BigBadGTA

well now ive gone and ****ed things up... I had the head unit installed correctly, and everything was working. Then I wired in the HD radio receiver to draw power from the same source as the head unit. Well it didn't work. now the god damn radio wont work at all. I even put the old one back in and nothing. What the hell is the problem? where the hell even is the fuse box in this car??

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Driver's side, under the dash. You'll hafta get DOWN, then look up to see it.

BigBadGTA

is that probably what I ****ed up?

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Possibly...Check the fuses

BigBadGTA

well the yellow cable shot off a spark also

BigBadGTA

what else could it be if its not a fuse?

JTNKTZ

iTrader: (10)

Well your first step would be to check the voltage coming from the 12v constant wire. If that is good then well you know. If it isn't it can only be a fuse.

Plugging the receiver into the same source probably drew too much amperage and the fuse thought that there was a short. I would bet that that is your problem. Just find that fuse.

BigBadGTA

but how do I wire the tuner in there if I cant connect it to the harness inside the center console???

JTNKTZ

iTrader: (10)

Run a new wire. It really isn't all that difficult to do. That or tap into a 12v constant BEFORE it connects to a fuse. BUT make sure you put a fuse on the wire to the tuner cause if you have a short you will have a nice smell in your car. And it doesn't not smell like that little magic tree on your rear view mirror.

If you don't want to mess with that and you don't use the cigarette lighter, cut the wire going to the cigarette lighter and use that as your 12v constant.

Relax though. Being upset and uptight can cause more damage. Look twice at what your cutting and TRIPLE check. Wiring is tricky and we don't want you to cut the VATS or ignition wire....

BigBadGTA

using the cig lighter would be an option.. thanks alot for the help. Ill have to go to auto zone tomorrow to get new fuses and a test light

JTNKTZ

iTrader: (10)

Also you may want to check how many amps the tuner is pulling. The reason for this is because I don't know what fuse is in the cigarette lighter. If the receiver pulls more amps than the fuse is rated to boom. If it is too low simply replace the fuse with a higher rated one.

BigBadGTA

so i just checked the fuse, and I didn't find anything wrong with it.

the only fuse I should be looking for is the number 13 10 amp fuse in the fuse block right? that's what I checked and it looked good... what else is there to check for?

racerquinny

iTrader: (1)

maybe you should try and disconnect the battery? just a thought

BigBadGTA

is there something that disconnecting battery would reset that might fix this? I already reset the head unit.
----------
i emailed crutchfield support to. they said to check the radio 10 amp fuse ( which i replaced) and the "courtesy" 20amp fuse. I think the one hes talking about is the same one that the interior lights, and door locks are on. but that stuff all works?

Kevman

Very, Very bad idea.

88iroc52387

iTrader: (2)

Your a bit hyper relax and take it easy its not all that bad.... some radios also have their own fuses usually on the back or inside under and access cover check those.. I suggest you get your self a long piece of wire and run it straight from the battery. Just throw it through the window so you can test and see if there is something wrong with the radio itself.... Run the direct wire from the battery to the the power wire of the radio and see if it turns on. once you figure out if its wiring or radio let us know... If its wiring you can rewire it fairly easily theres nothing to be all worried about just use an ipod for a couple days and don't do anything till you relax or you'll likely cause more harm then good

BigBadGTA

but I want to know what made this happen! everything was fine, and now all of sudden it wont turn on. Everything else on the car works fine, only the radio will not turn on. I replaced the 10 amp fuse on the back of the radio, and the 10 amp in the fuse block.

JTNKTZ

iTrader: (10)

From what I understand you plugged an outside source besides the radio onto one tap. In other words lets say you have a 10 amp fuse. Your radio pulls 8 amps. When you add the receiver that pulls another 8 than you are pulling a total of 16 amps which causes the 10 amp fuse to go boom.

BigBadGTA

but I replaced all of the fuses! that's what is stumping me!

JTNKTZ

iTrader: (10)

Your best bet is to see if your even getting voltage. Use a volt meter or your tounge. :P

BigBadGTA

I do think that I accidentally crossed some wires that were not supposed to touch each other and I think the yellow wire let off a spark. could it be that my ground is messed up?

FireDemonSiC

LMFAO @ replace fuse with a higher rated one.

That would be like putting 50 PSI in a 40 PSI tire.



