I've been looking over the forum for many hours now and I have found lots of similar problems but nothing pertaining to my case. I just bought a '93 SC300 real cheap with hopes of being able to fix the problems, return it to stock and sell it for a profit but I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. There are some major electrical issues going on with the car. The guy recently had the altenator and battery replaced after some issues. But now the dash is completely dead. The only thing that works on the cluster is the clock. The climate control unit is also not doing anything. The "gauge" fuse under the dash blows as soon as I turn the key. It also popped a 15 amp fuse. I got real curious to see if the cluster was completely dead or if it just wasn't getting power and did something which was probably pretty dumb. I stuck a 30 amp fuse in there to see if it would pop. Turned the car on and the cluster came to life but I quickly started smelling electrical smoke and turned it off and removed the fuse. But now my "HTR" fuse also blows as well as the "Dome" fuse in the box under the hood. Today I removed most of the components in the dash. I couldn't find any burnt wires but the climate control unit smelled pretty bad. I'm going to try and pick one up from a local junkyard tomorrow and see if that is the culprit. Until then can anyone offer any advice?

Thanks,
Brandon

 

likely the climate, but the only way to know is process of elimination. Unplug the climate unit and stick a fuse in.

Ps- on the 30 amp fuse........ Duh! Ya think its drawing power for a reason?

 

The thing is, when I was taking apart the dash the climate control was already unplugged. So the fuse was popping despite the climate control. And not sure if this has anything to do with it but the radio worked fine.

 

I just opened up the climate control unit and on one of the boards there is what I believe is a diode (black cylinder with silver ring) that is cracked in half. That is the only damage I could find.

The guy told me that when he had the altenator changed the old one had been putting out way too many volts. (don't remember exactly what he told me)

 

unplug things until no fuse blows

 

well said OLT-- take your time bit by bit-- start with climate,heat,radio, etc all wiring one by one

 

also check the plugs just to the rear of the fuse panel. if anyone did any kind of electrical work under the dash before you, there might be open wires or spliced stuff right there. if u pull the door sill and peel back the carpet where ur kick panel is, u will see a bunch of plugs going into the wall of the car.... check them carefully see if there is any open wires or what not, also check under the carpet running along the door sill itself. there are a bunch of wires there as well. if one is stripped and hitting the bodypanels in the car, u could be getting a ground from that. hence causing ur popped fuse. you said the radio works, so it is probably somthing directly inline with the fuse panel to the cluster. take ur time. its just electricity.