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2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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kaymsaw
New User
Sep 4, 2012, 5:09 PM
Post #1 of 10
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2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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Hi. I hope you can help! I appreciate your time and insights.
2003 Subaru Outback/H6/3.0 /38,000 miles
Father-in-law passed away suddenly; left us his Subaru (one time I asked him how he liked it). Acquired it in June 2011. Only 29K miles on it at that time.
Early winter 2011 a friend noticed at night the tail lights were out (no tail lights but brake lights ok). I replaced the fuse and they went back on. This cycle repeated itself a few times during the winter...and every Wednesday night for about a month in March 2012. Happened again late July and most recently, last week (late August).
Father-in-law never mentioned this issue (didn't talk cars at all) but his records show the following: Nov '04: windshield replaced; March '06: left front window gusset replaced due to wind noise (now right side front window has wind noise, so something off kilter...no leak evidence though). June '05: "customer states heard a noise from rear of vehicle during a drive/electrical, arcing, snapping noise/haven't heard since/not sure if from right or left side rear. No problem found/could not duplicate at this time."
When it happened last week, I bought a test wand to check the fuses. In the accessories fuse box inside the car: Tail light fuse = out + blown. Illumi fuse = out/not blown. In the main fuse box: F H/L fuse = out/not blown; R H/L fuse = out/not blown. Replaced tail light fuse and all active again.
Today happened again. Downpour most of day. This time though: tail light fuse = out/NOT blown; illumi fuse = out/NOT blown. This seemed weird. I changed out both fuses anyway and tested again and both showed no change so still no tail lights.
Today the local AutoZone talked me out of buying a Digital Multimeter to try and trace it. Said instead to look for a short (frayed, worn wire). Whatever exposed wires peeking out of bundles looked fine both under the hood and in the back tail light compartments, as well as top of the hatch. (Aside: when I went to AutoZone, rain had stopped and was pretty dry -- tail lights worked. When it happened often last March, I do not recall any rain...it was a dry winter here in the Northeast US.)
Car has no visible water seepage anywhere but today, looked for a wire bundle going into the body of the car (where water might be splashing up into the engine compartment) to check for frays, but the small parts that were visible looked fine. I did not take any plastic wire-bundle coverings off to look at the bundle itself (much of it was hard to access).
I hope this detail helps; i know it's a lot. I have heard only horror stories about the cost of having a mechanic trace out an electrical issue, so I am hoping it's a visible frayed wire somewhere that I can point him/her to.
thank you again!
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Sep 4, 2012, 5:15 PM
Post #2 of 10
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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I don't know what "out, not blown is supposed to mean but if you have a fuse blowing repeatedly, then you have a short in that circuit somewhere and someone is going to have to find it. I suggest taking it to an electrical expert and let him attempt to locate the short.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Sep 4, 2012, 5:27 PM
Post #3 of 10
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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If it has some sort of trailer light modification, you might want to check there first.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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kaymsaw
New User
Sep 4, 2012, 6:02 PM
Post #4 of 10
(6395 views)
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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Sorry I was unclear: "out" meant the tester bulb did not light. So I meant to say the tester didn't light but the fuse was still good.
Could you offer direction on how one finds an automotive electrical expert? I'm under the impression most mechanics will say they can do the troubleshooting/find the problem, but how does one figure out if the person is an electrical expert?
thank you again. I really appreciate everything.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Sep 4, 2012, 6:10 PM
Post #5 of 10
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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I'd be a millionaire if I had an answer to that question. ....LOL
About the only solid evidence would be an ASE certification in electrical but even that isn't reliable sometimes.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Sep 4, 2012, 6:17 PM
Post #6 of 10
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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Just ask. Most professional shops should have techs that should be able to diagnose electrical shorts.
As long as the technician doesn't look like this when you walk into the shop, you should be alright.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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kaymsaw
New User
Sep 5, 2012, 3:14 AM
Post #7 of 10
(6373 views)
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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Another rainy, no tail-light-again day today so thanks for making me smile with the hair-[almost]-on-fire picture! And Hammer-Time, thanks for your honesty about finding an electrical expert; I was truly hoping there was such a person as an ASE-E (versus the EEEEK! guy in the picture).
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Sep 5, 2012, 3:23 AM
Post #8 of 10
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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There are 8 ASE categories of certification for a car. Electrical is one of them so somebody that is certified only in front end and suspension wouldn't be much help in electrical so just wearing a patch doesn''t tell you much unless you see just what they are certified in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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kaymsaw
New User
Sep 10, 2012, 5:36 PM
Post #9 of 10
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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Thank you, Hammer Time. I'm asking around for a qualified person. After my last post, the car has been fine since; but I'm anxious to get it seen to and resolved. I will post the resolution. thanks again.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Sep 10, 2012, 5:38 PM
Post #10 of 10
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Re: 2003 Outback tail light fuse keeps blowing
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If the problem isn't occurring, there is no point bringing it in because he won't be able to test anything.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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