Blowing fuses, melting fusebox. Taillights/stereo/brake lights dont work

[kegworth]

So the past couple days i've been forced to drive without running tail lights, break lights, stereo, OR instrument cluster lighting ... I'd had intermittent problems in the past where my stereo and interior lighting would simultaneously go out. And if i pushed my head unit around a little bit sometimes it'd flick it all back to life. Sooo. Last night I dove into the console looking for loose ends or wires with bad connections with plans of repair. Didn't find anything. Not gonna lie, the PO has things kinda ghetto rigged in there. Looks sketchy. But needless to say, everything since i've owned that car has worked fine.

here's where i'm at. I checked the fuse box under the center console. The "Rear Tail" fuse was blown... its a 20A fuse. So i went to autozone, replaced it... the stereo turned on. As i'm sitting there with the stereo on i turn the headlights on, i watch as the fuse heats up and blows meanwhile MELTING the area around the fuse holder... What could be causing this surge of power? Any help is greatly appreciated...

[SteveJ]

Right now, you have two options. Buy a used fusebox or buy the one from MSA. A 70 or 71 fusebox will work for you. As the wiring ages, corrosion builds and increases the current flowing through the circuit. However, instead of being a spike that would blow the fuse, it is a gradual heating that slowly does its damage.

You'll also need to inspect the side markers and front turn signals for corrosion.

The long term solutions are

1. Get a parking light relay harness. (Search) This reduces the current burden through the switch, too.

2. Replace the incandescent bulbs with LED lights. This can dramatically drop the current through the circuit.

3. Both 1 & 2. Double your pleasure & double your fun.

This topic has been covered extensively here and at Zcar.com. Do some searching if you want more details.

You might also want to put the year of the car having the problem in your post. That way you will tend to get more specific responses.

[kegworth]

Thank you for the detailed response. I'm going to look into those solutions. my car is manufactured 3/1970 ...

[Arne]

With that build date, you'll need an early fusebox, commonly known as a "long tail" fusebox. Used from the beginning through 12/70 or so. Later '71 'boxes (short tail) have some differences that would need to be dealt with.