HELP!!! Fuse #17 - Delayed Acc. Keeps Blowing

[Sean215]

Can I replace a 15A fuse with something higher (safely)??

Last year, I decided to replace all my interior light bulbs with LEDs so everything would be brighter. And everything worked great, never had a problem. But now, I decided to replace my puddle lamps with LEDs and now I blow #15 or #16 fuse (whichever regulates all interior lights + radio) everytime. I guess I'm drawing too much current now with puddle lamps being LED (about 0.3A per side). I'm not sure how much current I'm drawing with everything else.

But if I replace the 15amp fuse with say 20amp, how unsafe is that? What kind of potential problems would I be looking at?

Any ideas?? Thanks for replying.

 

[waskly]

Last year, I decided to replace all my interior light bulbs with LEDs so everything would be brighter. And everything worked great, never had a problem. But now, I decided to replace my puddle lamps with LEDs and now I blow #15 or #16 fuse (whichever regulates all interior lights + radio) everytime. I guess I'm drawing too much current now with puddle lamps being LED (about 0.3A per side). I'm not sure how much current I'm drawing with everything else.

But if I replace the 15amp fuse with say 20amp, how unsafe is that? What kind of potential problems would I be looking at?

Any ideas?? Thanks for replying.

a wire harness is made to that fuse, using a 20 amp fuse, on a 15 amp cir will mean the cir will probably burn, cause harness damage then pop a fuse.

 

[BigRondo]

I agree with waskly. DO NOT REPLACE A 15A FUSE WITH A 20A FUSE!

You should find out why the fuse is blowing and correct the issue. The fuse is there to protect you. That's exactly what it's doing.

The last thing you you want is for your dash to start smoking and catch on fire while you are tooling down the interstate.

Improper wiring and electrical work can be catastrophic!! Click here for an example.

Good luck and be sure to keep us posted.

 

[Sean215]

Ok, thank you for confirming what I should have already known.

I disconnected my new LED puddlelamps and replaced fuse #17 with a new 15amp fuse (same amp) and everything is back to normal. But I need to find a different way to wire up the puddlelamps because they won't work on the circuit they're on now; just too much current.

So can I create a new circuit or wiring harness that only supplies the puddlelamps? Can I fetch power straight from the battery? How would I do this?

Thanks for the warning example, Rondo. That is exactly the situation I'm trying to avoid. Also by the way, I used your write-up on how to change the heat blend door actuator a couple years ago and it saved me alot of money. Thank you for that!

 

[Sean215]

I'm thinking that if I use a relay I can solve my problem. I made this diagram to show how I "think" it should be wired up. Can someone weigh in here and tell me if this looks right or not? Do I need a fuse anywhere? maybe between the relay post 30 and positive wire of the cigarette lighter? Do the grounds look OK?

I'm sourcing power from the cigarette lighter (power port) in the center console because it is always hot and will need to be to power on the puddle lamps while the car is still off when I press the unlock button on the key fob.

Any help or advice is much appreciated so thank you in advance.

 

[harbuckle]

Thank you all so much. I've had this window, radio, fuse 17 problem with my daughter's 2004 Explorer she bought used. I'm an electronics tech in telecommunications so I had my meter out chasing my tail for days. I would never have thought to check the sun visors because it's not mentioned hardly anywhere. Sure enough I took down the driver's side visor and it had already been cut. So I took down the passenger side visor, unpluged it, popped a new fuse in #17 and PRESTO back in business. Thank you guys.

 

[harbuckle]

Yes, thank you waskly, same problem here on the passenger side visor, when I took the driver's visor down, wires were already cut (this was a used vehicle). Back in business after chasing my tail for 2 days!! Thanks again.

 

[Adolphus]

Bump...

I hope to dig into this today. Can anyone help? Thanks again.