[TR] Blowing Fuses

[Randall]

John,

Clearly you've got a short to ground somewhere, most likely in the wiring
IMO.

One way to avoid buying so many fuses is to temporarily jumper across the
fuse with a headlight bulb.  The bulb will light only dimly if at all if
there is no short, but light brightly if there is a short.  Thus giving you
a visual indication of when the problem is resolved.  However the bulb will
limit the current enough to avoid damaging the wires (any more than they
already are).  

My first step would be to turn off the control for the dash lights.  If that
removes the short, you know the short is in the dash light wiring (which in
my experience is the most likely place for it to be).  

If not, I believe you can separate the two red wires at the fuse block, to
see if the problem is at the front of the car or the rear.

Then examine the wires near each lamp holder for protruding bullet
connectors, exposed wires, cracked insulation, wires running across sharp
edges, etc.  Also try wiggling the wires to see if the short goes away.  If
so, you're close to the problem.

Otherwise, you're going to need some special tools.  There are commercially
available short finders, like this one :
http://tinyurl.com/5l6kjt
Or you can sometimes "make do" with the headlight bulb as mentioned above,
and an ordinary "Boy Scout" hand-held magnetic compass.  The compass needle
will deflect when it gets next to a wire carrying current.  

Either way, the drill is to remove all the normal loads (tail lights, etc.)
and then try to trace where the current is flowing.  When you reach the end,
you have to be near the short.

HTH
Randall