The other day at a fast food drive through my fuse box started smoking and my dashboard lights went out.

Not knowing that the tail lights were also out, I soon got pulled over by a cop, who understood and let me go.

So I pull the [melted] fuse out, and replace it with another 10A.

Just a few minutes ago I go to another fast food drive through (no joke) and the dashboard lights go out again... No smoke/melted fuse this time though, in fact, the lights came back on in a few minutes. But then they went off again. But wait, they came back on... Oops, back off again. So this repeated a few times (very randomly) and then they just stayed off until I got home.

So the moral of the story is to either not eat fast food anymore, or get a new car.

Seriously though, anyone know what's going on? I haven't checked the new fuse yet, but I will first thing tomorrow.

 

I have never heard of a fuse burning out so bad that it smokes.

 

Check the tailight sockets for corrosion...

 

QFTMFT!!!!!!!!!

 

Lesson 1: avoid the fast food places.

you have the infamous no tail lights/no dash lights. It is probably a short at the socket of the tail lamp, as above, but mine was melted, not corroded. You either need a new oem tail lamp assembly, which i sadly bought for $$, or some people say there are socket repair kits? at auto parts stores. When I researched the problem on old posts, inaddition to the above, someone's was caused by the wrong type of bulb, or recent stereo head unit installs gone bad, or by a defective brake light switch on the brake pedal that shorted out.