. I just cleaned up the signal switch a few weeks ago and may have reconnected something incorrectly.

Thanks, E, I appreciate your response. I will follow up on both ideas. Since the fuse is blowing with the ignition off, it may be the wires at the door pillars grounding out. Will let you know!

Any thoughts? I am thinking ground or a misconnection somewhere. What makes this weird is that the fuse for the instrument panel/dome light blows when the car is not turned on. Still checking around my connections, open to any ideas. Help!!:eek:

OK, my battery needed to be recharged as it died on me after 10 days or so of non use. I recharged the battery (w/charger) and noticed my 10 amp "Dome and Gauge Light" fuse was blown. I put a new fuse in and it blew as well, with the car turned off. Now, I shouldn't have any draw on that fuse with the car off, so I am confused. I hooked up a multimeter and noticed a draw of about 50 amps going thru the fuse terminals. I also checked the battery with the car off and noticed about the same draw on the battery, with the blown fuse out. A short somewhere? Any ideas of where to look? I just installed a new stereo, but the connections are not part of that fuse. I disconnected the stereo just to make sure and no difference.

I went with Dashboard Restorations in Washington state, had my dash recovered for $700, looks brand new!!

Thanks, John, Chris and David. As always, good insight and sage advice! I have hooked my battery up to a charger to get a full charge and will follow thru with the above suggestions.

My ammeter is reading a constant +15 to 20 at idle or while I drive. I have a 60 amp alternator with an internal regulater and Arne's upgrade. When I turn on my afternarket AC, the reading drops close to 0, back up to +15 to 20 when I turn it off. I am thinking the installation of the AC has something to do with it, but have checked the connections and can't see anything wrong. I just installed a stereo and it doesn't seem to have any impact on the reading. Was living with this for the last 2 months, but now the battery was drained this am. Any ideas?

Enrique, where do you put the 2nd roller on each door?

All good points, Dennis. I have just completed the interior, with FatMat throughout. I realize without the louvers or tinted windows, the comfort level will not be as good, but wanted to have better air flow control as a start. The window tint, and maybe louvers, will be coming!

Thanks, Jay, will look into that website. Carl, I have a call into HodRod Air, will see what they say this week as far as vent options..