Clock/Radio/Domelight fuse keeps blowing!

[pwrx]

Hi,

My 15A "Clock" fuse under the hood keeps blowing on my 2003 WRX. If i replace it, it holds strong for about 3 seconds, then the horn honks and the fuse is blown. I thought it could be my aftermarket stereo deck causing the issue, but i tried removing this from the car and it did not help.

I have not done any recent changes to the car... Anyone know what could be popping this fuse? I'm hesitant to take it into a dealership and pay who knows how much $$ to find the issue...

Is there anything else on this circut that i should look into? I don't have the service manual yet, so I don't have a wiring diagram to look at.

Thanks

[ERIKBROCKHOFF]

How long have You owend it. Do you have any gauges? People tap into the wires behind the radio very often for gaudge installs. I blew mine wile doing my install. Pop the clock out and see if somone left you a bunch of lose wires. But the horn thing is odd might be somthing totaly different.

[ERIKBROCKHOFF]

dont take it to the dealership You will feel like ass when they tell you what was wrong and how much they charged to plug somthing back in.

[pwrx]

How long have You owend it. Do you have any gauges? People tap into the wires behind the radio very often for gaudge installs. I blew mine wile doing my install. Pop the clock out and see if somone left you a bunch of lose wires. But the horn thing is odd might be somthing totaly different.

I've had it since Oct 2004. I do not have any gages installed. As far as I have seen the previous owner kept it 100% stock. I do have an aftermarket alpine headunit in (no amp and haven't touched the rest of the speaker wiring), and pulled that completely out yesterday, but it looks like the installer did a very clean job on the original installation.

I had a Viper Alarm/Automatic Start installed in Spring '05, so I don't use the factory alarm anymore. I'm wondering if the Honk has something to do with the factory alarm...?

But like i said, I didn't touch ANYTHING recently before this happened. I parked the car one evening, and the next morning the fuse was blown...

If anyone else has any ideas, they would be much appreciated.

[ERIKBROCKHOFF]

I would find the wiring for the remote start and inspect it very carfully. Chances are they taped the power for that system and its geting grounded out somwhere. Dont be affraid to pull things apart your self just read up before you go nuts trying to figure how to take the dash apart.

[ERIKBROCKHOFF]

does your car still honk with your new allarm system. Or is it a seperate horn deal.

[pwrx]

I would find the wiring for the remote start and inspect it very carfully. Chances are they taped the power for that system and its geting grounded out somwhere. Dont be affraid to pull things apart your self just read up before you go nuts trying to figure how to take the dash apart.

But here's the thing... The remote start/alarm/(un)lock all work flawlessly still. If it were the case that the wiring for the Viper system was shorting out, wouldn't that fail to work?

The things that i've noticed issues with are as follows:
-Dome light
-Map/Reading lights (by the rearview mirror)
-Trip odometer
-Glovebox light
-Clock
-Stereo

The horn honks when the fuse blows though... Wouldn't this suggest that something attached to the horn itself is shorting? Possibly the factory alarm, or the horn itself? I'll try to honk it this evening and see if it works. I did try to lock/unlock my car with the factory keyless entry remote and this failed to do anything...

[ERIKBROCKHOFF]

yea the original keyless entry is on that same fuse. I would double check the wiring harness for your stereo make sure no exposed wiring. Give the clock a pop out and check those wires as well. Do you know if anything was done to the original keyless entry that could cause this prob.

[pwrx]

does your car still honk with your new allarm system. Or is it a seperate horn deal.

The original keyless entry wasn't touched, as far as I know. My remote still worked for it, and if i locked the car from inside before shutting the door, it would ARM the alarm as it did before the Viper was installed. (had this happen a few times before and had to listen to my horn for a minute while i dug out my old remote).

The new alarm has a completly seperate loudspeaker... It doens't utilize the horn at all.

I honestly think that there is a short somewhere in the factory alarm setup, but I guess i have to dig around to validate that.

Anyone know where the actual "brain" unit of the factory keyless entry/alarm is located?

[ERIKBROCKHOFF]

I found the security sestem unit in my car this weekend. Its located by the barking brake under the pull off cover. You might want to check in there for lose wiring.

[accordbluesky]

Did you fix the fuse problem? I got the same here!