Hi there I'm trying to figure out why i have no tail lights at all on my 06 HHR. My grandfather and i found the fuse (10 amp) and it was blown, so we replaced it with a 25 amp and it blew that one too. Anyone know where i should look for a ground short or something?

 

to the forums!

I would start by checking the sockets, see if there's any melting.

After that, it's tracing the wiring down. Check the bulbs too.

 

First don’t use a 25 amp fuse in place of a 10 amp. The grounds are in the back by the tail lights inside the covers. Have a look at the bulbs the rear bulbs are 3057 the fronts are 3157. Do not mix them up. Look at the bulb holder sockets they have been known to melt.

 

Are you looking for an insurance scam payoff? Replacing a blown 10 amp with a 25 amp is asking for fire.
There is for sure some wires that need replacing. Has there been a trailer wiring installed? Any messing with wires by anyone?

 

Well it was just the only spare fuse in the cover and we were just testing it. Both sockets aren't melted, and all the bulbs are good. I did install a 4 flat trailer plug, after i installed a hitch, and when i was wiring the brown wire the one i wired it to had a green piece of wire about 4" in the middle of the wire for some reason from the previous owner. Both lights worked for about 5 seconds till it blew that fuse again. I'm going to be taking apart the rear and testing for shorts to ground in my wiring harnesses, and to see how many amps the car is pulling with everything shut off because it likes to die even though it's just sitting in my driveway

 

You put a 25 amp fuse into a 10 amp circuit. You will not be doing any electrical work for me. Take it to someone who knows better.

 

Like i said it was the only spare i had on hand and needed to test if it works. I obviously know a 25 amp doesn't belong in a 10 amp circuit I'm not a idiot

 

Cut out and repair the trailer lights wires and install a trailer wire adapter. Not expensive compared to burning your car to the ground!

 

If you thought the brown wire was ground that is the problem; that is the hot wire for the tail lights and markers and license. Yellow is left brake dark green is right brake.
Check the battery charge, under 12.3 V is dead.
My bet is the trailer harness adapter is the draw and the short.

 

I would like to some day but I'm broke right now because I'm only 16 and i already have a soldering iron, and I'm going to solder the wires together. Where would i find one of those adapter kits?