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Posted By: Glorydays 2000 Chevy Express van Electrical - February 02nd 2010 1:47 am
I need a little help. My daily driver, my 2000 Chevy Express Van has an electrical problem. My interior lights and my remote power mirrors are on the same 20 amp fuse. The fuse blew so I went and bought new ones. As soon as I plugged in the fuse the lights started to come on then the fuse blew again.
I did this twice. Anyway, I crossed the terminals and noticed the interior lights were on much dimmer than they should be like they were hooked up in series. Evidently a short but I dont know where to look. Anybody a guru on electrical and maybe Chevy's that can tell me where to look for this one?
Thanks to all that can help.
Posted By: Doc 2% of Canada, EH!!!! Re: 2000 Chevy Express van Electrical - February 02nd 2010 2:09 am
Make sure the power mirror switch is in the neutral position when putting in the fuse. can you get the fuse in with all the doors closed.... Spray some contact cleaner in all the door switches for the interior lights...


Phrog had a similar problem with his door locks...turns out water was entering the rear door window gasket and was affecting all the locks..... maybe the same type of a problem ??
Posted By: Glorydays Re: 2000 Chevy Express van Electrical - February 02nd 2010 4:06 am
Wow. um thanks Doc. Been exceptionally cold and damp here. Havent noticed any water but will check all of that and perform all troubleshooting recommendations you said tomorrow. I will let you know.
Thanks.
Posted By: Doc 2% of Canada, EH!!!! Re: 2000 Chevy Express van Electrical - February 02nd 2010 10:19 am
Putting the fuse in with power on can cause arcing that can blow the fuse immediately....with the doors open the power is on to the interior lights...
Posted By: soundhd Re: 2000 Chevy Express van Electrical - February 14th 2010 12:19 pm
Electrical problems are always a pain to fix but there are some steps you can do to help you find where the problem exists. You will need a copy of the electrical diagram for your van though.
What you need to do is find where in the circuit the interior lights and the mirror wiring are bridged or connected together...the print will show you....then sperate one of the two circuits, insert a new fuse and if the fuse does not blow then the problem is in the circuit you disconnected, if it still blows then the problem is in that circuit. Once you have found out which circuit is giving you the trouble, I would trace the wiring to see if it is shorted out anywhere first and if you did not see any spots that are shorted out check all the connection points to see if there is any water damage anywhere and if you do not find any then reconnect that circuit and start disconnecting the components one at a time in that circuit to isolate the bad part (you will have to put a new fuse in for each test until you isolate the bad part...) It's a pain in the butt but that is how it is done.....thats why it costs so much to isolate an electrical problem and fix it at a repair shop.....good luck and hope this helps.....

PS: I would check the morrors first though....they are on the outside of the van and maybe water has gotten inside...they would be the easiest to check first....
Posted By: 2percent Re: 2000 Chevy Express van Electrical - March 22nd 2010 7:38 am
The easiest way to locate a short is check for a voltage drop at every component in the circuit, you can do a lot on your own but a wiring diagram would surely be helpful
Posted By: Moogvo Re: 2000 Chevy Express van Electrical - August 19th 2010 6:06 pm
I don't know if you ever found your problem but...

My '97 Express did EXACTLY the same thing. I ended up buying a set of shop manuals just to track this down. That circuit includes the dome lights, the power mirrors, the heated mirrors (if equipped), the under hood light (if equipped) and the sun visor vanity mirror lights.

On my van, I would replace the fuse. Sometimes it would work for a while before blowing, other times it would blow as soon as I replaced the fuse. I would think I had found the problem and then a day later, the fuse blew.

I noticed that the dome lights would dim way down before the fuse blew in most cases. I also noticed that the fuse would blow even if I had the dome light override on. It would blow during the night when nobody was even touching the vehicle. I also noticed that I could hear the dome light delay relay still working, even though the fuse for the lights themselves was out. (slight click from behind the passenger's side kick panel in the keyless entry control module)

It turned out to be the sun visor vanity lights. I pulled off the passenger's side kick panel and found the connector. (2 wires... orange and black or brown (if I recall correctly). In any case, it was right on top of all of the other wires and was really easy to get to. I disconnected it, replaced the fuse and it didn't blow. I went back over to the connector and slowly plugged it back together and when it made contact, the lights dimmed. I pulled it back apart and the lights came back to full intensity.

After repeating this test several times and reading the line with an ohm meter, I determined that most likely a chafed wire somewhere on that circuit was intermittently causing the problem. I left it unplugged and it hasn't blown another fuse since. That was about a month ago.
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