Is the Arc Fuse still needed w/ an aftermarket radio? I am asking because w/ the Arc Fuse in, it is draining my battery if I dont drive my car for a couple of days.

 

No, it was only required for the models with the custom stereo amplifiers from the factory. I removed it from my 89 iroc and have had no problems.

 

I removed the Arc fuse from the panel & did another test for current draw and got a reading of .002 but now my radio will not turn on. Any ideas?

 

I had this problem on my firebird. ITs been quite a long time, but I believe the factory power wire for the radio runs through that fuse. I just used a different hot wire.

And as far as your battery draw goes, if you want to track that down unhook your negative battery cable. Put one end of a test light on the battery negative post, and the other end on the battery terminal. with that hooked up like that, ground the terminal to the battery post(with the light still on both ends) for about 20-30 seconds. take the terminal off the post and see if the test light lights up, if it does you have a draw. Start pulling fuses one by one until you find the one that makes the test light go out, or very dim. The fuse that changes it is your draw, find out what runs off that fuse.

 

If you pulled the fuse it's like cutting the power wire. A radio should draw some amount even when off (store presets, clock, etc).

 

It's the ARC fuse that is causing the current draw, that is why I took it out, but now my radio does not turn on.

 

I thought that it was only for the models with the custom stereo amplifiers from the factory like Trickster said.

 

Can I just run the memory wire of the HU straight to a slot in the fuse panel that is hot all the time?