I have an 04 prius Recently my tail lights went out. Change fuse worked good for a few hours kept a close eye. Next day 10a fuse blew again and then 2 more times in same day. My tail lights go out and license plate light go out together when this happens. What can I do? Thank you
It's called a dead short you have an electrical problem. Take it to a mechanic... sorry a trusted mechanic .
The insulation on one or more of your wires has most likely been compromised allowing current to short to ground (car body). Also known as a dead short. Common areas are where the wires go through grommets at moving doors, etc. Maybe where the harness goes to your rear hatch? Unfortunately, these problems can sometimes be hard to troubleshoot.
Any history with the car being in an accident? Does it happen when going over a bump? How about rodent damage? They can chew wires in the strangest of places. The dealers will suggest "replace wiring harness" in this instance, which means they don't look for the problem. Very costly. Finding such a short requires pulling things apart and sticking your nose into the nooks and crannies to check for damage. I've seen a fuse replacement that plugs in to a fuse socket, but has wires attached with a circuit breaker which can be reset. It looked like a very handy item for troubleshooting.
Nh70 That circuit breaker idea sounded good. Has & Xliderider Took to a mechanic local shop explained my case and they solved it sort of. No blown fuses anymore They swapped my new led plate lights back to stock and disconnected my aftermarket fog lights Which I suspect was main cause it was powered by front parking lights which are originally connected to tail light. The fog light has been connected for about six months without a problem so will wait till spring when it's warmer and see if that was it or leave it as is
You shouldn't power accessories like foglights, etc off of the parking lights circuit. The way to do that is to use relays that take power from the battery, or in the case of the Prius, from the fuse box in the engine compartment. You can tap into the parking lights for the relay's coil terminals instead. Edit: If you tap into the parking light circuit to control the relay, make sure you test the wires for current (if they're hot) and polarity both when ignition is off and when in Ready mode. Reason is Toyota often uses a floating ground system where the positive lead is always hot, and the circuit is switched on the ground side. SCH-I535