This 1991 Subaru Loyale came in with the complaint that the taillight fuse would blow. It had been in before and no short was present while it was in the shop but this time it was finally there. I removed the exterior lights and inspected the wiring and found absolutely nothing. So I turned my attention to the interior of the car.
I removed the lower dash and steering column covers and found a lot of wiring that was just hanging around.
I also found the short.
It seems that someone had replaced the computer in the car with a used part (which is okay) but when the used computer was mounted in place not enough care was taken to ensure the wiring was clear and the wire in the picture above was pinched between the computer and the mounting bracket.
Pretty simple repair once I found it. Just cut out the damaged section, installed a splicing connector and heat shrink tubing.
I then took my time and made absolutely sure that the wiring was clear when I installed the computer back to it’s mounting position.