This is a crazy one. I have an aftermarket radio I am installing that works just fine with the amp, however once I turn the lights on the 20 amp fuse for the tail lights blows but the radio will continue to play. If I disconnect the radio the fuse does not blow. Thoughts? I do not have any of the wiring going to the tail lights at all. I am not sure where the draw is at?
Nevermind, I found the problem. Not enough ground for the radio itself. I had it wired with the regular wiring but rewired the ground to the chassis and that fixed the problem. 5 fuses later I am good to go, ha
Nevermind, I found the problem. Not enough ground for the radio itself. I had it wired with the regular wiring but rewired the ground to the chassis and that fixed the problem. 5 fuses later I am good to go, ha
I don't know much about wiring, but I do know that a bad ground never blew a fuse. Something else is going on.
Funny grounds can do weird things, trust me. It sounds crazy for sure but I tried many different combos with the wiring. The ground that I was using that was tied into all the wiring was just not good enough for the load of the radio and wireless controller. Once I moved it to its own ground the fuse did blow anymore and everything else worked as it should. No other wiring was touched other than stereo stuff.
I don't know much about wiring, but I do know that a bad ground never blew a fuse. Something else is going on.
What is the radios memory + connected to.. What is powering the amp? is there a power remote to switch the amp on grounding out, is there a remote power on for a power antenna that isn't taped up, grounding out.
There is an orange wire from the tail light fuse (TAIL) to the light switch. Make sure the radio is not tapped into this wire. The original radio power wire is also orange, but it comes from the BATT fuse. There are actually 3 power sources for a stock Fiero radio.....Orange, Yellow, and Gray.
[This message has been edited by Gall757 (edited 08-20-2017).]
Radio memory is connected to the Orange wire (constant 12v, verified)
12V Ignition is connected to the yellow (that does turn on with the key, verified)
Illumination is connected to the Grey wire (verified with a multimeter with the lights on and it works to dim the headunit)
Like I mentioned before I changed or unplugged each wire one at a time or together with the same result, blowing the fuse. However once I moved the ground to its on ground point not tied into the car wiring the fuse did not blow. I appreciate the quick responses and the helping hand.
I dont under stand Spadesluck. I have the same problem. After I took half my car apart I found this. I unplugged my stereo, then the short when away. I assume theres some confusion about the dimmer wiring. It's been ok for a couple years now. My stereo uses an aftermarket adapter, and it's one of these.
------------------ Project Genisis Lo Budget 3800SC swap 12.840@104.8 MPH Intense-Racing 1.9 rockers, 3" exhaust, 3.4 pulley, ZZP tune and 18 year old tires.
I have been driving it now with the radio unplugged and it happened again. I unplugged the front harness from the firewall and no effect. Still shorting. Uhg.
Mine came down to the ground needing to be moved. Maybe for you try adding another ground to the radio itself or possibly wire new 12v feed to the radio. These cars are getting old so the wiring can troublesome. With the aftermarket harness being used it can make all that a bit easier to work with as well.
[This message has been edited by Spadesluck (edited 04-16-2020).]
I have been driving it now with the radio unplugged and it happened again. I unplugged the front harness from the firewall and no effect. Still shorting. Uhg.
Sorry just read you took the radio out of the equation. Sounds like you have a short somewhere for sure. Have you checked the light sockets themselves?
