so i get home the other night and i have no tail lights. i start smelling a burning smell. a lil plastic type smell. i get the headlight switch out and this is what i see.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51461215@N06/7543450306/http://www.flickr.com/photos/51461215@N06/7543450306/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/51461215@N06/, on Flickr

pull some the wires out and find this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51461215@N06/7543449154/http://www.flickr.com/photos/51461215@N06/7543449154/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/51461215@N06/, on Flickr

pull the dash out and i found this

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51461215@N06/7543444080/http://www.flickr.com/photos/51461215@N06/7543444080/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/51461215@N06/, on Flickr

 

Damn...what happened to the fuse?

 

never blew. the fuse is just fine. gonna have to check and see if its to big. i think it may be

 

Common issue. Mine melted too.

 

It just means that the short was between power and ground before the fuse. A short must include the fuse in the circuit to blow.

 

It's more of a heat problem than a short. It all gets pretty hot.

 

Sounds like a factory issue with too much resistance. Either too small wire for the current or ( what it looks like from the photo) poor connectivity at the coupling. It gets old loose and corrosion builds up then you have a high resistance issue. That's why new vehicles switched to relays. As I recall full power for the lights goes through the switches on our trucks right?

 

Yes it does. A relay would have been nice.

 

i ran all new wire any wire that look to have damage to them. got the dash bolted back up. just before the ran fell.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51461215@N06/7551663340/http://www.flickr.com/photos/51461215@N06/7551663340/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/51461215@N06/, on Flickr

also there was no corrosion build up on any of the wires. must have been a lose connection. also trying to find a new wiring harness is like a needle in a hay stack