Also, I really wouldn't recommend tapping into the cig lighter. When adding accessories that's the first place people shoot for. Kind of a ghetto fix all if you ask me. And if I remember correctly, the fuse that goes to circuit the lighter is on is a 20amp.

hellsatan

It does work tho =p My old man did it with his camaro. But my mom didnt know and plugged her phone into the jack and bam fuses blew. If your gonna it.. make sure you got something blocking that spot and warn any family that use your ride not to plug anything in it.

BigBadGTA

no, I'm not going to do it. I'm going to get my **** fixed the right way... lol

BlueIroc-Z

iTrader: (6)

Getting a spark off a wire probably means you shorted it, which would blow its corresponding fuse...

As for your ground being messed up, just use a multimeter/continuity tester with one lead connected to some bare metal somewhere and the other connected to your ground wire. If the light lights up or you get a reading on your meter, then your ground should be fine.
I'm not really an audio guy, so I'm just going off what I remember from a stereo install I did like 6 months ago in my Camaro. Anyway, there is one wire (orange, I think) that is constant power supply to the radio, and another (yellow, I think) that is switched ignition power to the radio, which only comes on when the key is in the "on" or "acc." position. So, what I'm wondering is if you checked the radio fuse in the fuse box that was probably only for one of the wires.

So... Like JTNKTZ said, you need to take a voltage meter or test light and check the constant supply and the switched supply. Then post up what you find. That will get you going in the right direction. Good luck.


EDIT:
Ok, going off my Haynes manual the orange constant wire is connected to the 20amp "ACC" fuse. The yellow wire goes to the 10amp "RADIO" fuse. Which is the one you already fixed. Hmmm, well that shoots down my theory... Anyway, like I said check for power at those two wires (the orange and the yellow), and we'll go from there...

onira710

Ok so heres the deal basically. I work at a car shop doing all of that silly radio stuff. The yellow wire, in case you werent aware is the constant power source for your radio to remember the settings, time, stations, etc. If that wire sparked you most definatly blew a fuse. Most of the time, through experience when you blow the fuse on the constant power, the fuse for it isnt where it says radio on the fuse box. The fuse, in the fuse box where it says radio is for the key power ( ACC ) for the radio. DONT PANIC THIS IS A EASY FIX. Just use a an ohmeter, voltmeter, whatever, and check all the fuses with the KEY in the RUN position. That should solve your problem. As for adding the HD tuner , depending on the type, some of them call for constant, or key ( ACC ) power. You can safely hook them up to the wires behind the radio. The fuse for the radio is a 20 amp, and will hold the current draw. Let me know what happens. GL !

BlueIroc-Z

iTrader: (6)

onira710 makes a good point . Make sure the key is in the run position when you are checking for voltage.

Cgroh89

iTrader: (1)

All good advice, Though if you sparked the yellow wire off of your head unit you can tell it good buy , ( ask me how I know )

Multi meters are your friends

BigBadGTA

thanks alot for the help guys. I do have a couple of questions however. The fuses in the block under the drivers side of the dash are the only fuses in the car right? there are none under the hood? And I know you guys keep telling me to check all of the fuses (and im going after school to buy a voltmeter) Everything in the car besides the radio works perfectly. all of the inside lights work, the air conditioner control unit, the dash lights, everything else works. I looked at the "coutesy" 20amp fuse that powers the lights and power locks and that was good unless it could be wrecked some way to power some things and not the others. Thanks alot for the help guys...

BigBadGTA

oh and when I check the fuses with the volt meter, blown fuses will have no reading right?

DanTeix

You should be able to look at a fuse and see a broken linkage, unless its a breaker. If its a breaker I would just replace them 2 dollars each and you may have two or 3. Do you have a head unit with a fuse in the unit. If so have you checked it.

Dan

onira710

Another thing people a lot of people get confused about is the link inside the fuse. Sometimes when a fuse blows it will look fine, you have to check it with a multimeter, or a powerprobe. Thats another things i suggest to buy. If you guys are into all of that electrical stuff you guys should definatly invest in a power probe. They're are several different types. The one I suggest buying is the pistol grip one. It shows you whether a wire is throwing out positive or negative voltage and allows you to throw it out as well. Its also the easiest way to check fuses because all you need to do is tap the power probe on the each side of the fuse. As long as both sides of the fuse are the same type of voltage your good, but if not then theres your bad fuse. If you guys are interested in the power probes, DO NOT BUY the power probe 3 because it DOES NOT show transient voltage.

BigBadGTA

or couldn't I just replace all of the fuses in the fuse box? I think that would be cheaper than getting a voltmeter...

