First post, hi guys. anyways got an 03 ssei mid june everything was fine. Now lately the interior lights wont work. First I found the fuse and went to replace it, when i stuck it in it popped immediately as I put it in. Did some more digging around and found the relay was fried, replaced it and the fuse worked great for 10 days. Replaced the fuse, popped later that day, once again replaced following day and so far it works I havent been out to the car yet today. Any ideas as to where I should even start looking?

Is the INT LP fuse (10a) in the rear fuse block the one that blows? The next time it blows, remove it, place one lead of a multimeter set on a low ohms scale in the load side of the fuse socket, the other lead clip to a good ground. If resistance is real low like less than an ohm, you have a voltage to ground fault (short ckt). A short ckt blows fuses. This is where you'll have to start ground isolation at the component level by disconnecting copmonents one at a time while monitoring the ohmeter. When the ohmeter moves toward infinity, you've localized the fault. The interior ltg ckts are more complex than what one would think. Let us know how you make out with these first basic checks. Oh yeah, Welcomne to Bonneville Club! : )

yes its the int lp fuse, even if all are working "right" one will still measure a differnt resistance? I'm not to big a fan of electrial work so I just checking.

ok, it measures at 1.1 to 1.3 ohms. is that still a short? whenever I put a fuse in now, as soon as it touches the contacts it pops instantly. it'* also been awhile since they have worked aren't there the 2 map lights, 2 under the dash, 2 above the rear doors and the glovebox and trunk right?

That resistance is too low for the section of ckt. you are measuring. Remove the INT LP relay to see if that causes resistance to increase.

Was any work done to the electrical system of the car in the past few months?

Maybe a remote starter or something. This instant popping is probably the circuit being grounded. Always need to ask ourselves if the issue is self induced and then finding the problem is faster.

when my uncle and i first started looking at it we noticed the relay was very hot so we changed it with a different brand. the only thing electrical I've done is put silverstar fogs in and when I was in the fuse box under the big 40 amp fuse there was a power wire that looked like someone before used for to power something but I took the fuse out and removed the wire and put it back in. the guy at oriellys said it was the same but should I go to the dealer and get the oem relay? could that be the problem all along other than the first time when the relay was hot and blew the fuse? if that'* all it is I might have to kick myself in the head for not thinking about it
edit. remeasured around 1.8-2 ohms and without the relay in place it doesn't measure if it does i cant get it to so I'm going to go get a different relay. if thats the problem then I'm probly going to get banned for life from oriellys since my gf'* dad had a similar relay issue with them telling him it was the right one and once he went to the dealer and bought I "right" one everything worked great. thanks guys for all the help

Does the ohmeter indicate "OL" with the relay removed? That is the indication that you're looking for, infinite resistance. It sounds as if the relay is at fault placing a low ground on the supply to the interior lighting ckts. Or something in the relay socket with the relay installed is going to ground. Remove the relay, install a new fuse, does the fuse blow?

its under the rear seat. There is a chart on the cover of the fuse box that tells you all the positions of the relays and fuses