I have a 96 ford ranger 2.3L and all of a sudden the tail lights didnt work and right before that the instrument cluster lights were dimming. Then all of a sudden nothing worked. After looking I found out that the person who had the truck before me had changed some fuses and put a 30amp fuse in spot 3 which was the tail light spot, and it was supposed to be a 15. I noticed this only because the fuse that was in there heated up so bad and melted instead of breaking. Because of this the wires heated up, and melted to eachother and other wires also, I fixed this stuff and then tried a 15amp fuse and it popped right away. Then i couldnt figure it out. Then i figured the only way to figure this out is to pull the dash, so I did, I took the entire dash out. PITA! Then took the wire out and replaced it and the same thing happened. Then I did some trouble shooting, and about 20 fuses later I decided to skip over the GEM and tried it and it worked! I have had problems with the GEM before, when the wipers are plugged in the door chime goes the whole time. So I am trying to figure out if the GEM would cause all this problems? And where do I get a new one, and do I have to get it programmed?

 

being an electrician i know this much, if the circut was rated for 15a and a 30a fuse is put on it. the device,or wire to it will usually get hot and start to melt before the over rated fuse blows. which is like you describe. i would like to commend you on the fine job of tracing the melted down mess you have. and from i understand those "gem" modules have alot to be desired to start with, and its highly possible it could have mess some stuff up in that. im not sure where to get a replacement one at. though i would look into salvage yards if you cant find one at a parts house or dealer. i would not stop checking the wire there. because it would suck to get it all put back together and the wire has melted all the way to the rear lights or something like that. which brings me to my next thing. there had to be a problem to start with for the previous owner to change the fuse, and he/she may have went through a few of them to put one that is double the called rating. so i would keep looking in to it to find the original cause the problem. sorry to have been so long winded.

 

had any more luck on getty the lights back on? heh?

 

Well, we traced the wire through the entire interior wiring harness and took it out bcuz it was bad through the whole thing, then put a fuse in it still blew the 15 amp fuse. Then we traced the wires to the tail lights and they were fine, then we replaced the relays, and then put the fuse in and it blew again. Then they pulled the GEM and wired the lights up and it didnt blow, so thats why i was wondering about the GEM. The lights work when it isnt hooked up

 

then i would say if you by pass that part and all is well, and when not all is bad, then that part is faulty.

 

Well we passed that part, and all worked fine, but then we put the dash back in, and turned the lights on and the fuse blew again?????? The GEM is also needed, because if it isnt plugged in then the wipers wont work.