Old Sep 13, 2005 | 06:29 AM
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S4gunn
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Default Q: 4th Gen Electrical Prob. What have I done with my parking lights?

Well, first I'd like to admit that I'm an idiot. In my overzealous desire to entertain myself with my 92 Honda Accord commuter car by installing a secondary horn from a 70's Ford Torino (aka Starsky and Hutch), I'm somehow managed to screw something up in my 'small lights' system which causes me to continuiously blow out fuses every time I activate my parking lights (either by ARMING/DISARMING the alarm of flicking the light switch to the first position). I'd love any suggestions on what is causing this issue.
WHAT I DID (OR WAS ATTEMPTING TO DO):
* I grossly underestimated the current draw of a single horn (I hadn't mounted/wired the second horn in).
* Thinking that the current draw was going to be fairly low, I tapped into the power line going into my Radio (aftermarket deck).
* The power wire went into a button, through the horn mounted in the engine bay, and back into a ground wire of the radio harness.
* I figured if the current draw was too high it would just blow out the Radio fuse. As it turns out, that's not all that was blown out.

WHAT HAPPENED:
* I pushed the red button and everything went 'poof'.
* Looking at the driver's kickpanel fuse box, the Radio fuse was still intact. This got me to worrying.
* As luck would have it though, the backup/radio fuse in the engine bay fusebox was busted as well. After I replaced this fuse, my Radio and the digital clock were working again. Whew.
* The problem is, the 15A 'Small Light' fuse that's just in front of the radio fuse (moving towards the front of the car) was busted as well.
* I can replace the fuse without any problems but every time I activate the parking light, the fuse dies. I tried different fuses and while the parking lights will come on for a little bit with a 30A fuse, within 30 seconds these fuses still blow up.

WHAT WORKS:
* The Alarm arms and dis-arms.
* The alarm horn.
* The head lights and high beams work
* The lights in the front doors (courtesy lights) and the overhead light are operational.
* My radio and the digital clock (now that I have replaced the radio engine bay fuse)
* The overhead light
* The brake lights when you step on the brakes.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK (or works for a sec before the 'Small Lights' fuse dies):
* My parking lights (the lights in the corners next to the head lights)
* The instrument cluster lighting
* When the headlights are on (night-time driving), the rear lights don't come on. This is a pretty big problem b/c I need these to drive at night.

What the hell have I done? BTW, I've already removed the secondary horn wiring so the setup is identical to before I was monkeying around with the horns.

Q: Is this a short somewhere in my system? If so, what could I have shorted out with my moronic idea? Is there some relay that ties the inoperational systems together?

I'm hoping someone has an idea and that it's a simple fix (vs. finding some random short in a wire up in the dash). Otherwise, my commuter car will only be useful during the daytime. Sigh.

-g
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