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Radio not working after removal; Cigarette lighter works
Topic Started: Jun 4 2014, 07:22 AM (619 Views)
99redmetro
New Member
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Hello.

Yesterday I removed my radio to get at the fan switch, and after putting the radio back in, the radio doesn't turn on. It was working perfectly before.

The cigarette lighter works, so I know the fuse is good on that circuit. I also checked the fuse on the actual radio and it appears intact.

It's an aftermarket radio, and the previous owner cut the stock harness and wired everything up manually. It seems to check out, although I don't see a yellow wire where I would expect it. Also, the blue wire with a white stripe came out of the connector or wasn't originally attached, but from looking it up, that doesn't seem to be critical.

I am at a loss. I do have another (new) radio I could throw in there, but I don't want to do anything stupid. This is pretty frustrating.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Leaving on a 1000 miles roadtrip tonight, because that's how timing works. Radio would be nice.
Edited by 99redmetro, Jun 4 2014, 07:23 AM.
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Metromightymouse
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Powdercoat Wizard

Check that the plug at the radio didn't pull out or that any of the wires didn't pull partly out of it or any of the splices. Do you have a volt meter or test light? Check for power at the radio plug. Check that the ground wire is still a ground (0 or nearly 0 resistance between the plug and frame metal on the car).
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99redmetro
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Yep, that was it. Turns out the blue/white stripe wire should have been in where the yellow was supposed to be.

But now I have a new problem. I had the wire poked in there for testing, and the radio started working again. Then while fumbling around, I accidentally briefly touched the wire I believe to the rear outside of the radio, and saw a spark and smelled burning. After this the radio didn't turn on again after replacing the wire. Cigarette lighter still charges my phone, and the fuse on the radio itself looks fine.

Did I kill the radio? Is it worth the hassle of splicing the wires for the new radio, or is it possible I lost my +12v too? I don't have a multimeter on me, but will have access to one tonight. Ideally I'd like to solve this before tonight.

Thanks.
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Metromightymouse
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Powdercoat Wizard

Check the fuses regardless of the cigarette lighter working. There may be a fuse on that wire under there somewhere besides the fuse block. As long as the chassis of the radio was grounded it might not have damaged it, but it should have blown a fuse.
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99redmetro
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Metromightymouse
Jun 4 2014, 01:35 PM
Check the fuses regardless of the cigarette lighter working. There may be a fuse on that wire under there somewhere besides the fuse block. As long as the chassis of the radio was grounded it might not have damaged it, but it should have blown a fuse.
Where should I check for a fuse? I see nothing obvious. The wire comes from the main radio harness. I will still check the main fuse block, although to my knowledge the cigarette lighter and dome light are on the same circuit.
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ptcapboy


on my 95 I'm pretty sure for some reason my stereo hot wire is on the ignition fuse circuit instead of the radio/lighter circuit-do your indicator lights come on when you turn the key? maybe you can pull the radio/ lighter fuse and then check and see if the radio power wire is hot-if it is that may be an indication that your stereo gets it's power the same way mine does-also a strange story about 5 years ago I got a great little stereo for my car and installed it red wire to red wire and yellow wire to yellow wire like you're supposed to-it worked fine for a couple years and then stopped working-I got it to work when the red wires and yellow wires were twisted together-awhile ago that one died and the only way my new one would work if the two yellow wires were twisted together with ONE red wire-why I don't know but it works-
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Metromightymouse
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Powdercoat Wizard

Fuse box is where it's likely you popped a fuse but there could be an inline fuse anywhere along the wire that you grounded. Would be very rare to throw sparks and not kill a fuse somewhere and you never know what previous owners have done. Also you can contact Wire for Hire in the services section and she can put a "return to factory harness" together for you.
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Mythstae
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Metromightymouse
Jun 4 2014, 02:53 PM
Also you can contact Wire for Hire in the services section and she can put a "return to factory harness" together for you.
I don't have to put together nothin', there's a link in my signature to my Helpful Stereo Links thread to buy a factory harness from eBay, costs $5.89 as of now.
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faygoninja


my radio still turns on with my parking light switch, i gotta look into that :hmm
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Mythstae
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faygoninja
Jun 5 2014, 12:09 AM
my radio still turns on with my parking light switch, i gotta look into that :hmm
:slide
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99redmetro
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Turned out to be a fuse I blew. Replaced it, stuck the wire back in where it needed to be, and we were on our way for the 1000-mile each way road trip. Just got back. Average 45MPG across five tanks of gas. Radio worked flawlessly the whole way.

Thanks!
Edited by 99redmetro, Jun 11 2014, 01:09 PM.
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Mythstae
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:congrats
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