Hi all I'm looking for some help and guidance please.

I have had a bit of an issue with my sidelights and with the ones on the left working, but not the ones on the right. On top of this neither of the lights on the bumper work. Having checked the fuses (10 amp in cabin and 20 amp in engine bay), they were OK.

Foolishly :doh: I decided to "piggy back" off the left hand sidelight to run the lights that were not working (yes maybe my first mistake). All was going well with the front, so onto the rear. It was then that things went very very wrong.........

Whilst checking the volts on the relevant wires, the lights were switched on and off and I thought i knew what was wrong and started to work out what was wrong. it was then that i got that lovely electrical smell...........

Put simply, the fuse in the engine bay had melted (not blown); just to further things as i switched off the ignition i looked in the fusebox below the steering wheel only to find the fuse that protects the right hand running lights hand done the same thing!!!!!

I did some volt checks(after a lot of swearing) and switched the ignition on and..........yes more smoke:doh:

Subsequently I have disconnected the battery and sworn a lot. however, I am not sure what I have done....

I think i have overloaded the circuit somehow - probably on the piggyback. however, what else could I have done??? Am I going to have to rip the dash out to have a good look at the fusebox and see what is there??/ How hard a job is this??? has anyone done this before??

Basically what do i do next - is this a job i can do or is it best getting an auto electrician onto it???

any help or guidance will be welcomed - please don't bother telling me i am a t$%t or c**k for working on my electrics.

many thanks

billy

PS I am near aylesbury if you happen to be local and i make a good cuppa........

So you fed the FRONT (dead) R/H circuit from the FRONT (live) L/H Circuit? .....and that was ok?

When you went to do the rear running lights, that's when the fuses melted?
If a fuse MELTS and doesn't blow - you've got an overrated fuse in the box, or a hefty bridge that's just below the fuse rating.
They're there to protect the circuit. Blown - "good" melted... V V BAD.

Do you have a towbar fitted ? if so, has it been wired properly using the LR OEM plug, or bodged into the loom ?

Check the earthing at the holder and trace back to source.
Earth OK? Check the Voltage at the bulb.
No +12v ? Check the fuse.
Fuse OK?
Check the relay
Check the Fusebox output.
Check the switch

Thanks for the info, will do that all tomorrow.

Yes I am hanging my head in shame.................

will report back as to how things go