This 1996 Oldsmobile Cierra Sl came in with the complaint that the park or tail light fuse would blow periodically. I did the usual inspection of all of the exterior bulbs and wiring. No problems were found. I was inspecting the wiring for the under hood light when I heard and arcing sound and saw a wisp of smoke. Two good signs I was at least in the right area. After thoroughly inspecting the under hood light wiring I found no problem. That is when I started thinking about what else could have shifted when I saw the smoke. Maybe the main harness had moved some. So I move the harness around. When I pushed down on the harness the fuse blew.
I pulled the harness up and inspected with a mirror.
A little bit better view of the short. If you double click on the picture it will enlarge so you can see the short even better. If you look closely you will see that the single park light wire was looped around the harness rather than going parallel with the rest of the wires. This was causing that one wire to support the weight of the whole harness and thus the short.
This is why I always try to keep small rolls of tape around. It is much easier to wrap around a short in a tight area.
All nice and wrapped up. I also slid some more split loom onto the harness for better wear protection.
I also slid some more split loom onto the harness for better wear protection.
