Toyota Repair: Fuse keeps blowing out, 1989 toyota camry, toyota camry

Question
I have a 4-cylinder, automatic, 1989 Toyota Camry DX with 183,000 miles. Overall the car is in good condition, but I have a persistent problem with the fuse for the tail lights and instrument panel lights. I replaced it the day before yesterday, and it worked fine. I was a happy man, until it happened again. I went to Pep Boys and bought a 4 pack of fuses. Needless to say, I went through all 4 fuses. Everytime I turn on my lights, the fuse blows. My headlights work fine because it's on a different system, and not attached to the fuse for the tail lights and instrument panel lights. The last time I actually heard a very faint pop, checked the fuse, and lo and behold, it was blown. What should I do?

Answer
Check the wiring in the trunk and the wiring at the tail light bulb holders. There used to be a very common problem with the wire harness that came from the tail lights and ran alon the left side the trunk hinge, these wires could seperate and create short circuits inside the insulation. First remove all the tail light bulbs and make sure the sockets are not burned, then open the wire harness on the left trunk hinge, remove the insulation and check the idividual wires, there may be some that are broken, check all the way behind the carpeting for this problem. There is a tail light failure relay mounted in the trunk on the left side, these are known to burn and cause problems also, by carefully checking these items I'm sure you will find the problem, repair any broken wires and replace the tail light relay if needed.