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Question about a 2014 Ford Escape that kept blowing the same fuse
Had this car come into the bay about two months ago, a 2014 Escape with the 1.6L. The owner said the radio and power windows would just die randomly. Checked it, and sure enough, a 20-amp fuse in the passenger footwell box was blown. Replaced it, and it blew again before the customer even left the lot. Spent the next three hours with a test light, chasing wires. Finally found the problem... the harness running into the driver's door had a rub-through spot right where it flexes. The insulation was worn down to bare copper, shorting against the door frame every time the door opened. It was such a tiny spot, easy to miss. Has anyone else run into this on that generation Escape? What's your go-to fix for a door harness repair like that?
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olivia_carr71mo ago
Man, I used to always check under the hood first for electrical stuff. But after seeing a few of these door harness shorts, I start at the doors now lol. That's a solid find.
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michael_patel1d ago
Jumping right in on that thought, I've actually started doing the same thing after a buddy's car left him stranded from a door harness issue. He spent three days chasing a phantom battery drain before finding a broken wire right at the door hinge. Now I always check the door boots first on any car with over 100k miles, especially if there's any weird electrical stuff happening. It's crazy how much those wires flex every time you open the door, and that constant bending just makes them snap eventually. If you don't catch it early, it can mess up your door module or even the BCM if it shorts out. So yeah, starting at the doors isn't just a shortcut, it's honestly the smartest first move for a lot of these newer vehicles.
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the_pat1mo ago
Yeah, those door harness rub-throughs are a known weak spot on that model. I read a TSB about it a while back, basically says the factory routing puts stress on the wires. My go-to fix is to solder and heat shrink, then add a protective sleeve over the whole section before re-taping.
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