NOFX

SOLVED!

Here's what I know about it so far. My ETM (electrical troubleshooting manual) is on the way, but not yet in my hands.

Car is a 1988 CRX HF.

Got the car three weeks ago and there was a Kenwood tape deck hardwired in. Removed that deck and put in the OE plug and a '93 Accord tape deck.

About a week ago we put in a Sony CD player using a conversion harness. Everything worked. And then a few days after that when I turned the car on neither the blower or radio came on. Turned the car off, removed key, and then turned the car back on and everything turned on as it should. wtf... Okay.

Then the same happened once or twice more, with the same end result of it working once the car was turned on again.

Two days ago I was sitting in the car with the car running and the radio and blower cut off and then a small amount of smoke was seen right above the center vent area. I turned the car off and we disassembled the center stack and checked the wiring. No sign of smoke damage, but sometime during checking all this out the blower decided not to work anymore.

A friend tested fuse 17 (radio) as pulling about four volts and the blower motor (heater motor) pulling the same. I think he said power supply for the radio is doing about eight.

So I'm driving with no blower for now, granted it doesn't appear to be working at all anymore.

If I have the headlights and rear defrost on, along with the radio, everything works. If I step on the brakes the radio turns off.

Any ideas? Still waiting on my ETM and I am cold.

sanimalp

Voltage is generally not what causes wiring to smoke, Amperage load is what causes it to smoke. You may be able to test the amperage load of some of the wiring with a normal multimeter, but a lot of the wiring caries too much current and will melt your multimeter, so be careful with that.

Something in your dash is either grounding out, or some device is drawing way too much amperage on an un-fused or improperly fuesed link. Fuses help mitigate smoked wiring like what you are seeing, so I would start with any device that is not factory or that you installed that you know to not have a fuse, or a fuse that is rated too high for the wire.

Since you messed with the stereo wiring in a big way, and the smoke is coming from the center console, I would inspect that wiring to make sure you don't have a switchable hot or constant hot touching a ground, or a damaged wire. Also, revisit your fuse panel and ensure that each fuse in the fuse block is the proper rating for the location. If it is not, replace it with the properly rated one and start troubleshooting that circuit when the fuse pops.

NOFX

So I checked the fuse box. I already know the Sony CD player has a ten amp fuse on the back.

But I checked the fuses and the clock/lighter/interior light fuse was a twenty instead of a fifteen. Removed it and the radio turned off. So I'm thinking the radio is wired into the clock maybe. Tried a fifteen amp fuse and the the fuse sparked as soon as I touched them so I left it out.

sanimalp

oh ****.. yeah that is likely your problem then. something in that circuit is drawing way too much power, and someone before you put in a 20A fuse to "compensate", which is the most dangerous thing to do by a long shot.

The radio is likely wired to the clock or the cigarette lighter, another idiot favorite. funny thing is, there should be a wire w/ fuse for the radio itself. that would be the wire to use, unless it too has been re-purposed for some other thing.

One of my 91 civics came to me with the radiator fan wired to the cigarette lighter(!) using a wire splice like this one. the splice was rated for like 3 amps and the fan drew like 12A.. once i discovered the rad. fan was not wired to the thermoswitch on the back of the block, so i went hunting to figure out where it was wired to. I found the wire splice in a molten blob of burned plastic, which explained the weird burning plastic smell in the car when i drove it in the heat. I ripped out all that **** and returned it to stock wiring, and replaced the block thermoswitch, and what do you know, everything is back to normal. The block thermoswitch must have been bad and the idiots, rather than trying to troubleshoot the problem, just spliced the wiring to the fan.

anyway.. good luck with your issue, sounds like oyu are on the right track.

NOFX

Thanks again for the help.

Just found out the wiring on the ignition switch is loose and sometimes causes the radio to cut out. I don't remember the details but a friend also was under there and wants to trace the radio remote wore for some reason. When I get to a computer ill upload some pics just on case.

NOFX

I should also mention the blower motor isn't turning on at all since all of this.

