Hi,
Thanks in advance for your time, i'll try to make this brief. The other day I pulled out of the garage and the aftermarket stereo installed in the glove box never came on. I'm ok with that as I didn't like it anyways. So when I got home I found there was a blown fuse. Tried to replace the fuse and it immediately blows too. I took the meter and there is 12 v going across that fuse at all time. Checked everything else and it starts and runs fine, all the lights work. Only thing that doesn't work is the wipers, as far as I can find. So as the radio was the first thing I noticed the issue with I removed it to take it out of the equation. Took out the stock one while I was at it, wanted to have a good look up under the dash anyways.

So would taking the wiper switch out of the equation be a next logical step ? With my limited electrical knowledge I'll probably bring it to the shop Monday but figured I'd ask here first. Thanks again

1970 CS 442 clone, that is the gauge pack attached to the fuse above the slot where the blown fuse was. Aftermarket stereo was plugged into the slots between the two rows of fuses.



12 volts across this fuse at all times

 

I'm not sure what the red arrow is supposed to be pointing at (actually, I do - it's the location for the courtesy lights fuse), but the wiper fuse is the second one down on the right. Given how much of a PITA it is to get to the wiper switch, why would that be your first choice for troubleshooting? The CSM had a wiper diagnosis chart. The first thing to check is for power at the yellow wire on the wiper motor plug when the key is on.

 

Thanks Joe, the arrow was for the blown fuse that I removed and where a second immediately blew when inserted. And I was just down replacing all the fuses just in case one looked fine but wasn't. And I also put in a new one for the courtesy lights and no issues with that fuse now. So removing all of the crap radio wire seems to have helped to some degree.

So I'll check that yellow wire and crack open that nice set of books I have in the garage. Thank you for the advise.

EDIT: There is 12 volts to the yellow with the key in the On position and of course 0 volts with the key in the off position. And I cracked the seal on that CSM

 

I followed the instructions in the book and now I have courtesy lights AND wipers, the arm was just jammed. So I have to think that the crappy radio wiring may have had something to do with the courtesy light fuse as that seems fine now and the wipers have probably been like that for a long time as I never use them, it is my sunny day car. Well now off to get a new radio, thanks again Joe

 

That is the clock, lighter, courtesy lamp fuse. Pull the lighter and then the clock power wire to see if the short goes away. The wiper fuse is across from it, pull the fuse and clean the contacts and put it back in. The wipers work the opposite as you may think, there is a constant 12v at the wiper with the key on and the wiper switch supplies the ground side of the motor and washer circuits.

 

Thanks Eric, i really think it was somewhere in the wires from the glovebox radio. Everything seems to be working great now.

And now I know why there was 12v across that fuse all the time, I had the door open to get my fat head under the dash to see what was going on in there lol

 

I didn't see any other answers to this post before I posted mine... Oh well, glad its working. That (courtesy lamp, clock, and lighter) fuse has power all the time whether the door is open or not. The courtesy lights like the wipers use a switched ground to operate.

 

Gotcha, thanks again Eric. I do appreciate your reply.

 

Well I guess I still have an issue with the courtesy lamps, I had the door open for a couple of minutes today and eventually the same fuse blew. I'll unplug the lighter and clock and see if that helps. I did also notice that there are two additional courtesy lamp sockets under the dash but there are no bulbs in them right now, still looking for a part number for those. And can't find any other helpful info in the book yet but will keep looking.

 

I believe that's supposed to be a 25 amp fuse. Your contacts are extremely corroded and my be causing a lot of heat due to its limited connection, try sanding them off a bit.

 

Thanks Eric, i will clean those up and I ordered a big pack of fuses last night so I can put the correct fuse in there.

And here is a handy bulb lookup in case anyone else has a hard time cross referencing:

Philips Automotive Bulb Finder

 

Well i have everything nice and clean now and the proper fuse in every slot so hopefully that is all that was needed

EDIT: forgot to take a picture after putting the rest of the fuses in

 

Well today I had the doors open off and on for the better part of 8 hours while installing the speakers and stereo and no issues at all with the courtesy lights So clean contacts and the correct fuses did the trick. Thanks again for the advice !!!

 

Glad it worked out.