Question about the Illumination Control Unit

[Hola]

Hi, I have a 1993 Legacy 5MT NA. Ever since I got the car I have been having a problem with the dash light fuse blowing. I have searched extensively and cannot find a short anywhere. The fuse doesn't blow consistently. Sometimes it will last for 2 minutes, sometimes for 2 days, or any other random amount of time. Also, going over bumps doesn't seem to have any effect on what happens either. I've done some searching on here and I'm starting to think that the problem might be my illumination control unit. My question is this: Could a bad ICU be causing a random inconsistent surge of power that blows the fuse? Thanks in advance for any help you folks can give me.

[gt2.5turbo]

take it out and see if anything is lose on the board maybe? i had this same issue but mine was just a short in one of the wires. Does it have anything extra added to it? cd deck, gauges, fogs? check those connections out. also it would hurt to take an amperage (think thats spelt wrong) reading too

[Hola]

I think I will just take it out and replace it with one from a junkyard. The car does have an aftermarket stereo in it and that's the first place I checked for the problem. I was hoping to find a loose wire back there because it would be easy to fix but everything looked okay.

[realfinn]

X2 on replacement. I bought a 91 and when I opened the trunk there were 3 of them sitting in there. Aparantly its a common problem....at least with that one.

[tris91ricer]

I had a problem with mine briefly, on my 91. I'd also monkeyed quite a bit with the electrical in the front of the car -- foglights, blinker relocation attempts, as well as a stero attempt. (I let Best Buy put it in, Big Mistake.)

However, after replacing the unit, (once all was right, electrically) I got my illumination back by replacing the whole deal.
You know what you're having to get into to replace it, right? (Not that its hard, just asking)