BlueIroc-Z

iTrader: (6)

Well, the voltmeter will come in handy down the road... And, you can probably get a cheap one for like $10 bucks... Also, there is always the chance that there is issues elsewhere in the wiring that may not be related to a blown fuse...

EDIT:
If you have a Harbor Freight Tools nearby you can get a multimeter for $4...

Yellow92RS

If you try everything, and nothing helps, you could always rewire the headunit. It's really not that difficult at all, all you need is 3 wires, in-line fuses, and a few connectors.

'Constant' power - Run this wire straight from the battery(using an in-line fuse close to the battery) through the firewall, to the 'Constant' connector on the head unit.

'Key On' power - Run this wire from the fuse box(using a blade connector) to the 'Key On' connector on the head unit. For this wire, you need to find a terminal on the fuse box that only has power when the key is turned on.

Ground - Run a short wire from the head unit ground to a metal point on the car. If there is any paint on the surface on the metal, scrape it off for a better connection.

That's all you really need, it's very basic. You can use the same speaker wires with no problem. Good luck on the repair.

BigBadGTA

but like i said, if every other thing in the car works fine except for the radio, and the only fuse only for the radio is fine, could it still be a fuse? I mean every other fuse that I see has multiple things on it. and all of those things work...

BlueIroc-Z

iTrader: (6)

Well, your right in assuming that it should work fine given that all your other power accessories work. Technically there are three fuses for the radio. The "RADIO" fuse in the fuse block, this one is for the yellow wire. The "ACC" fuse in the fuse block is for the orange wire. And, the fuse that is located in the back of the stereo itself. So, yeah, provided all those test fine then you should be good to go. If not, then it could be a shorted/burnt wire behind the dash, or a problem with the stereo itself.

A bad ground could also be a possibility...

A multimeter would be a valuable tool in this situation... It would allow you to test your ground, fuses, voltage, etc. A test light, can be had a little cheaper than a multimeter and would allow you to test the power wires and ground (which would indirectly test the fuses as well, 'cept for the one in the radio itself).

EDIT:
Just to clarify, the wire colors I have been referring to (yellow-switched and orange-constant) are the colors I got from my Haynes manual for the car's wiring, which is not necessarily the same color as the wiring on the radio's pigtail.

iroc a 86 berli

turn your key to ing/run, take your damn test light and ground it to the chasis( bare metal on the column ext) take the other end of the test light (the pointy thing) and poke each of those little tiny metal contacts (the holes next to the fuses rating) on each side of the fuse(while they are in the fuse box) one fuse at a time. if one side of the fuse illuminates the test light and the other is dead (doesnt). replace as nessecary. f*ck what crutchfield said, just check every fuse, it takes 60secs to do this and will eliminate all of the fuses.

now that being said again, if all fuses are good, and everything else working, that just isolates the audio circuits, remove the head unit if its installed, look for any burnt inslation or any wire that look severed. if they look good take your test light(still grounded and find a good power source. if you cant find one that u can hook onto, run one from the + side of the battery to the passenger compartment (ie thru the window), atatch the test light to that power source, then prob your ground wire for the head unit. if it illuminates then it is good,then get back at us.

btw, does the hd radio tune have its own fuse, and do you have a wiring diagram for it? how many wires are coming out of the unit?

BigBadGTA

yeah that's what i plan to do. im going to get the light tomorrow. its too damn cold outside to work in the garage without a heater. (its -10 degrees out atm) and yes the tuner has its own fuse (5 amp) it has a yellow constant, and black ground and a blue ant rem coming out of it.

Chrisry1995

iTrader: (1)

How exactly did you tie into the wiring harness to take power off in your very first post. Sounds to me like you n rigged the wiring. Get a soldering iron and learn how to use it. I can't believe how many people butcher their cars wiring harrness. You MUST have a meter or at the least a test light. You can even make your own test light. Don't cut your wires!!! At min. get crimp connectors to add a pigtail or at best, cut only the wire insulation back along the wire, then SOLDER a pigtail on and the tape it up. Sounds like your cutting and twisting wires. I always had someone show me when I first learned about electronic's/car repair. No shame in that. I'd check your wiring job if I was you, because you've been messing with the fuses for days now. Who installed the head unit? That should be tied into the radio harness for power...etc. Don't be putting in bigger fuses!!! Those things should turn on with only 2 or 3 amps MAX. They only draw more current when you crank up the volume. How did you cross the wires up? Are your wires taped up good before even powering up? You should disconnect the battery first, then it won't happen again. You should have bought a male adapter that plugs into your radio harness so you never have to cut up your wiring. That's what your head unit needed. My money is on the fact you butchered your wiring, so if the fuses are good....Got to be your wire job.....and/or you blew out both units....not likely but???? If you take a radio and tie together the red[12v. constant] and the yellow[12v switched] and apply 12 volts to them and the ground{black wire] That radio will power up. Just a quick test if needed. The lights may not light..etc. but you'll be able to tell if it's dead or not. You'll get it fiqured out.....it's just a question of how much money this little project is going to cost you. We all have been there!!! As others here told you..Slow the F down, take your time and I hope you learn something from this little mess-up. This is only a tiny goof

