4g61t.org

I found that junction block, unplugged the plugs going to it and inspected them really well and plugged them back in. Joemoto gave me a list of things to look at as well to trace it down but unplugging the bulbs sounds like a great idea too. Basically I need to make time to do some troubleshooting. My wife drives it to work everyday and I work a lot at a bodyshop in the afternoons and Saturdays, church on Sunday and then it starts over again . I will make some time here shortly though. Thanks again for the advice!

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

kaeser1, looks like you were right.


I made a little progress this afternoon in the 15 minutes that I got to work on it before it started to rain. If I unplug connector C-58 all of the parking lights and the license plate lights work without popping the fuse. I guess this goes to the dash lights. I de-pinned wire # 8 which is G/W and plugged it back in and the fuse still doesn't blow so I've narrowed it down to this one being the problem. Here are the wiring diagrams for the Meters and Gauges section if you guys have anymore ideas for me to try.

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

Awesome work!

It looks like #8 goes right to the dimmer switch (rheostat). I think you have a bad dimmer switch. #8 goes right to the dash illumination but is branched off to the dimmer switch to vary the voltage going to the bulbs. Also check the pins #52 & #56 on plug D-02 to make sure that are making 100% contact. See if you can track down where #1 goes on plus D-19 (dimmer), I can't find it on the diagrams above.

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1989 Mirage Turbo - 310whp - Sold
1998 Eagle Talon TSi AWD - Sold
2005 Legacy 2.5GT - Sold
1989 Dodge Colt GT

I will check that out tomorrow if I can find time. The dimmer only has 3 wires so pin 1 is empty. Something else I noticed and I'm not sure if this will help or not but now the turn signals are not working again with that G-W wire unplugged. It's weird that they worked before when the parking lights and dash lights didn't and the fuse popped. Also the back lights for the HVAC stuff is working now. I am making progress though so its getting close.

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

Another slight update, the turn signals are indeed working. I'm assuming I didn't have the car switched on last night when I tried them . From what I can tell when the G-W wire on C-58 (pin #8) leaves the front of the fuse box under the dash it goes up to the dimmer and illumination lights. This morning I pulled the cluster, unplugged the dimmer (D-19) and both of the small illumination plugs (D-04 & D-21) and put pin 8 back into C-58 and tried to plug it in and the fuse popped again.

Also when the fuse is good if I unplug C-58 and put a test light onto the pin sticking out that pin 8 would plug into and turn on the parking light switch it has power. What I don't understand is that if I unplug everything that the G-W wire goes to after C-58 then why does this fuse still pop? Does this mean that the problem lies in between C-58 and the other 3 plugs (D-19, D-04 & D-21) somewhere?

I'm getting so close!!!

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

Drawing 8-197 shows that the G-W wire splits off and goes to the cluster switch illumination light, have you tried tracking that down? Can something be grounding itself out on a piece of metal? You have narrowed down the circuit that is giving you the issues, you will just have to track down all of the end points see if there are any issues there. Wish I could be there to help... Its so much easier to troubleshoot when its hands on.

_________________
1989 Mirage Turbo - 310whp - Sold
1998 Eagle Talon TSi AWD - Sold
2005 Legacy 2.5GT - Sold
1989 Dodge Colt GT

I took my ohm meter and ohmed out all of the G-W wires around the cluster and they are all hooked together so there are no broken wires or anything. They branch off and go behind the cluster so its part of the dash harness. No real way to check it that I know of other than pulling it back out and inspecting it.

_________________
93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

[quote= What I don't understand is that if I unplug everything that the G-W wire goes to after C-58 then why does this fuse still pop? Does this mean that the problem lies in between C-58 and the other 3 plugs (D-19, D-04 & D-21) somewhere?

I'm getting so close!!![/quote]

Since you have isolated the short to the load attached to C58-8; while pin 8 is removed from C58 measure the resistance from pin 8 at the wire to a good ground.
Were you able to disconnect the G-W wire to the Cluster Switch Illumination light?
If you have isolated it you should measure infinite or a very high resistance value to ground. If the value is very low or zero it is not isolated from the short to ground.

If shorted to ground you can double check and move wires around while looking at the meter for a change. Instead of using the meter you may be able to jumper your test light between C58-8 and the wire to pin-8; while the short is present the light should be lit and when the short is removed the path to ground is eliminated and the test light will go out.

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89 Colt GT 1.5 auto- conversion 4g63t 5-spd, L2A...
89 Colt GT 1.6 5spd- donor
92 VR4 32/1000 SOLD

I didn't remove the illumination wire from the cluster but I removed the entire cluster and all of the things that plugged into anything that the G-W wire was on. I'm thinking this should have eliminated any chance of it being something besides the wiring causing the problem. Does this make sense?

Not sure that I'm following you about using a test light to jumper C-58 pin 8. Wouldn't this be the same thing as just plugging it back in? If so the fuse will pop under the hood again as soon as I turn on the parking lights unless there is something I'm missing.

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

Yes, as long as the voltage on pin-8 has been isolated from any designed load other then the wire harness.
With a good fuse and a test light across the de-pinned 8 ( test light being store bought, an 1157 as you mentioned, or whatever was handy, provided it has a 12volt rating) the light will act as any tail light that has 12 volts on one side and ground on the other side. It will light up and the fuse will not blow; it will light in your situation because there is a short to ground that is causing the fuse to blow. This set-up allows you to view the test light and move the wires around. When the light goes out you have broken the path to ground(your short); a good look at that section should reveal the problem.

From your account that the fuse did not blow when pin 8 was removed, the short to ground is then downstream from there, so to speak. Use of a light is just meant to be a convenient way of seeing when you eliminated the short without blowing a fuse whenever you want test the circuit.
Hope this helps some...

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89 Colt GT 1.5 auto- conversion 4g63t 5-spd, L2A...
89 Colt GT 1.6 5spd- donor
92 VR4 32/1000 SOLD

So I hook one end of the test light to pin 8 from C-58 but what do I hook the other side to? If I hook it to the pin that pin 8 was plugged in to won't that just blow the fuse again?

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

No.
If you look at all of the taillights, sidelights, etc each bulb has 12 volts on the battery side and ground on the other side.

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89 Colt GT 1.5 auto- conversion 4g63t 5-spd, L2A...
89 Colt GT 1.6 5spd- donor
92 VR4 32/1000 SOLD

Not sure if this was the "best" way to fix this issue but it worked so we're happy. I cut the G-W wire about 10" from plug C-58 and soldered it to a new wire about 2' long. Then I cut the G-W wire that supplies power to the illumination lights on the cluster and soldered them together. This basically bypassed the wire since I assume it was shorted somewhere behind the dash. Once I was sure that this worked perfect and didn't pop the fuse I traced out the other things that were not working and tied them in too.

I'd like to thank you guys for your help. Probably couldn't have done this without you.

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

Well I have another update. I was putting the plastic panels back in under the dash and guess what I noticed? You guessed it, a wire pinched where the plastic dash tightens up against a metal bracket. I loosened the nut and there was my G-W wire mashed with copper exposed. I fixed it and put all of the other wires back like they were and everything is working perfect. Funny how one little wire can cause so much trouble. The dimmer works perfect now too. Note to self, be more careful when installing a dash.

_________________
93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

Glad you found it!

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1989 Mirage Turbo - 310whp - Sold
1998 Eagle Talon TSi AWD - Sold
2005 Legacy 2.5GT - Sold
1989 Dodge Colt GT