SL2 park fuse keeps blowing, and blowing

[Herbivore]

Hello, first post, admittedly not a good one haha.
So my car (99 sl2, 5spd) hasn't had any problems untill yesterday my dash lights/tail lights went out and i checked the fuse and sure enough it was blown so i replaced it and it blew, so i replaced it with a 15 fuse (its supposed to be a 10) and it blew that.

SO I unplugged all my tail lights to try to isolate the problem, still blew a fuse, unplugged all tail lights AND my dimmer switch, still blew. I am now fresh out of ideas.. any thoughts anyone?

[OldNuc]

One of the side marker lamps is full of water and salt. It is better to check each bulb socket instead of smoke testing by popping fuses. The owners manual has a list of every bulb circuit on that fuse. Do you have the owners manual? If not I can probably post it for you.

[billr]

Well I haven't looked at a schematic yet, but stop just replacing fuses... especially with higher amperage ones!

Edit: Just so we aren't guessing, exactly which fuse is it you are blowing? (Label on the fuse cover).

[Herbivore]

Update, Its the "Park" fuse, it runs the tail lights, dash lights and dimmer switch from what i'm aware.. I only replaced it with a 15 cuz it was the only one i had handy, i didn't plan on just upping it haha.
i just took out the radio cuz i was told that it runs off the park fuse for some reason as protection and still blew a fuse...
I do not have the manual unfortunately, used car

I have about 20 fuses so i'm not terribly worried about smoke testing as you put it haha. I'll go check my side markers right now. thank you for the tip! its very possible that they got filled with crap (minnesota blizzard for the past few days)

SO I just checked the side markers in the front and the passenger side is perfectly fine, however the drivers side marker is missing. not the bulb but the whole wire for it and everything, like it was never there... I tried to find out where the wire would have come from but I can not find it...

[OldNuc]

Well, that might be the problem. The fog lamp and side marker come from a single branch off of the lighting harness. Probably hiding behind the fender liner.

[Herbivore]

So I have my checked every bulb and connection on my car except the license plate illumination bulbs and they're all fine,
all my tail lights are unplugged,
my radio is unplugged,
my running lights are unplugged
and it keeps blowing as soon as twist the stick to running lights
Is there anything that I'm missing that could cause that? I'm out of my league here, electrical is not my strong point. I'm still used to engine repair, sorry for being so clueless here

[Herbivore]

Originally Posted by OldNuc

Well, that might be the problem. The fog lamp and side marker come from a single branch off of the lighting harness. Probably hiding behind the fender liner.

I'll try to poke around and find it but I don't know how long it's been missing for, it's quite possible it was missing the entire time. Would i be best able to see it from under the car or looking down under the hood/maybe in the fender.. I'll poke about for a few and see what I can dig up

Also, not sure if relevant but I have no fog lights *Shrug*

[OldNuc]

Drawings.... Disconnect all bulbs and clean sockets. See if that fixes it. Could be any one of these.

[OldNuc]

Originally Posted by Herbivore

I'll try to poke around and find it but I don't know how long it's been missing for, it's quite possible it was missing the entire time. Would i be best able to see it from under the car or looking down under the hood/maybe in the fender.. I'll poke about for a few and see what I can dig up

Also, not sure if relevant but I have no fog lights *Shrug*

Fog light wiring is usually present and it all forks off the main harness just behind the light. The lights are on the forward lighting harness, follow the bundle backwards.

[Herbivore]

Originally Posted by OldNuc

Fog light wiring is usually present and it all forks off the main harness just behind the light. The lights are on the forward lighting harness, follow the bundle backwards.

Thank you! I'll go trace some wires for a while.. extremely helpful!
I'm worried that it might be the fuse box itself or possibly something in my dash ( I do not want to take my dashboard apart, its effing cold and I work 12 hours the next 3 days)

[Madness10]

Could it be the multi switch causing the problem?

[Herbivore]

Originally Posted by Madness10

Could it be the multi switch causing the problem?

The multi-switch? you mean the actual stick that turns the lights on/off?

[OldNuc]

Yes, that is what he meant. Bulbs first and then go from there all of these parts can be individually isolated. This could be nothing more than a failed park-turn bulb that has shorted internally to find them you disconnect all of them. Inspect bulb and clean out sockets.

[Farnuckel]

Did you ever figure it out? I'm having the same problem with the same fuse in my 06 Ion2; except when I replaced the fuse, the car did fine for a 10 minute drive, then blew again. I haven't started the process of unplugging everything, but I suspect it's the light switch itself in your case, and possibly mine.