Wiring Harness Short?

[SourceCode]

First off let me say hello to everyone here! First time posting here but I've always loved this site and use it for reference, but this time I had a unique question to ask.

Ok down to the problem at hand. I recently purchased a 2004 VW Jetta TDI (hellooooooo Diesel) and the previous owner had installed an aftermarket deck, an Alpine IVA-W203.

(it wont let me post a link to it for some reason >//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif )

It seems to be a great deck and I've seen some really good reviews on it. The only problem I'm having is that the stereo doesn't turn off how/when it should.

When normally the stereo should turn off when you open the drivers side door, mine does not. And its not one of those wirings where the stereo is supposed to stay on until you remove the faceplate (as this one does not have a faceplate to remove). Instead, the stereo turns off when you open the passengers side door.

Pretty confusing. But theres more. It sometimes shuts off as soon as you open the door, but sometimes it waits until you have closed the door to shut off.

Needless to say I'm stumped. The guys at AutoZone and the dealership and a few other places had some ideas and the common one was that the wiring harness on the back of the deck has a short in it. Could this be the case? And if so, do I need any special tools to fix it? Ive never put a new harness on before.

Thanks in advance!

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[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

does your vehicle dome light operate properly with both doors? to me it doesn't seem likely to be a short at the harness if it sometimes works properly with the passenger door and never with the drive door.

 

[All_Logix 10+ year member]

Many German vehicles incorporate a special wiring called a BUS system. I cannot remember what year they began this on the stereos, but you can use metraonline to look up your vehicle, if it comes back with a really expensive harness it uses the computer system. If this is the case, there is a good chance it was either wired incorrectly with the wrong style of interface or the interface itself could be going out.

 

[SourceCode]

The vehicle dome light is perfectly fine. I haven't observed any other electrical issues aside from the stereo.

And the only harness I found on Metra is this:

http://metraonline.com/part/71-9003

Alpine is annoying and does not use the same stereo keys as everyone else so I've had difficulty getting the thing out (this is my first Alpine stereo) so I still haven't gotten it out to take a look in the back.

Any ideas?

 

[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

pac has c2r-vw2. As far as getting the alpine out it depends on if they used the alpine DD can to mount the deck. If they did you should be able to go to any shop that deals alpine and they should have plenty of keys to give you. If there is no shop take what keys you might have, make sure they are flat (no nubs or bumps on them) and insert them just like you would any other deck and carefully pull the deck out.