Tail fuse problems in 80 series landcruiser

Exactly, My 60 series did this and for a day couldnt figure out why, till I looked under rear bumper. I had ripped off trailer plug and shorted together the car body and the number plate light.

Mickl,

I've installed a CD player into the car, but I haven't had any problems with the stereo at all. I've done no water crossing but like you said it might be the trailer plug so I'll check it out to see if that could be the problem.

I had a bit of a go trying to fix it tonight and one strange thing I realised was that the 3 wires going into the dimmer switch were all earthing or seemed to be linked together for some reason. I'm no auto-electrician but maybe thats where I'll end up having to take it!!!!

Take it easy
AL

AL,
Where did you get the earth(-ve) for the CD player? if from the loom/original plug check that it doesn't go active when the lights are turned on. On most cars these days relays drop to earth when turned off.

Mickl,

I've connected the radio using the same plug that was used on the original radio. I used 3 cables from the original plug (constant 12v, acc 12v and the earth) and soldered these stright into the new plug. Could this have caused any major problems by doing this, or should I have run them directly from the battery itself? I didn't really take any notice when connecting the wires if went active when the lights went on, but it seems strange because the radios are usually very sensitve and I haven't had any trouble with it. But really I'm not too sure, so thanks anyways for the tips and I'll keep on trying to fix it.

At this stage check the earth then.
Even though the CD player has an earth wire it may be earthed through the chassis as well, so you turn on the lights which puts 12 volts straight to earth and blows the fuse... radio not affected... If this is the fault (quick test with a test light or multimeter will confirm) just find a different earth for your CD player.
In most cases you don't have to run power straight from the battery (unless you have a high powered amp/stereo or have RF problems) what you have done is fine.

Test your earth and let me know how you get on.

Mick

Mick and Mark,

You were spot on the money. I pulled it all out again and realised that there was another wire in there which was acting as an earth (the bloody brown wire!!). As soon as I disconnected what I thought was the earth and ran the radio into the real earth it ran perfectly, as did my lights.

I guess I thought the instrument light cable was ground because I think if I'm right that it grounds itself out from the light dimmer, thus giving you the idea that it's ground. But then again I'm not too sure but happy that it's fixed.

Thanks for your help, it was much appreciated, as was everyone elses.

AL

Mick and Mark,

You were spot on the money. I pulled it all out again and realised that there was another wire in there which was acting as an earth (the bloody brown wire!!). As soon as I disconnected what I thought was the earth and ran the radio into the real earth it ran perfectly, as did my lights.

I guess I thought the instrument light cable was ground because I think if I'm right that it grounds itself out from the light dimmer, thus giving you the idea that it's ground. But then again I'm not too sure but happy that it's fixed.

Thanks for your help, it was much appreciated, as was everyone elses.

AL

AL,
Glad to be of help.

Mick.