my illumination lights on my cluser are not working

[zak]

i have a 1997 legacy gt wagon
one day my illumination fuse(10a) under my dash just blew and i just noticed that the fuse in the engine compartment(20a) also blew but whenever i try to complete the circuit i just keep poping fuses. so before i start ripping my dash apart and trying to trace down the source i was wondering if anybody has had a similar problem or can point me in the right direction.

thanks, ZAK !

[impreza_GC8]

Have you replaced any light bulbs recently? This happens when people change taillight bulbs and pinch a wire onto the vehicle chassis upon re-installation. I have also heard of this happening when water gets on a bulb in the back or it gets out of alignment in the socket. Keep in mind that your taillights are wired with your dash lighting, so if you don't have dash lighting then you are driving without rear running lights. I'd start searching for the problem there, much easier to troubleshoot than the mess under the dashboard.

[zak]

So as I started to diagnose the problem and i happend to pop the illum fuse(10A) under my dash and the light switch fuse(20a) under my hood. This ended with the ecu throwing 9 codes (p0130,p0136,p0500,p1100,p1101,p1120,p1121,p1540,p1400) and my check engine light was flashing. My car still cranked and ran well, no issues with idle or highway driving.

I noticed that when my car was off with the key in the on position, the rad fans would come on and off for 5 seconds or so consistently. However while driving there was no noticeable problem, my fans stay off till the car warmed up and then came on and functioned properly.

Two days later the check engine light stopped flashing and all the codes just went away as well as my fans went back to normal operation.

However my DTRL (light switch) fuse had popped, so I replaced it the 20A fuse in the engine bay fuse box and that solved the running lights issue. But my cluster (illumination lights) still pop the 10A fuse as soon as i put it in (Dash fuse box).

I think i have to start digging

[Huffer]

Did you happen to connect two green plugs underneath the dash?

[nomad666666]

Question what do the green connectors go to

[d1giPhux]

^ the ones under the dash? they don't connect to anything.. they are test lights. if you connect them.. it will allow you to test for CEL light problems I'm pretty sure. Just leave it disconnected.

[Huffer]

^^ correctomundo.

[Cleck]

I don't like to bump age old threads, but I hate creating new threads too. So this is the least of two evils...

Anyways, I'm having this same exact issue. ILLUMI 10A fuse on the LF kick panel is blowing. Briefly blew the 20A lighting fuse under the hood. Replaced the 20A, but the ILLUMI fuse keeps blowing.

I haven't replaced any bulbs, ever.
I still have working brake, tail lights, and turn signals. Plate too.
I replaced my factory stereo in January, after it was drawing/killing my battery, with an aftermarket one.

This problem just came up in the last month or so. No gauge cluster lighting, hvac, prndl lights, etc. Everything else works as designed.

Any ideas?

[r3v_v3ng3]

If you remove the panel under the dash (driver side), you will see there's like this 3-4 things attach on the back side of it. One of them is illumination module, its probably bad. Also you might want to recheck the stereo wiring to make sure its wired right. Theres a short to ground, thats why its blowing up fuse(s)

[Cleck]

Ok, thanks. I read about the module in a wiring diagram, but didn't want to jump to conclusions. Any known way to test it?

As for the wiring, I used two harnesses to connect it: one for the head unit that I've used in another car, put together at an install shop, and a pnp harness I bought online to specifically match the unit harness to the stock Subaru connector. All the other wires are soldered and heat shrunk.

I'll let you know what I find

[Cleck]

Bumping this again, but does anyone know of a way to test the illumination module? Is there a way to bypass it? Any idea?