MX-3.com

Howdy folks,

'93 4-cyl, no airbag, no cruise control, no DRL.

Two days ago, my headlight relay went up in smoke. After physically examining the wires and fuses, I replaced the relay. The relay immediately started buzzing, and I immediately pulled the power and got the relay out of there, however the relay holder melted, the blue/yellow wire had melted to the white/red wire (bare wire-to-wire contact), and other fun things.

I've pulled the wires apart, cut them from the bundle, and taped them up. I've not replaced the relay yet.
HOWEVER, the running lights are stuck on, including the instrument lights on the dash. The turn signals work, flash-to-pass works, but sans relay the headlights obviously won't. DIsconnecting the combination switch does nothing to stop the running lights.

I'm not the best at reading electrical diagrams, but it doesn't seem like any of these wires shorting to ground would cause this to happen, nor should they stay lit without the combination switch being disconnected. I don't (think) I have DRL because it's not a Canadian car.

Summary: Headlights stay "on" without relay or combination switch connected. Where should I look for shorts/connections/disasters?

I'd suggest checking all the wires from combo switch to relay box. It's likely there's another short in there somewhere.
A mechanic friend of mine was checking out his buddy's Nissan truck that had a similar issue. Turned out for it, some previous owner had used wire tap connectors on some wires under the dash and one was shorting, sending power to the running lights. Some electrical tape fixed it.
You may have something similar...
Since there's no change when disconnecting the combo switch, it's likely good, so problem must be in the wires. Check your fuse box and the wiring there too