Why do tail lights pop fuse when turned on?

Hi Justin.

My first thought on this would be to check your fuses. The tail lights, brake lights, turn signals, and all four front headlamp filaments (left and right, low and hi beam) have their own fuse. This makes sure you don't lose all your lights if one bulb shorts. Take a look in your owners manual (or just pop the fuse panel, they're usually labeled on the back of the panel or lid) and look for a fuse marked something like 'tail light'. More likely than not, that's the problem.

After that, the next thing to look at would be the bulbs themselves. Unlikely you'd burn both out at once, but if they lights are dead you'll get no light.

Hope this helps!
D

Remove the bulbs then see if it still burns the fuse if it doesn't the wrong bulbs they make two type of bulbs

Sounds like you have a short that is going to ground. You can put a fuse in and have someone watch the rear lamps when you pull the light switch on. You can also check the bulb sockets by removing the bulbs. You could try a 5 amp heavier fuse (be careful only for a few seconds). Check the wiring for a weak spot as well. Try another light switch. I hope this helps.

Those are your marker lights. They come on when you turn your lights on halfway. I would suspect your light switch was overheating and melted the harness behind it and shorted 2 wires.

Definitely an electrical short or it could be a bad headlight switch

This problem sounds like there is a short, first locate the fuses and replace them if they are blown, most likely they will be.

You will need to do some checking, we know the short is in the tail light dash light area which is considered the park lights,
This may be due to a bad wire or switch, if you have a trailer hitch on this van i would start there,

Locate the connector for the trailer lights, on the rear of the van , follow the wiring and look for bad wiring or wiring rubbing through near metal area,
A good test would be to install new fuses and turn lights on as you have someone keep an eye on them to see when they go out, turn van on and lights also, see if fuse pops , if it does then locate the wiring for rear lights at rear of the van behind rear bumper area you will see a connector that connects the wiring for rear lights, remove the connector , this will stop all power to rear lights and will be a test to see if the short is in the rear tail lights, with connector removed install new fuses and turn lights on, if fuse does not blow then now we know short is in rear from that point back, check wiring and sockets very closely, make sure correct bulbs are installed.

this is where i would start, let me know the results of this test i we will go from there, good day

The fuse doesn't blow till you turn on the light switch? If it blows before turning on light switch, look for a short to ground between fuse box and light switch.
If it blows after turning on light switch, I believe they make a short finder tool.

Hi, did you check the fuse labeled EXT LP. If that is not the problem, you will likely need a new headlamp switch. A new switch is $47 at autozone. To replace the switch, first unscrew and remove the clamshell covers from the steering column. Then unscrew and remove the switch from the steering column. Screw the new switch in and replace the clamshells. Let us know if you have more questions and thanks for using FixYa.

chk. headlight switch, my guess thats what it is.

OK there is a short in your car
take all the light bulbs out of the light that trigger the problem this break the current place one bulb in at a time checking that the fuse has not blown this will pin point where the problem is
once you find the problem you can replace the socket as it may have started to corrode check for water
once you replace the socket you should not have a problem
if you do let me know
dj_ricko_1988 at hot mail dot com