wiring getting warm and fuse's hot. electrical help

[HAVABEER]

hi, i've come across some wiring issues in my little suzuki van. the car has been running fine until last night i was driving home in the wet/rain and about 500m from home my head lights blow, so i pull over look down at the fuse and its gone so i replaced the fuse everything worked again. drove a bit more and they blew again. so i just drove the rest of the journey with the indicator on (quite back streets no one about)

so i've gone under the dash this arvo to see what the problem is, upon replacing the fuse i can feel the wiring going to the dash (lights up the charge warning and oil pressure etc lights) is getting warm and so is the wiring going to headlights. the headlights fuse is also getting burningly hot but only on one side of the fuse... these are the old round cylindrical glass fuses.

the fuse panel in the van only has 4 slots and i have them going

constant 12v --- headlights/brake/interior lights
12v acc --- indicators/wipers
12v acc --- fuel pump
12v acc --- radio and dash

the car wasnt running when i bought it and so i just grabbed the wiring hanging out and tested which one came on with acc and which was 12v constant. the car has run fine for a while with no problems.

the fuel pump and indicators wiring isn't getting hot. but the wiring going to the dash is (not radio) the fuse for the radio is fine though. but the fuse on the headlights gets extremely hot.

where should i start looking fo the problem?? the car is an older....simpler car. but what could be causing the fuse's to get extremely hot, but not blow?? i clean all the contacts and that didnt help. and the other two things i havent checked is the alternator + wiring and i haven't looked at anything with multimeter as i'm having trouble locating mine.

any help or advice would be appreciated before i burn this van to the ground for all the head aches its caused me.

[CELICASUPRA7M]

check battery charge rate?

[oldcorollas]

fuses are getting hto cos something is probably earthing somewhere it shouldn7t....
see if any wiring has cut through where it goes thru metal panels etc?

[river]

Hi,

Sounds like water has gotten into a connector or wiring somewhere, and I'd maybe say around the headlights, that is causing a short to earth. I reckon, when the car is all dry, she'll be fine. But, next time there's some rain and water getting in, she'll do it again. Might even check to make sure no water is getting into the wiring loom under the dash, which can happen if there's a leak.

Fuses blow when under load and, in cars, they are usually slow-blow fuses. They get hot and then melt.. that's how they blow. So, if it's carrying a current that is almost its limit it will remain intact, but she'll be hot. Because it is pulling so much current, it is pulling this current through the wiring loom also, and that is why the loom is warm.

seeyuzz
river

[lexsmaz]

How long has it been on the road since you had it ? & have you done much night driving in the past ? What wattage lights are you running ?

If the fuse is getting hot only on one side i would be looking at the fuse clamp & or wiring to the clamp to be the fault there as dirty / loose / poor connections to the fuse will create high resistance which will certainly cause heat around the fuse & also explains why one side of the fuse is hot & the other side not ..

As others have said check you wiring, but i would also but wiring in relay's for the head lights, will stop any big current draw through the dash etc ..

Hot wires mean they are handling some big currents & possibly to big for the wires, which will / can then melt the insulation & then dire consequences ...

[wa5]

Does it have a towbar, and associated trailer plug?

[HAVABEER]

no tow bar wa5, but it does have 1 tiny reversing light in the bumper that looks like it might have let water in. so i snipped the power to that and it seams to fixed it as it gets its power from the head light circuit. i'm also installing a totally new fuse panel and new spade connectors on the ends of all the old cables. so far from what i can gather it seams to have worked, still need to run a few more cables and joins though