Yellow92RS

i completely agree with you. I've only owned 5 cars so far in my life, but I've seem some of the worst "installations" done by previous owners. Like power wires coming from the battery to some accessory with no fuse at all. My first car caught fire because of that! It's not fun choking on burning wire smoke while you try to pull over somewhere safe. lol.

But anyway... That's why whenever I buy a new car I check everything. It has an aftermarket radio installed in it? I tear it out and redo it. I run new wires properly for the powers, ground, and speakers, just so I know it is done right.

So, please, just take your time fixing your radio problem. Do everything the right way. It will definitely be worth it. And besides, the smoke that comes off burning wires is pretty intense

BigBadGTA

I can assure you guys I didn't ****** rig my wiring harness. I didn't cut up the factory harness, I went to best buy and bought an adapter to wire my sony pig tail into. Then I crimped together all of the speaker cables, but I left the constant, the ACC, and the ground wires just twisted together, and wrapped in electrical tape so I could go in later when my tuner came, and crimp them together. all of the wiring is totally fine. I tried putting the previous pioneer head unit back in, and I even connected up the stock radio that came with the car and they all dont work. All of the in line fuses on all of the stereo components are good, and the fuses in the fuse box are good. Are there any fuseable links in the constant wire? In my experimentation its the yellow constant that is not getting any power.

50bmgshooter

iTrader: (4)

were are you located? maybe someone here is close to you and could help.
if you are in ny I could help cause im not far from long beach ny

Chrisry1995

iTrader: (1)

No, the yellow isn't constant, the orange is constant. Yellow is switched with the key ACC. Hers is a link I found to verify http://www.modifiedlife.com/1988-pon...iring-diagram/ Are you checking the yellow with the key on? There is no fusable link for that wire. Did you pick-up your meter or test light yet??? http://www.iroczone.com/88wiring.htm is another one. You should have a straight shot from the back of the fuse panel to the radio harness. If you didn't cut any wires like you said, then it's got to be a fuse. I'll check my factory manuel tonight to see exactly what fuse is what. My car is an 89, so it should be close to your 88 as far as that goes.

BigBadGTA

I think those diagrams are for earlier models before 88. On my harness that I got from best buy, it says that the yellow is "12 Volt Batt/Mem", red is the "12 Volt Ignition/Acc", and orange is "Illumination" which I have doing nothing. And it worked that way for the short time it was functional.

BigBadGTA

oh, and actually I am in New Berlin Wisconsin. If someone was around here, I would be glad to let them take a look.

Chrisry1995

iTrader: (1)

Here is some diagrams that may help. See if you have that 20 amp fuse in the convenience center. I have the 89 service manual, so it should be close to your car. Let me know if you need anything else and also when you find the problem. Did you get a meter yet?????? If you can't read the pictures, P.M. me with your E-mail and I can send you pix with higher resolution. Hope that the 20 amp fuse is blown. I see how the colors are mied up because I was ref. the car's wiring harness, not the after market color sceme on the adapter.

BigBadGTA

thank you very much for your help man, I really appreciate it. So from what I see on the diagram, the convenience center is underneath the steering column? I'm going to go and look for it now. Once again I really appreciate you trying to help me out.

BigBadGTA

HOLY **** YOU ARE THE ****IN BEST MAN!!!!! I just went in there and pulled out the 20 amp in the convenience center, and its blown! the filament is melted right in half!!!! OMG Im so excited!!! im going to the auto parts store to get some 20 amps as soon as my dad gets home with the van. if you were around here I would totally buy you some lunch or something. amazing. when I get the new 20 amp in ill report back. thanks you guys for helping me!!!!

BigBadGTA

guess what guys its fixed! now I just need to figure out where in the hell im oing to put this HD tuner... It doesn't fit under either side of the dash. I'm thinking of putting it under the seat....