Towing, Interior Lights And Blown Fuse Woes

[Jnick]

Hello.  I have a question on this topic... what driver's side rear ground?  I own a 1988 Comanche Pioneer and I towed for the first time recently.  I went to Advanced Auto and cut the old wire harness and soldiered/ taped the new wire harness together.  I helped a buddy move his lawn mower in the rain and I noticed my dashboard lights were not working.  Today, in the daylight I pulled the fuse and it was burnt to a point of a serious concern.  The dimmer and door chime10-amp fuse had a burnt hole through it.  It is funny as my gauges worked but when I put a new fuse to replace the burnt fuse, my gauges no longer worked, I merely put back the same 7.5 fuse (because I did not have another one) and my gauges illuminated again.  But when I drove the truck up my driveway and turned on the radio, the truck almost stalled.  When I went to go start it again it only clicked, but when I turned on the radio and tried to start it again- it started right up.

 

I seem to have some sort of electrical issues now, when before I never had ANY issue with this truck since I bought it- it always worked perfectly.  Was I supposed to ground something?  I just figured the ground wire was already set when I soldiered them. In studying the manual it mentions a 30 amp-towing fuse, which I do not have in place.  Should that 30-amp fuse be in there?  Any ideas on what is going on?  Did I just mess up my truck?

 

I am a bit confused and a bit worried now.

 

Thanks very much, your website has a ton of knowledge.

 

Jim

[knever3]

It sounds like you might have a bad fuse box.  Is your Comanche a manual?  If it is there is a good chance the clutch master cylinder is leaking onto your fuse box causing a number of bad things.  The fluid will melt the plastic and it can ignite with a short or an arc. 

 

The ground will be behind the tail light after you remove it.  If you can take some pictures of your fuse box we can help you out better.

[Jnick]

It is an automatic.  I can not help but to think it has something to do with my wiring harness.  I am a weekend mechanic, not really a know-it-all mechanic.  I could have done something wrong.  But all the lights did work on the truck and the trailer.
 
Most recent symptoms...  The gauges and the dimmer and the radio and the lights all work fine.  The truck will not start.  It does not even click.  No noise at all.  Then the truck went dark.  Then when I tried to start it again, the lights and radio came back, but the clock was reset at 1:00.  It previously (1 minute before) held the correct time.

 

I have a picture of my fuse box, but I can not seem to paste it.  What do I need to do?

 

Thanks,

 

Jim

[Jnick]

Please try this link.  I think I did it!!

 

 

Jim