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So I was installing a new kenwood stereo on a 1985 iroc tpi, we are working on the car, doesn't run, is so close to staying on by itself. Back to my point. Wired in a new stereo with harnesses from kenwood, I crank the key 2 notches forward so that everything gets power but I don't crank the engine since it doesn't stay on. And bam it doesn't turn kn, so I re plug in the old stereo it also doesn't turn on. I take out the radio fuse and I test it and it seems good reads on the multimeter as it should
so i plug the fuse back it, yes some are upside down but ive only touched the radio fuse. So I turn the key foward again and I test the current on the fuse. I put my multimeter to the setting, set it to DCV and 20. Touch the red rod to the fuse (yes the metal tip) and the black one to some metal on the car, it reads in at around .3 and jumps a little up or a little down.
So, I believe It should be reading around 12 volts, while I an getting .3, where do I go from here? What do I do next?
How do i get power to my stereo?
Edit- the car has been sitting for 26 years, in a garage but still. According to my dad everything worked fine before he sat it in the garage
Last edited by BigBean; Jul 30, 2024 at 04:49 PM.
Reason: Should have said the car has been sitting 26 years
Make sure you have 12V at both sides of the fuse. If the fuse is bad, one side will have it, one won't.
If both sides of that fuse lack 12V, check every other fuse in the fuse box that's supposed to get power at the same time. Gauges, wipers, etc. If all those are also lacking power, you'll need to start looking upstream of all that. Ign sw, C100, fusible links, etc.
Ok that sounds right. Just making sure i tested them correctly, so the black rod to metal on the car, and the red to both sides of the fuse (not at the same time of course)?
We know the guages work as well as the wipers, but we had to take the wiper fuse out since the switch or column got stuck in the on position. I will get a new battery tomorow and test them all. What I did notice doesnt work is the roof light and reading lamp
YES at the same time. Of course. Doesn't matter very much what they're doing at DIFFERENT times; what matters is, what they're doing TOGETHER.
Black lead to ground (exposed metal), red lead to the thing you want know whether it has batt voltage or not. All that matters is, whether batt voltage is impressed across the object in question.
Cars are SO SIMPLE electrically. Everything is just, battery and ground. Doesn't get much eeeeeeeeezzzzzyer than that.
Last edited by sofakingdom; Jul 30, 2024 at 10:07 PM.
Make sure that you've got a GOOD ground when probing.
This diagram is for the 85 Camaro,.. 86 *should* be the same.
You'll notice that the same circuit from the column feeds both the RADIO fuse and the WIPER fuse ( HOT in ACC or RUN ). If you have voltage on the WIPER FUSE you should have voltage on the RADIO fuse; If you don't,... I'd inspect the back of the fusebox.
Look at John's wiring diagram. A is a fuseable link. It is located on the battery cable bolt on the starter. There should be a couple of them bolted to the starter. They can go bad and look fine. Tug on them fairly hard to see if they pull apart. They should NOT come apart. Also you can check to see if voltage is even getting to the fuse panel using your volt meter. Ground the negative probe and using the positive probe touch the metal pieces that hold the fuse in the panel. If no voltage there your fuseable link is bad. Only use fuseable link wire to replace them if they are bad. The links are made of a very soft wire, not copper like the rest of the wiring. You can use butt connectors to attach them to the harness. Fuseable link is available at an eletrical supply store. As Sofa stated the wiring in these cars is very basic.
The way i worded it was dumb, YES i meant both ground and one end of the fuse haha. So I got the new battery and all of the fuses have power. The red wire has the 12 volts, HOWEVER the constant 12 volts or yellow wire, has no power, mind you i am testing these connections after the metra harness at the exposed cables. Crutchfield has told me to get a fuse tap and tap into a fuse so I can wire the constant 12 volts.
