I have had issues with my wife's 03 sxt for the past few months. Problem started when headlights wouldn't work but brights did. Did lots of research including many helpful posts from this site. Multifunction switch was ok but replaced burnt connector going into it.


Problem solved.
Now fuse 17 on the interior fuse panel makes a bad connection and is very loose with a bit of melted looking plastic around the hole. If I hold the fuse a certain way, the left headlight works but if i let go it goes off. Recently my wife has been driving with brights on her way home from work (old dirty fixtures so brights aren't overly bright and attract attention) but forgot to turn them on last night and was pulled over for the left lamp being out. We both work nights so either way the car needs to be driven at night on a regular basis. I've tried several different 10a fuses of varying manufacture hoping one would be just slightly different enough to make a better connection with no luck. For tonight I have some electrical tape holding the fuse in enough to make the lamp work, but that could slip in the cold and is only a bandaid.
Do I need to replace the fuse panel? Is that difficult? Any other suggestions?

 

Any way to try and get in there with some needle nose pliers or a pick to try and gently pry the connectors "out" a bit to make the space smaller? I've seen people have bent the fuse legs (?) slightly in opposite directions to make it take up more space. I mean, the only genuine fix is a new fuse box.