NOFX

Brought the car into Honda and got dicked around by service. About an hour in they said a tech had looked at it but it hadn't been touched.

Apparently the tech was "thinking" the issue is the radio plug being from an '88-'91 Prelude (since the old radio was hardwired in).

The radio cuts out when I move the ignition wires around.

The blower would only turn on ever if the engine was on and of course doesn't turn on at all now.

ThatRicerDaniel

Should have just taken it to a stereo shop or even a low voltage company. Mechanics will always resort to the easiest probable cause. Most of those guys will knowledgable enough to trace bad wiring and the labor rates are cheaper. What area do you live in?

NOFX

Seattle area.

I actually had a friend at a local audio shop help me with the first stuff. I went to a local Automotive electrician for another car and he refused to listen to me which means I didn't learn anything new.

DCRB

why would the radio plug cause a problem? they're the same through out the whole line of honda's and acura's... honestly i'd try to find a new dash harness and start fresh, something is definately wired wrong. and i was going to suggest that perhaps your ignition wiring is loose or worn but you figured that out already.

NOFX

I hard one friend today asking around for a fresh harness (not sure if they're different through years). I'm only on my phone right now but I'll search more online tonight when I'm home.

NOFX

Noticed earlier that the radio seems to always (?) work when the key is set to I, but only works sometimes when set to III (well, it did). Not sure about II but when I tried it wouldn't work, just like III.

Found the troubleshooting pages for the blower motor earlier today and saved them to my phone so my friend and I can work on this Saturday or Sunday.

VegaS10

Could be a bad ignition switch.

Turn the AC/Heat on, then slap the blower under the glovebox area. Mine occasionly craps off and a good "thwack" gets it moving again.

The radio has zero to do with the blower motor.

NOFX

Yeah, the radio usually has zero to do with it. There might be a crossed wire of some sort in here. I've got some weird sudden problems.

I tried hitting the blower motor last night (metal underneath) and got nothing. No speed works. If I turn on 2, 3 or 4 the radio cuts off. No speed gives me any air though.

NOFX

Someone suggested I repair what I can and flip the car.

I might just see if I can find a new dash harness for it and pull the dash and hope I manage to fix it that way. I want to put a tilt column in anyway.

It sure would narrow down the problem at least, in the event anything was still happening strange.

NOFX

Seems there is likely another issue in the harness closer to the radio (it was dark and I don't know what harness got bumped).

The radio wasn't working even with a wiggle of the white ignition switch wire. Grabbed the wires underneath and gripped them slightly and the radio turned on and continued to work. So I figure I've got another loose connection as well.

VegaS10

It sounds like the radio wires have a loose connection.

I would check and see if the climate control and radio share a common ground.

I have a OEM Honda service manual for the 88 crx in my garage, I'll check later on (when it's not 7:30 am est) and see what those two units share in common.

NOFX

That will be really helpful. I don't have a shop manual for this car yet and I'm still waiting on my ETM for it.

NOFX

So I picked up a new ignition switch today. It was ordered a day out from Honda so this is the only one they had for today.

Anyway, noticed this after we put it on. The switch looks to be clocked one click too far. So when you plug it all in it thinks the key is already turned to I (accessory). I called Honda and had them order me another one, but the same guy ordered it this time as last time and he basically told me he can't assure me it will be right this time either.

Weirdly enough the wiring all bends the opposite way that my stock wiring bends too.

This site shows the same part number as well. Maybe it was packed wrong? I hope the right one shows up.

The top one is the new one. The bottom one is the old one.

sanimalp

You should be able to rotate it to be in the same position as the other one before you put it on.

NOFX

You know how sometimes you've been working on something long enough or even just rattling the idea around in your head long enough that you forget stupid ****?

Yeah, I think that happened here.

And we had two people working on the car at the time. lol

NOFX

Yes! My wiring issues are fixed!

Ignition switch seems to have fixed everything besides the blower motor still wouldn't work on setting 1. Replaced the resistor and it works flawlessly again! One of the wires on the resistor was snapped and there was at least one (we suspect two) loose connections on the ignition switch. One was on the white cap itself and the other was down in the wiring.

