1997 Dodge Stratus ignition fuse keeps blowing

1997 DODGE STRATUS
136,500 MILES • 2.4L • 4 CYL • FWD • AUTOMATIC
Avatar
LENELL12
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
I clean my engine 2 weeks ago at the car wash now all of a sudden every now and then my ignition fuse under the hood keeps blowing when I try to start the car at first I replace the fuse it would start no problem now it blows
soon as I turn the ignition to start it.
Jul 28, 2014 at 8:52 PM
Advertisement
Avatar
CARADIODOC
  • CERTIFIED EXPERT
  • 34,308 POSTS
A simple trick to finding a short is to replace the blown fuse with a pair of spade terminals, then use small jumper wires to connect them to a 12 volt light bulb. A brake light bulb works well. When the circuit is live and the short is present, the bulb will be full brightness and hot so be sure it's not laying on the carpet or against a plastic door panel. Now you can unplug electrical connectors and move things around to see what makes the short go away. When it does, the bulb will get dim or go out.

In this case, a good suspect is the wiring to the oxygen sensors. Check if it fell down onto hot exhaust parts and the wires' insulation melted through.
Jul 28, 2014 at 9:21 PM