Radio straight wired electrical issues

[jcole52]

I was wiring up my radio and wasn’t getting power to the accessory wire so I am running it off of the constant power wire and since then my cigarette lighter quit working and my dash lights will not cut on. Is this just a coincidence or is my radio causing these issues?

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[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

I was wiring up my radio and wasn’t getting power to the accessory wire so I am running it off of the constant power wire and since then my cigarette lighter quit working and my dash lights will not cut on. Is this just a coincidence or is my radio causing these issues?

You might have blown a fuse. Some cars have the memory wire connected with the lighter and interior lights for the RAP.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

You might have blown a fuse. Some cars have the memory wire connected with the lighter and interior lights for the RAP.

I meant accessory.

 

[jcole52]

You might have blown a fuse. Some cars have the memory wire connected with the lighter and interior lights for the RAP.

I went through and checked my fuses and all of them were good. Could there be any other culprits?

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

I went through and checked my fuses and all of them were good. Could there be any other culprits?

How did you test your fuses? I agree, the first thing I would check would be a blown fuse. The way you wrote that, you may need to hope it's a blown fuse, and that something isn't hooked up backwards.

 

[jcole52]

How did you tests your fuses? I agree, the first thing I would check would be a blown fuse. The way you wrote that, you may need to hope it's a blown fuse, and that something isn't hooked up backwards.

I really am hoping it’s just a fuse, I opened my fuse box and looked to see if any of my fuses were blown and none of them were.

 

[Firewalker]

Check the fuse box underneath the hood just to be safe. People forget about those all the time.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

I really am hoping it’s just a fuse, I opened my fuse box and looked to see if any of my fuses were blown and none of them were.

You need to get a device and measure the resistance on the top of each fuse. Fuses can be partially blown and they never look like it.

Most fuses have two recessed contact points in the fuse plastic. Those are there so you can stick needle nose probes on them, and read the ohms of the fuse.

You need to do this:

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

If you look at the following fuse, you can see the little recessed metal pieces on the top. You can read the fuses often times without ever removing them:

 

[Firewalker]

Agreed that is the problem with those little fuses. Sometimes they are very hard to see even with a very small break in them.

Also by straight wired did you cut the oem harness or something? If so then maybe considering putting that back and getting the proper wiring harness for the vehicle. You can get them for as little as 5 bucks these days on eBay or from Sonicelectronix or Crutchfield sometimes they are higher but might be worth doing. And "if" you did cut the oem harness then you can buy a replacement harness for those as well sometimes on eBay with longer leads if you cut them too short on the stock one. Just something to think about.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

So you should do that, and see if you can find a fuse that doesn't match up with the others. Even if it's not fully blown, it's 100% restricting current flow, which can cause lack of current or voltage problems. I've had blown fuses cause voltage to be about half of what it should be. That's a failure of a fuse. Which is ok, they are meant to be the weak point.

 

[jcole52]

Check the fuse box underneath the hood just to be safe. People forget about those all the time.

I checked that and all of the fuses were ok

 

[jcole52]

Agreed that is the problem with those little fuses. Sometimes they are very hard to see even with a very small break in them.

Also by straight wired did you cut the oem harness or something? If so then maybe considering putting that back and getting the proper wiring harness for the vehicle. You can get them for as little as 5 bucks these days on eBay or from Sonicelectronix or Crutchfield sometimes they are higher but might be worth doing. And "if" you did cut the oem harness then you can buy a replacement harness for those as well sometimes on eBay with longer leads if you cut them too short on the stock one. Just something to think about.

When I got the truck it had an aftermarket radio installed in it and factory wiring harness was already cut into. My friend bought a wiring kit for my radio off of Amazon and got it hooked up for me. We tested the

Agreed that is the problem with those little fuses. Sometimes they are very hard to see even with a very small break in them.

Also by straight wired did you cut the oem harness or something? If so then maybe considering putting that back and getting the proper wiring harness for the vehicle. You can get them for as little as 5 bucks these days on eBay or from Sonicelectronix or Crutchfield sometimes they are higher but might be worth doing. And "if" you did cut the oem harness then you can buy a replacement harness for those as well sometimes on eBay with longer leads if you cut them too short on the stock one. Just something to think about.

My friend bought a wiring harness off of Amazon and wired it in. I’m not exactly sure what “straight wiring” means but that’s just what my friend called it. The wiring harness wasn’t cut at all.

 

[jcole52]

So you should do that, and see if you can find a fuse that doesn't match up with the others. Even if it's not fully blown, it's 100% restricting current flow, which can cause lack of current or voltage problems. I've had blown fuses cause voltage to be about half of what it should be. That's a failure of a fuse. Which is ok, they are meant to be the weak point.

Alright I will check that out and see if one of my buddys has one of those tools. If they don’t would an auto parts store be able to check them for me or would I need to buy one?

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Alright I will check that out and see if one of my buddys has one of those tools. If they don’t would an auto parts store be able to check them for me or would I need to buy one?

If you ever want to do anything right electrically ever, I highly suggest you buy one.