Tailgate fuse keeps blowing?

[Philipino]

Help! - I keep blowing the 15A tailgate fuse when I put the lights on. Headlights work ok but the rear lights don't & the dashboard is in darkness? The wiring seems ok & everything works fine for a little while after replacing fuse, but then it blows again. Any suggestions or pointers to what the underlying cause may be will be greatly appreciated.
Also, where can I get some cheap 15A fuses as I'm rapidly running out.
Thanks, Phil.

[perros huevos]

first check the bulbs if they ok then check the wires that run through the rubber tube into the tailgate

[kawasaki kid]

It sounds like you have an intermittant short somewhere - you will need to check for damaged wiring - fuses normally blow for a reason - finding the reason is the hard part.

[nigelgibson]

have you had the radio out recently ?

i ask as i had a similar problem. the 15a under bonnet fuse kept blowing. It caused rear number plate and rear nearside light plus dashboard lights to fail. These are all linked on same circuit. The cause was a short where i had cut into this circuit whilst tinkering with radio and clock as i was fitting new radio and rewired clock at same time. i had apparently not taped up joints well enough so was getting a short which popped fuse. You can get as many 15a fuses as you wish just type small blade 15a fuse in ebay search. If needed quick most car spares shops sell them but they will be dearer.

[dunslair]

Check for water inside your rear light clusters as well, a build up could be shorting the wiring.

[Philipino]

I have had a new radio fitted recently - how do I check which wires may be causing the short circuit? I can't see any obvious breaks or loose connections. Thanks for help, Phil.

[nigelgibson]

If you can't see an obvious short and all connections are good and properly insulated you need a sparky to trace fault. There's a few on here that may be along shortly to help.
My electrical know how is limited and i enlisted an auto electrician to find my problem , which he did in 20 mins !
Has this problem only occurred since fitting new radio ? if so try taking back to fitter and let them have a look as they may well have used the circuit that feeds rear lights/number plate lights/dashboard.

[g8dhe]

Could be a bit long winded to diagnose here, but if the radio has been played with lately you could start by following the adaptor cable on the back of the radio back to the original loom socket, unplug it from there and see if the problem still occurs - if it DOESN'T then go back to the person who fitted the radio adaptor! The adaptor cable is a short length of cable with the standadr ISO on one end and a Mazda plug the other