Head unit keeps blowing fuses

[beetlepunk21]

Hi everyone, I installed a cheap head unit ( unsure of the brand at the moment ) both in my wife’s car and mine. Everything worked fine for a little while in my 98 4runner and then one day all of a sudden there was just no power to the radio. I pulled the unit out and checked the 15 amp fuse. Blown. As soon as I stuck another one in there it immediately blew as well. I’m a mechanic but I am clueless when it comes to electrical wiring. I tried doing a little bit of research before getting on here. When I spliced the harness together all I did was twist the wires together real good and then covered them with electrical tape. I didn’t use butt connectors or anything. Could this be the problem? Or is it something else? I did the exact same thing in my wife’s 2006 Kia Sorrento and hers has been working fine, no problems. Thank you all so much for your help in advance

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[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Shotty connections could definitely be the issue. Go in and use crimp connectors, especially on the power, ground, and remote wires. Even better would be to go in and solder and heat shrink the wires but it's not the easiest place to get to.

In the future, avoid twisting wires together and electrical taping them. It's the equivalent of putting only water in your coolant system. It may work, but it's not going to last. It's worthwhile to pick up a decent wire stripper, crimper, and some butt connectors off of amazon/ebay/harbor freight etc

Did you change any of the speakers?

 

[2RZ-FE 10+ year member]

I like both wires to connect to each other so use nylon closed end crimps. Butt connectors have a stop in the middle so the wires really don’t touch and relies on the metal inside the connector to transfer the current.

 

[tommydh 10+ year member]

Definitely use something better than tape. Check the harness connection as well there may be loose wires there but check it after you properly splice the harness. If you are not going to cover the connectors you choose make sure you use the ins section on crimper

 

[baldwaldo99]

Or it could be using a cheap head unit , or a faulty head unit. Try the other recommendations first and if they dont work then that would be your answer.

 

[beetlepunk21]

Thank you all so much for your help and input. My apologies for just now replying. I’ve been very busy lately. When i get the time I’ll pull the head unit and splice it correctly