Auto Air Conditioning & Heater Repair: A/C Switch, oldsmobile cutlass supreme, oldsmobile cutlass

Question
I have a 1996 3.1L Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.  When i press the a/c switch on my car control panel, i blow the 10A compressor clutch fuse located in the underhood fuse box.  I replaced the fuse with a 20A to see what would happen and it blew as well.  I then disconnected the wiring harness from the compressor and tried again with a new 10A fuse and the fuse blew again.  That leads me to believe that the problem lies from the a/c control switch to the underhood fuse box.  I was thinking of buying a new climate control panel which would include the a/c switch and see if that solves the fuse blowing problem.  What is your advice for me with this problem?  Do you think that it could be the switch or do you think the problem would still lie somewhere in the wiring from the panel to the underhood fuse box?

Answer
Eugene,

A fuse is typically blown because of a short somewhere in the wiring or connections. A shot is when one hot wire comes in contact with another hot wire, thereby more or less butting heads and something has got to give. That's when the fuse pops.
The first place I would look is at your wiring harness itself. Does it have any excessive rubbing or burn marks anywhere on it? If so, Bingo... Start with the compressor wiring and begin tracing back from there. Pay special attention anywhere the wires come close to the engine block, headers, etc.
If all looks well with the harness, then I would move inside the cab. Depending on your electrical experience and the cost of a new control panel, that is your call as to whether to just replace the head unit, or troubleshoot where inside the control panel the short lies. But that would be where I would settle at if my harness wsa in good shape.

I hope I was able to help a little. Thanks for the question and good luck.