» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | looove 04-16-2024 01:18 PM 04-16-2024 01:18 PM 0 Replies, 1,517 Views | | | | | | 08-24-2007, 12:29 AM | #1 | Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: san diego Posts: 18 | Turn signal, gas, temp, rpm gauge not working Hi just earlier today after I started my car I noticed my turn signals were not working. Also, the fuel gauge, rpm gauge, and I think temperature gauge were all dead. In addition, the ac, and rear defrost buttons don't seem to work either (or at least they don't light up). The hazard lights, head lights, high beam, instrument panel back light, fog lights and most other things work fine. Upon further inspection, I noticed fuse 23 was out, but when I replace it and start the car, it instantly blows the new fuse. What could be causing this? I'm not exactly sure where to look. Any help is appreciated it. | | | 08-24-2007, 01:07 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Detroit, MI Posts: 585 | I had the same problem. I just kept on replacing the fuse. After about the 4th fuse it stopped. I'll try to find the thread of when I had the problem. | | | 08-24-2007, 01:56 AM | #3 | Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: san diego Posts: 18 | It stopped after replacing the fuse several times? Hmmm, I've popped 3 so far. Were yours going out as soon as you started the car? Thanks for the info! | | | 08-24-2007, 02:04 AM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Detroit, MI Posts: 585 | I think they did pop the second I started the car. I don't know why, but hopefully your problem goes away randomly like mine. I haven't had the problem since! | | | 08-30-2007, 10:03 PM | #5 | Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: san diego Posts: 18 | nope, i still keep blowing fuse 23 as soon as the car starts. i guess i'm going to check the different wires one by one. anyone have an idea on where to start looking? like are there some known trouble areas for 98ti's? and is it worth trying to figure this out myself or should i just take it to a shop? | | | 08-30-2007, 10:33 PM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,224 | it is worth trying to figure out yourself | | | 09-02-2007, 02:53 AM | #7 | Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: san diego Posts: 18 | Well still no luck. (or I should say only a little luck) The first thing I tried was to unplug both turn signal lights. The fuse did not blow so I thought I may have got it figured out. I then plugged in the passenger side turn light only. Fuse was still ok. So I plugged in the driver side light and it blew the fuse. At this point I was sure I had found the problem, but after cleaning up some potential trouble areas in the wire, fuse still blew. For sanity sake, I tried it again with both lights unplugged. Fuse still blows. So now I am back to square one. Does the fact that the fuse still blows even though these lights are not connected mean that the trouble is definitely elsewhere? I keep reading that I should check the grounds but where exactly are the grounds for these systems? I can only find one of them and that one seems fine. And what exactly should I be looking for on the grounds that would say something is wrong? I'm pretty lost here and am about to give up. Anyone know how much it would be to get a mechanic to fix this? | | | 09-02-2007, 02:55 AM | #8 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 9,356 | Quote: Originally Posted by deci Anyone know how much it would be to get a mechanic to fix this? | Depends how long it takes. __________________ ...steven BMW CCA #146825 1996 BMW 328ti • 2003 MINI Cooper S • 2016 M235i www.bmwcca.org | | | 09-02-2007, 03:28 AM | #9 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: N. Texas Posts: 187 | Have you made any modifications recently? Sometimes things get bumped and move around which can result in a problem. Did you throw something in the trunk? I actually am going to say that a ground would not be the problem directly. Something is grounding before its meant to ground, so most likely I would look at the power side of things to see where the issue is. Did you say that if you pull out all the lights the fuse still blows? If not, start with just one light at a time like it seems you were doing, try to pinpoint what happens when, and inspect those wires. | | | 09-02-2007, 04:51 AM | #10 | Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: san diego Posts: 18 | Thanks for the replies guys. I have not made any modifications recently or thrown anything in the trunk. I did however wash the car about two days before the fuse went out, but I had driven the car twice after the wash and nothing was wrong. Also, by now shouldn't everything have dried? As for the turn signal lights, even with both pulled out it still pops the fuse now. The socket of the driver side turn light did seem dirty, but the light seems to work just fine when I use the hazard lights? (And as I said previously, even unplugged, fuse still blows) Is there any systematic way to try to find the short other than eyeballing stuff? Like using a circuit checker or multimeter? Thanks | | | 09-28-2007, 01:24 AM | #11 | Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 56 | Hey, I had this exact same problem. I turned out to be a bad tailight. | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |