98 Dodge wiring troubles

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- bennyboy_64
  
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posted
17 years ago

Wed, Apr 11, 2007 1:14 AM

i own a 98 dodge 1500 extended. recently i started it and the speakers just stopped working but under the dash on drivers side wires were smoking. i noticed that the positive battery cable was loose. so tightened it. a few days later.. the truck started to smoke again and this time the electric mirrors, interior lights, cd deck, glove box light and a few other small thins quit working. again the positive batery cable came loose. now it is tightened and is good. i have checked all fuses and cant seem to see any blown ones. so my guess is that it has short circuted and fryed some wires.. but i cud be wrong.

Does anyone out there have any idea what my problem could be?? or even where to start looking for the problem? any help would be greatly appreciated as a garage wants big money to find a problem like this.

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- Big Al
  
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posted
17 years ago

Wed, Apr 11, 2007 3:06 AM

If I had to deal with it I would look at anything not factory. Alarm, stereo, speakers, trailer brake control, anything that was added.

Al

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- Tom Lawrence
  
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posted
17 years ago

Wed, Apr 11, 2007 4:02 AM

Sounds like the Ignition Off Draw circuit (the fuse with the plastic shroud around it in the fuse panel in the dash). Obviously, it's more than just a blown fuse, as you've got a wire shorted somewhere that caused the smoke. Check and make sure no wires are pinched in the framework of the dash (remove the knee blocker panel and look around).

Also, check all the fuses, one at a time, with a continuity tester/multimeter. Eyeballing them sometimes isn't good enough. Once you find the blown fuse, disconnect the battery, and check for resistance between the blown fuse's socket and ground. If you find a very low resistance, you know you've got a short there somewhere - locate and repair before putting a new fuse back in, else it will just blow again