'02 Jeep Liberty Limited - Fuse 23 (10 AMP) keeping blowing
- Thread starter J.Hard90
- Start date
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Well, I had to come back and edit my post about everything working. I just got back from the grocery store and checked the tail light only to see that it was off and the fuse blew again. Really unfortunate, but now it's sending me back to the drawing board.
Before I left for the store, I had taken all 3 bulbs out of the tail light and I also removed the license plate bulb. I put a new fuse in and turned on the power to the lights. The fuse wasn't blowing so I began to reassemble everything with checking the fuse each time I put a bulb back in. Everything seemed to be holding together so I thought I was good.
I had checked the power to ground for resistance and had barely anything. So, I will go back out tomorrow and take it apart and check for a high resistance.
I'm considering just making a new ground and seeing if that works.
Before I left for the store, I had taken all 3 bulbs out of the tail light and I also removed the license plate bulb. I put a new fuse in and turned on the power to the lights. The fuse wasn't blowing so I began to reassemble everything with checking the fuse each time I put a bulb back in. Everything seemed to be holding together so I thought I was good.
I had checked the power to ground for resistance and had barely anything. So, I will go back out tomorrow and take it apart and check for a high resistance.
I'm considering just making a new ground and seeing if that works.
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So I went out today to take a look at ground (G310) and see how it looked and checked the connector (C310). The wires looked good, but I did disconnect the rear power outlet.
I also took out the upper brake light bulb. It was literally burnt. The bulb glass had a burn mark on it and the filament got so hot that it melted. So I removed that and left the connector unplugged. I put another new fuse in and both tail light park lamps along with the license plate lamp were all working fine.
I also took out the upper brake light bulb. It was literally burnt. The bulb glass had a burn mark on it and the filament got so hot that it melted. So I removed that and left the connector unplugged. I put another new fuse in and both tail light park lamps along with the license plate lamp were all working fine.
Billwill
Full Access Member
Ok I did not see this post!
So it would seem the taillight is the main problem.
When you say that you "unplugged the taillight assembly" do you mean you disconnected the plug right at the bulb socket or did you disconnect the harness a bit further back from the socket assembly?
Either way if you unplugged both ground and power connection to the socket and the fuse did not blow....if you have the socket assembly disconnected you should be able to measure between the two wires with your Ohm setting..should be no reading at all!
It does not matter where the ground point is as a loose ground does not blow fuses...what is probably happening is that the socket assembly itself is shorting power to ground or the power going to the socket has either melted the two wires together through the insulation or the power wire insulation going to the socket has worn through to the chassis somewhere.
Nothing wrong with upgrading a fuse from 10 A to 15 A....I have actually seen some changes in the fuse ratings from a 2002 KJ to a 2005 KJ where the circuitry is identical....Jeep obviously saw a problem and upgraded the ratings...maybe issued a TSB..maybe not. I will try see what fuses have been changed from 2002 to 2006 sometime!
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I checked the ohms and DC voltage to see if there was a difference between right and left side park lamp bulbs and found no issues. The issue I did seem to find was a melted upper brake light bulb (light above the tailgate). I took that out and got a new fuse in there. Everything is working good...at the moment. I'll have to wait and see if the fuse blows again. If it does blow then I'll have to remove the molding around the rear bumper since the wire runs across it. Finding the grounding point (G310) and Connector (C310) wasn't very hard. It also appears both tail lights, license plate light and upper brake light all go to Connector (C310). I'll definitely let you know if anything changes.
Billwill
Full Access Member
Great! Hopefully everything stays working forever.
Sometimes just the action of moving the wires and connectors around stops the short causing fuse to blow....hopefully the wires will not settle back to their "shorting" position!
When I first started working on machines at IBM after finishing College I was working on a machine that kept blowing a fuse.
I was scratching my head like crazy until a more experienced co-worker asked me if I was fitting a "Slow Blow" fuse!
What is that I asked...he pulled one off the shelf...normal fuse was a wire in a clear glass cylinder...this one you could not see the wire as it was encased in some substance that cooled off the fuse wire....worked fine from then on!
Sometimes just the action of moving the wires and connectors around stops the short causing fuse to blow....hopefully the wires will not settle back to their "shorting" position!
When I first started working on machines at IBM after finishing College I was working on a machine that kept blowing a fuse.
I was scratching my head like crazy until a more experienced co-worker asked me if I was fitting a "Slow Blow" fuse!
What is that I asked...he pulled one off the shelf...normal fuse was a wire in a clear glass cylinder...this one you could not see the wire as it was encased in some substance that cooled off the fuse wire....worked fine from then on!
