97 Pathfinder, ATP light always on, guages dont work or light up

[Dattebayo]

Heres the story:

My friend's pathfinder had the fuse blow on his gauges (listed as "meter" in the fuse block) and then the stupid "ATP" light come on and stay on in the cluster. Soon after, the car drained the battery to death and the car would no longer run. We took it to a mechanic and he replaced the stupid "meter" fuse and charged the battery and apparently everything was fixed. (yeah, right...)

He attempted to tow me out of the snow last night when I got stuck, and when he threw it into 4H 4-wheel drive, the fuse on the gauges blew out again and the ATP light came on again. We tried a new fuse twice and it blew right away. The RPM gauge blipped just when we started the car right before the fuse blew each time. The third fuse we tried did not blow, and the RPM gauge did not blip this time. I am thinking there is a short somewhere, and now possibly some damaged equipment now that the gauges are completely unresponsive.

I have checked in the FSM and basically have no luck, so I am asking for any information that might help.

Thanks guys.

[Dattebayo]

I double-checked the FSM, and I have found that the relay that switches the ATP warning light is powered from the same fuse that powers the rest of the gauge cluster (duh ). Since the switch in the relay is closed when there is no power in the coil, the gauge cluster can be off and the ATP light on, therefore the problems are related to each other.

I hope that replacing the ATP fusible link may solve the problem, but I really don't think it is so because the 10A fuse that powers both units would still be blowing out. Perhaps the relay coil is shorted directly to ground? This would be the best possible scenario...

Please, still help if you have any information...
Modified by 2BN_S13 at 12:42 AM 2/18/2007