Jameshpulse

My truck was running fine, but my temp gauge wasnt moving so I thought it was stuck and i tapped on the top of the dash. When I did this I loss power to my dash lights, ignition, clutch safety switch, radio and even my heater/ac wont turn on. any ideas what I did? I cant even start the truck now.

rworegon

Sound like you jarred a wire that shorted...start by checking all the fuses. Hopefully, the bad popped fuse will lead you to the circuit with the bad wire(s).

Jameshpulse

Yeah I didnt hit it very hard, I took off the dash and the cluster but could not see any wires that would have been impacted. What wire would connect all of those things? any idea.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

It might help to say just what your working with??

Start at the battery and check for open fuses and fusible links something is open some place.

Did you tap this a little harder then you think??

Hear any arcing when this happened.

Jameshpulse

It is a 87 pickup

hiluxhack

See if you can wiggle the fuse panel inside. It may just need to be tightened. Sounds like more than one circuit.

Jameshpulse

I found my fusible link, next to the battery the 80A one, was blown. I put a new one in and it instantly blew.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Then you have a dead short in that circuit .

They can be a pain to find just rubbing against a ground body part or even just a ground wire

RAD4Runner

Get schematic,
Get a multi-meter (No multi-meter? Harbor Freight is your friend)
Disconnect battery,
Replace battery with multimeter in resistance mode,
YES- Replace battery with multimeter in resistance mode.,
Replace blown F.L. You should then get very low reading, something like a fraction of an ohm. (dead-short)
Disconnect one fuse at a time.
When you disconnect a fuse but you still have a dead short, re-install that fuse. Move on to others.
When you remove a fuse and you lose the dead short, you know that short is on that leg taking power from that fuse. Get schematic if you did not do as I suggested above.
Inspect wiring, including near where you tapped the dash.

Jameshpulse

Problem was my oxygen sensor wire was touching my valve cover. I resealed it up and no more blown fuse.

scope103

Thanks for the report. Frequenters to this site (you may become one!) slowly build up a mental picture of "the things to look for first."