I have a short in the courtesy lamp circuit on my '75 Olds. Not much experience with this type of problem. When I try to put in a fuse in the fuse panel, it sparks right at the panel. Could the panel be faulty. It appears that none of the original wiring has been tampered with. All light bulb sockets appear to be in good shape. Any ideas out there?

Also, would there be a light socket inside of the shifter console that could be rusted? I did not look for that one.

Thanks, Eric

 

First thing is to remove all cigarette lighters from their sockets, then try replacing the fuse. Next is to disconnect the clock and try again. These are common short to ground points in that circuit. Beyond that, it's time for a good wiring diagram and some troubleshooting.

Possible a bulb is internally shorted but rare.

When you're trying to install the new fuse, is the battery connected and doors open? If so, it's going to arc since there's a load on the circuit- it's trying to light all the courtesy lamps.