Chrysler Repair: 96 sebring: blows fuse 5 in fuse box behind dash (junction block), chrysler sebring jxi, chrysler sebring

Question
Hi,my 96 chrysler sebring jxi is consistantly blowing the 10 amp #5 fuse,which controls my radio,powerlocks,illumination.Where do i begin to troubleshoot.Thank You

Answer
Hi Luis,
There are about two dozen items that draw upon that fuse, which is powered up even when the ignition is off. Fortunately you don't have to remove each item to find the faulty one.
There is a fairly convenient place to check 8 different wires that are connected to the fuse to find which circuit is the culprit, and then look at the one-three items that are on that line to find out which one is shorted to ground. I would remove the fuse or leave it in if it is blown (makes no difference if blown). On the back side of the fuse box you will find 10 different plugs. These are the plug/pins that you should measure the resistance of each between pins and any shiny metal surface of the body structure nearby to find out which reads 0 ohms resistance to ground. Do it with all the doors closed and everything turned off:
Gray 16-pin plug: pins 11, 12, 13
Black 8-pin plug: pin 2
White 12-pin plug: pina 7, 11, 12
Black 6-pin plug: pin 6
So just put one lead into the pin socket of the plug and the other on the shiny surface and measure for ohms. Any that read 0 are going to cause the fuse to blow. Tell me which and I will tell you what items/bulbs are in that circuit and you can check the resistance as you remove/disconnect them one at a time until you find the one that causes the resistance to jump up over 0 ohms to at least a reading of a couple of ohms. Unfortunately you will have to remove the panel on the under side of the dash on the left hand end of the dash to get at the plugs.
The only other alternative is to try and notice exactly what you were doing/using when the fuse blows and focus on that activity (which items does it activate) and then look at each of the suspects. So let me know if you recall exactly what blows the fuse. I can give you the list of the two dozen suspect items and you could activate/remove each, one at a time, while looking at the resistance from the 'cold' side of the fuse socket to see which one causes the reading there to jump up above a dead short (0 ohms reading). The meter should be digital with the lowest scale around 200 ohm full scale because a good bulb might read 1 or 2 ohm while a shorted bulb reads 0 ohms and you have to be able to tell the difference. Probably one of the courtesy bulbs or its socket has a direct short to ground which is blowing the fuse.

Roland
PS Please 'rate' my answer.














It would be good to have digital ohmmeter for this troubleshoot.
Roland
PS Please "rate" my answer.

Roland