NOFX

As is obvious from this thread, I'm not great with electrical, but I just so happened to get my ETM today just a few hours after picking up my new ignition switch and blower motor resistor.

Regarding the ignition switch (the white wire from the ignition switch was what was loose for me):









And a key for the fuses:

(Fuse # - Amps - Component or Circuit Protected)

DASH FUSE BOX
---------------------
01 - 10 - Integrated control unit, combination switch, gauge assembly, back up lights switch or shift position console switch
02 - 10 - Starter solenoid, starter signal to: PGM-FI main relay, PGM-FI electronic control unit, integrated control unit
03 - n/a - Not used
04 - 10 - Right headlight high beam, high beam indicator light
05 - 10 - Left headlight high beam
06 - 30 - Sunroof motor (si only)
07 - n/a - Not used
08 - 10 - Integrated control unit, dash lights, dashlight brightness controller, side market lights, taillights and license plate lights
09 - n/a - Not used
10 - 10 - Left headlight low beam
11 - 10 - Right headlight low beam
12 - 15 - Integrated control unit, hatch light, dome light, ignition switch, clock, radio, cigarette lighter
13 - 15 - Sunroof, wiper motor and washer motor relay
14 - 10 - Gauge assembly, engine sensors and controls
15 - 15 - Radiator fan motor, radiator fan relay
16 - NOT LISTED
17 - 10 - Radio
18 - 10 - Rear window defogger relay, A/C compressor clutch relay, condenser fan relay, heater mode/recirculation motor
19 - 30 - Blower motor

MAIN FUSE BOX
---------------------
31 - 60 - Power distribution
32 - 50 - Dash fuse box
33 - 40 - Dash fuse box, exterior lighting
34 - 10 - PGM-FI electronic control unit, hazard lights
35 - 15 - Horns, brake lights
36 - 20 - Rear window defogger
37 - 15 - PGM-FI main relay
38 - 15 - A/C compressor clutch relay, condenser fan motor

CrxnMeesh

I appreciate this post very much. After reading through the entire forum post, I got to the issue that I had right away.

I have an 88 Honda CRX HF. The heater blower just stopped working, and if I flipped the switch on, my radio shut off. Also if I turned on my headlights the radio shut off.

After reading this message thread, I was easily able to pinpoint my exact issues. First thing I checked was the relay. It was good. My next stop (THANK YOU AGAIN FOR POSTING HERE) was my ignition switch.

I did not have to replace the switch, but I did have a loose wire. After taping that up and tightening it down, my heater blower is once again working, as well as being able to run the heater, lights and radio with no issues.

Thank you again!

NOFX

Glad this helped you out so easily, CrxnMeesh!

To clarify, in case the pics ever go down, the pieces I replaced were the ignition switch wire harness (35130-SH5-505 : SWITCH, STEERING) and the blower motor resistor (79330-SH3-003 : RESISTOR, BLOWER).

Both super easy to replace on these cars as well! (Please excuse these directions are from memory.)

IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS

- Remove knee bolster/fuse panel from under driver side dash by pinching the two clips which hold it in.

- Remove the black steering column shroud from around the column. There should be a metal ring around the end nearest to the steering wheel and then some screws on the bottom of the shroud. Once those are off you will need to be careful to release the plastic clips holding the two pieces together as they will easily snap off.

- The ignition switch harness should be clipped to the dash harness and there should be screws holding the white cap end to the ignition cylinder. Unclip the harness and remove the screws. The new harness came with new screws if I recall.

- Installation is the reverse of removal.

BLOWER MOTOR RESISTOR

- You might need to remove the glovebox for this. Removing the glovebox would mean empty the glovebox, remove the screws on the hinges, open the glovebox, and press the side on gently so the plastic stopper goes in far enough so you can navigate those out of the dash. Set the glovebox aside.

- Unclip the harness from the resistor.

- Remove the Phillips screws from the resistor.

- Installation is the reverse of removal.