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[Bruce1954]

Here is what the revised 2002 Wiring manual has to say about fuse 28 F2.28

It is a 10 amp fuse that is hot in run
It feeds--
The temp door blend actuator

Function Selector Switch--> including the blower motor relay and AC cycle switch and a few other HVAC items

And the Automatic temp Control EATC module

Sounds like without this fuse the ATC will not work at all!

Are we talking about the same fuse?

You are correct it has nothing to do with the plow except that while plowing you may have pinched a wire and now it is shorted.

I did not see any down streem fuses to help you find the problem.
Here is what I would Do:

Instead of going through fuses I use a 12 volt light bulb about 50 to 100 watts should do it here, wire it to a blown fuse or find a way to use the light as the fuse. This saves time and lots of fuses, the light bulb is used in series and makes the circuit work as long as the load is not to high and since 100 watts is about 8 amps it whould run the circuit without dropping to much voltage.

Now you can deturmine what the load is, a dim light is low load a full bright light is a short.

Now if you are lucky you can turn off and on parts of the HEAT and AC system to help find the circuit with the short. To bad this fuse feeds a bunch of stuff, this is not going to be easy.

If you are under warranty and the dealer does not void you out due to snow plowing ( I am Assuming you have an X)I would let them take it on, since the wires for this one run all over the truck.

Good luck
Bruce