Tail lights and some interior lights (blown fuse #8)
 

I have recently had some electrical issues with my vette and would greatly appreciate any advice forum members might have.

Car Details: 2005 C6 Z51 (no mods); recently had a relatively minor front end collision, which was repaired and the driver's side headlamp assembly was replaced. The low beam headlight is quite a bit brighter than the low beam in passenger side headlamp assembly, despite replacing the low beam bulb. More troubling, however, is a recent loss of my tail lights and some interior lamps.

A. What doesn't work:
A1. Exterior
Tail lights/Parking lamps and license plate lamps
Side lamps, front and back, on both sides of the car

A2. Interior
Left and right hand DIC gauges/buttons (main cluster is fine)
Seat warmer and HVAC buttons below the digital screen
Amber light near the passenger side sun visor
Light behind the Park/Reverse/Neutral/Drive strip
Active handling button near the center console
Gas and trunk release lights

B. What works fine:
B1. Exterior
Brake lights, hazards, trunk release blink, and backup lights
Low beams, high beams, DRL, Fog lamps, and turn signals (except for side lamps)

B2. Interior
Mirror vanity lights
Rear view mirror lights
Glove box light
Footwell lights
Cargo area lights
Head Unit (aftermarket)
HVAC screen
Main gauge cluster
Door panel lights come on (but only when opening the door; don't recall if that is normal or not)
Red lights both doors

Based on two days of looking through previous forum members' experiences, I have looked and determined that Fuse #8 in the engine bay blows repeatedly (sometimes blows immediately, sometimes takes time). However, even when it doesn't blow, the problems remain.

I have checked and determined that all of the fuses in the passenger footwell, including the CLSTR/HUD fuse and the CTSY/LAMP, are fine. I have removed all four rear tail light bulbs and checked for any corrosion in the sockets. I do not see anything suspicious.

Finally, today I took my car to AutoZone and had them check the car for codes. There were none. However, as I understand it, their readers do not detect issues with the BCM, etc.

Any ideas what might be wrong? Thanks in advance for your help.

Fuse 8 protects the parking lamp relay, which provides power to the lamps around the exterior of the car. I believe that when the instrument panel computer senses 12V on that same circuit it activates the interior lights behind the buttons on the trip computer and center console. So your symptoms make sense.

Given that the fuse doesn't always blow but the lights never work, it sounds like the parking light circuit is interrupted someplace close to the relay and has an intermittent/high-resistance short to ground.

I'd check for melted/smashed connectors or lamp sockets (especially near the recent repair work). Also try replacing the parking light relay (35) with the A/C relay (37) to see if that makes any difference.

Thanks Torquetube, I forgot to mention that I swapped out the relays 35 and 37, but neither appeared to be bad. I could swear that I smelled a faint electrical burning smell right after I picked up the car from the body shop but they replaced a number of parts and with the new paint and detailing, I thought it might just be my imagination. I think I'll ask the body shop that did the repair work to check the wiring in and around the nose cone. Do you think the BCM may still be okay, or is it likely that the short has fried it?

A short in the parking lamp circuit shouldn't harm the BCM. The relay sees all the current. The BCM just pulls down the coil side of the relay.

I ended up taking it back to the body shop and they sent me to the dealership, since it was an electrical issue. My recollection is that the dealership had to "re-flash" the BCM and then everything began to work again. Sorry, I can't recall more of the details, but if your insurance company paid for your repairs, it should cover the costs of any electrical issues resulting from the accident. Good luck.