Redbull-1 could you help me solve a problem with my 04 honda accord coupe?

 

Does the MCU also control the tail lights? Or have anything to do with the tail lights? On my 1998, I have no dash lights or tail lights. Turn signals, brake lights, headlights, and flashers all work fine. My #10 fuse in the passenger box is blown. When I replace it, it just blows again pretty quickly.

I'm not 100% sure on this because it happened so fast, but I think my turn signals and flashers were NOT working for the short period of time that the fuse lasted (and the tail lights did work during that short blip).

I put my multimeter in place of the blown fuse to see how much current it was drawing. I'm aware this is not wise, but I figured what the hell. No signs of a fire, yet. Anyway, the multimeter can read up to 10 Amps. I flicked the lights on and then off real quick. The meter just beeped and said OL (overload). So it's drawing more than 10A.

In the video above, he mentioned that this could be caused by an aftermarket stereo. This car was given to me and it does not have any radio in it. Just a hole in the dash. The previous owner said he took it out because he couldn't get a security code for it, or something like that.

This tail light/cluster light problem appears to be common. Is there a common fix? I'm open to suggestions.

 

I did more searching online last night and found a bunch of other forums reporting this same problem. Most had no solution, but some did:
- Shorted out tail lightbulbs. I pulled all the harnesses on all of my tail lights. With NONE of them connected, the fuse still blows immediately.
- Someone found crushed/shorted wiring under their air intake. I pulled mine out and the wiring bundle appears to be intact and not shorted anywhere. It, of course, felt kinda brittle, due to being exposed to the elements for 27 years. But I couldn't find any breaks in the insulation or anything visibly wrong.
- Someone else found pinched wires near one of their interior fuse boxes. Mine visibly looks fine.
- A few have reported their MCU was fried. I think I found mine, directly forward (in reference to sitting in the vehicle) of the driver's side fuse box. I'm assuming it is the blue box (see photos below). I'm not sure how I can get access to this, my hand doesn't fit in there. I also don't necessarily think this is bad. Most people reporting this being bad, said nothing about their fuse blowing. They only reported no tail lights or dash lights.
- Switch module on the steering column being bad. I haven't taken any of this apart yet but I also don't suspect this is the issue.



I've inspected all the wiring that's I've gained access to so far, and it all looks to be intact. Any other suggestions?