99 Acura TL: I took out the Bose factory system and installed an aftermarket. Turns out, I didn't know as much as I thought I did. Didn't even disconnect the battery -- yeah, I know, stupid rookie mistake (I haven't done this in years). Anyway, afterward, I had no dash lights, including lights on the environmental controls or gear shifter). I took it to a local audio place and had a better head unit professionally installed, but even they couldn't figure out the lighting situation.

After I put in the first head unit, the 15 amp small lights fuse was blown in the box under the hood. I fixed that, and it hasn't blown again.

I used a test light on the wires on the back of the dimmer switch -- light on the left two wires, but not the right two, no matter how much I turn the dimmer dial. If I use a paperclip to bypass the switch, it blows the small lights fuse again. I've checked -- with the test light -- all the other fuses, and nothing is blown. Any thoughts?