Tail lights and dash lights keep blowing fuse when you start it

Go back further to the next connection from your tail light plug in see if you have power there maybe corroded

this 2002 Ford Escort ZX2 should have an owners manual in your glovebox

if not, here's a link in pdf form for it!

http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/02estog3e.pdf

now scroll to page 123 to see the diagram

look at TAIL ~ 15 amp blue fuse

this is inside the passenger compartment, not the one in the underhood bay

Fuse box location in 1998 Ford Escort

mark as helpful since i do this for fun only (not for profit) thanks!

1997 2003 Ford Escort Interior Fuse Check 2002 Ford Escort ZX2 2 0L 4 Cyl

Check your tail lights you may have a short in them somewhere.
That's how zx2's tell you there are no tail lights

Your brake light switch was sticking and now the fuse box is shorted. between those 3 systems. it happened to me in a 90 ford it was wipers brakes and radio. I took fuse box down and taped wires, and replaced brake light switch and it fixed it

check youre fuses first,check in the fuse panel for dash fuse.that will help you.

Check the fuse, the tail lights and dash light are usually on the same fuse. If the fuse is blown you may want to look around for bare wires. Do you have a trailer wire hook up? That is usually the culprit. The owners manual shoud tell you which fuse it is. No owners manual go to www.car-part.com that will tell you the salvage yards in your area that may have a used manual.

Just check the fuse box for busted fuses. They are properly labelled as headlights, park lights, etc..
Also check the wirings for short circuited lines. Further-
more check the bulbs, if these are still ok.

is it in the side of the dash facing the door

your lights are grounding out some where you will have to check for a dead short in the wiring use a volt meter in the resitance mode and track through you power side of the lights untill you find your dead short, start at the back and work your way to the fuse box pull the fuse and follow the wire. there is a short in it it will just take some time going through look for worn coating, cracks, or melted.
good luck & and happy hunting

Here is an easy start. Start unplugging things. Start with the tail lights. 1 then the other. Then unplug the instrument lights then maybe the switch itself. after that its gonna be a matter of pulling trim panels to find the culprit (dashes and kick panels are common areas for this to happen). There is also another means too. when you unplug the item in question you can use a Ohmeter and use the black to a known ground then you can start touching wires to see which one has no resistance to ground. then you will need to trace that wire which can be a pain. As you can see this can get progressively worse as time goes on, but be patient and methodical and you'll get it figured out soon enough!

Sincerely

JC