I have a similar issue with fuse #23 on my 02 Liberty Sport 3.7L
At first is was continually blowing fuses, at the time I had another problem of the rear lift gate door reading as always open, and the locks would continually lock until the battery died. I unhooked the rear wiring assembly that controlled the locks, and now there is no more locking issues.
My only issue now is that the rear left tail light isn't working, and the license plate bulb isn't working.
The tail light bulb isn't the issue, as the brake light on that side still works, (They use the same bulb).
Last week I pulled out and swapped the tail light bulb & bulb holders that pop in and out. When I did so, it blew the left sides bulb which I replaced, and popped fuse 23# again. I replaced the bulb and popped it back in, and replaced the tail light bulb. Thus far the fuse isn't popping but I still don't have a rear left tail light, or plate light. All brakes etc working fine. Recently the rear wiper stopped working, which I think the motor may be the culprit.
I think the rear tail light and license plate bulb feed off one another, so I think my problem is in there somewhere.
At first is was continually blowing fuses, at the time I had another problem of the rear lift gate door reading as always open, and the locks would continually lock until the battery died. I unhooked the rear wiring assembly that controlled the locks, and now there is no more locking issues.
My only issue now is that the rear left tail light isn't working, and the license plate bulb isn't working.
The tail light bulb isn't the issue, as the brake light on that side still works, (They use the same bulb).
Last week I pulled out and swapped the tail light bulb & bulb holders that pop in and out. When I did so, it blew the left sides bulb which I replaced, and popped fuse 23# again. I replaced the bulb and popped it back in, and replaced the tail light bulb. Thus far the fuse isn't popping but I still don't have a rear left tail light, or plate light. All brakes etc working fine. Recently the rear wiper stopped working, which I think the motor may be the culprit.
I think the rear tail light and license plate bulb feed off one another, so I think my problem is in there somewhere.
Billwill
Full Access Member
The tail light and the brake light may physically use the same bulb but they use different filaments within the glass bulb so you cannot say that the tail light bulb is not the issue.
The rear tail light and licence plate light are effectively on the same circuit. You need to download the 2002 Jeep KJ Service Manual at the same place as the previous poster download his Manual.
www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/
The Wiring Diagrams are in Section 8W.
Then use a Multimeter to see where the +12 volts is going missing as regards the rear tail light...measure the 12 volts with reference to ground/chassis and also with reference to the ground going to the bulb itself.
Also replace the fuse #23 with a 15 Amp fuse as done by the previous poster.
The rear wiper not working can be a complex issue other than the motor itself being bad.
The rear wiper will not operate unless it is happy that the rear gate and the glass are firmly in place...it gets this information from the BCM mainly. Once again use the wiring diagram for this circuitry and start with the basics like a blown fuse!
The rear tail light and licence plate light are effectively on the same circuit. You need to download the 2002 Jeep KJ Service Manual at the same place as the previous poster download his Manual.
www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/
The Wiring Diagrams are in Section 8W.
Then use a Multimeter to see where the +12 volts is going missing as regards the rear tail light...measure the 12 volts with reference to ground/chassis and also with reference to the ground going to the bulb itself.
Also replace the fuse #23 with a 15 Amp fuse as done by the previous poster.
The rear wiper not working can be a complex issue other than the motor itself being bad.
The rear wiper will not operate unless it is happy that the rear gate and the glass are firmly in place...it gets this information from the BCM mainly. Once again use the wiring diagram for this circuitry and start with the basics like a blown fuse!
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I have a youtube video under Joe H. about going to the junkyard and showing the circuit, wires, ground all go and how to access them. It's fairly easy come to find out and I'm a complete amateur with basic tools.
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I took just about everyone's help and tried everything out until I found what essentially fixed mine.
Unhook the left tail light assembly and check the bulbs/bulb sockets for damage to the bulbs or burn marks and do the same thing for license plate lamp and overhead rear break light.
What I found out was the overhead rear break light bulb got way overheated and burned/melted. I removed the bulb, put a new fuse in started reconnecting (then checking the fuse after reconnecting) until the fuse would blow. Everything is working the way it should except for the overhead rear break light. I'm going to replace it with a good bulb and see what happens.
That was the sum of my problem. I did other things like replace the park lamp relay, tail light housing, individual bulbs even way before I looked at that overhead rear break light. I only decided to look at it after looking at the wire diagrams a lot of times.
None the less I still have more work to do, but I'm doing it myself and learning along the way. Lots of reading and learning for me.
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