Dashboard fuse will spontaneously blow

Hey guys I'm working on my 99 tacoma and for some reason my Guage fuse keeps blowing. It's not an immediate break It's delayed. I can turn it on drive it for a while everything is good but then it'll blow. So I put a new one in and it blows 3 seconds after start up. Then I put a different one in and it'll work for a couple days. It also kills power to my climate control and both windows. I know it's a short somewhere but I have no idea where to start looking. Any suggestions?

 

Have you replaced anything recently or had any work done on the truck?

 

Nope I haven't done anything all winter

 

If there are any non factory mods, start by unplugging those. Pull dash panels and look for any worn or rub spots on the wiring harnesses. Then its time to start chasing it down with the multimeter, I'm afraid.

 

Nope I haven't done anything after market other than a stereo but that works. I just REALLY don't want to rip my dash apart haha The only other thing I can think of is when I bought the truck it has a door from a later version maybe an 02 tacoma. Could there be something messed up in there that's messing with the fuse? Does anyone know where I can find a diagram that shows me all the stuff that's tied to that fuse?

 

[QUOTE=" Does anyone know where I can find a diagram that shows me all the stuff that's tied to that fuse?[/QUOTE]

This.
I don't have it but this is the right approach.

 

This.
I don't have it but this is the right approach.[/QUOTE]

I think so as well but I can't find a diagram anywhere on the internet

 

Are you usually in the vehicle when the fuse blows? Try making a mental note of things that are ON (or turned ON) when the fuse blows.

Set up your DMM for current. Take measurements while things are turned OFF and ON.

If you find access to harness connectors to the equipment on the circuit, try unplugging the connectors (1 at a time) to help determine where the short could be.

 

What number fuse is it?

 

I've done that but it's always different I haven't seen a common variable when it blows. I haven't hooked a multi meter up to it yet but I plan to soon hopefully

 

I don't have a number I just have a diagram thing that says "Gauge"

 

I'm going to take a wild guess - check your blower motor.

 

I ordered a breaker that's supposed to be here tomorrow once that gets here I'll use it for testing until I get my multimeter back. What makes you think blower motor? I plan on trying it I'm just curious

 

I had an older Jeep that was doing something similar. Also, I know that motor winding can have a short that only makes contact occasionally. It's just a wild guess though. You can always unplug the harness to the blower just to check.

 

That fuse feeds the instrument cluster and the vehicle speed sensor. I would check those circuits first.

 

Reverse lights and park/neutral position switch are also on the long list of things it feeds, I'd start looking for chafed wires in those areas first.

 

You have a manual? The reverse indicator switch on the transmission is on this circuit and is notorious for failing into a short. Check it out.

 

Will the reverse light cause a short even if I'm not even in reverse? What I've found using a breaker is it will short out once or twice on start up but then be good to go the rest of the drive. I can even put it in reverse and it won't short out. If it's going to pop it's going to be before the little dinging is done when you first start the truck.

 

Typically they short out when put into reverse so maybe it's not as likely, but I wouldn't put it past the thing to randomly short itself.

 

My reverse light was leaking so I need to replace it either way. Do you think I could unplug it and that will stop it from shorting out?