Electrical Gremlins Got Me Tonight HELP!

[Nickisa0]

I had my girlfriend swapping my dome lights to LED's and she says "while I was backing the screws out the dome light went off" and since then I haven't been able to get them to come back on. I tried swapping back to the regular bulbs and it didn't change a thing. I figured I would just deal with it and fix it later. I went to install LED's into my HVAC panel and realized I didn't have my torx wrench with me. So I reassembled everything and started the car and drove home. On my way back home I immediately noticed my aftermarket cd player and speedometer were nolonger working. I was instantly frustrated, when I got home I tore back into my dash to see if wires were messed up. I search for a good 30minutes and couldn't find anything wrong with my wiring. Then I went ahead & installed LED's into my gauge cluster, it went smoothly. I put it all back together and then I noticed that my tach nolonger worked... Now I noticed that my unlock/lock buttons, power mirrors, door chime, keyless entry, remote trunk release nolonger work. When I press the "unlock" button in the inside of the car my signal lights come on.

List of what isn't working:
Aftermarket cd player
Dome light/map lights
Speedometer
Tach
Unlock/lock buttons
Mirror buttons
Keyless entry
Remote trunk release
Door chime

I have no clue what's going on here, I just know everything worked perfectly up till an hour ago! Where do I start? I checked the fuses and they all came back to be fine. So what do I do now?! For reference I have a 1998 Mustang GT.

I found this thread that seemed to be my "saving grace": http://forums.stangnet.com/524946-speedometer-dome-light-radio-not-working-need-help.html

And then I found the interior fuse panel for my car:

Went out & tested all of them and only found #4 to be the only blown fuse. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[wytstang]

"while I was backing the screws out the dome light went off"

What were you doing when this occurred?
If nothing then I would start my search there. Maybe the past owner had it apart and pinched a wire during re installation. When it was unscrewed you may have have lost ground.

 

[Willis_98GT]

"while I was backing the screws out the dome light went off"

What were you doing when this occurred?
If nothing then I would start my search there. Maybe the past owner had it apart and pinched a wire during re installation. When it was unscrewed you may have have lost ground.

+1

and you obviously checked fuse 6?

 

[Nickisa0]

I noticed that the plug going into the dome light barely reaches out of the headliner is that how it should be? I suppose I could test all that with a voltmeter, any ideas on how much is supposed to be running through that? I absolutely hate messing with electrical stuff on any car! I don't understand how messing with the dome light would affect the cd player, speedo, locks, mirrors & keyless entry...

I've checked all the fuses, the only one that was blown was #4 (airbag) and I replaced that.

If somebody wants to come fix this problem for me I'll gladly pay them. I have every tool you could need here.

P.S. Here's my post about this same issue on the Stangnet forums: http://forums.stangnet.com/786766-electrical-gremlins-got-me-tonight-help.html#post7921272

 

[wytstang]

" I don't understand how messing with the dome light would affect the cd player, speedo, locks, mirrors & keyless entry..."
If a wire was pinched it can kill the ground and since most of the electronics are intertwined it will affect all connected to that 1 line.

 

[chris98gt]

everytime thats happened to me it was the number 8 10 amp fuse thats blown.

 

[Nickisa0]

Well I just learned my lesson about visibly inspecting fuses....

Both #6 & #8 looked just fine, I popped new ones in both of them and instantly the door chime and the radio popped on! ccasion14:

 

[Dalamar]

those peskey fuses. glad you got it fixed.

I'd check where you were working to see if there is a wire that is pinched, or rubbing.
Something grounded to blow those things.