here's my problem, it may sound stupid, but it's really pissing me off, and i have a few questions...if it makes a difference this is in a '93 del sol

my situation:
my cd player is NOT hooked up to the factory radio harness - the power wires go straight to the fuse block (its hooked up to the 4th block from the right going left) and my speakers are all connected by regular speaker wire.

every time i push in the cd player just slightly the fuse for my taillights and dash lights blows. i checked all my cd player connections and found that my ground was exposed and could have been touching metal, so i reconnected it and put electrical tape over every single connection just in case. i replaced the fuse. i start the car up, turn on the lights - they work - until i push the cd player and it does the same damn thing.

so this time, i take out the fuse for the radio/cigarette lighter (i thought that since my cd player isnt using the factory harness this fuse wouldnt take the power from my cd player, just the power from the O.E. wires, but i was wrong, i got no power to my cd player) and replace the fuse for the tails and dash once again. i turn the car on - all lights work - push the cd player in and it does it AGAIN.

so now its dark out, i cant drive to my heated garage because im not at home and my taillights dont work (i just got pulled over for them last night) so here are my questions:
1. how does the radio/cigarette lighter fuse still take away or give power to my cd player if im not even using the factory wiring harness for the radio?

2. why is it that my taillight/dash light fuse blows - why not something else? are the wires for the tails and dash lights right behind the cd player and maybe exposed?

3. there are a few exposed wires coming from the factory harness that could be touching metal (the reason i didnt use the factory harness is because the wires are all cut so short i didnt want to take my dash off to use them and i checked a couple wires with a voltmeter and got no power from what should have been the power wires) could these exposed wires be my problem? im guessing they are - but is there something else it could be?

any help would be GREATLY appreciated


Modified by old-sk0ol at 5:27 PM 1/12/2005

 

what fuse slot is your CD player hooked up to? maybe you speakers have an exposed wire and thats arching it. I have no idea, but I hate electrical problems. I had one that messed up evrything in my car and it turned out to be a bad ground.

 

its hooked up to the 4th block from the right going left

...and damn its cold outside

 

Hes right, a shorted speaker wire will cause the same symptom, check those too!

 

well i thought that at first because my door speakers kept getting wet - so i completely disconnected the front speakers from the cd player and wired up the rear speakers today (there was nothing there before) and it does the same thing when it had front speakers w/ no rears as it does now w/o fronts and with rears


Modified by old-sk0ol at 5:52 PM 1/12/2005

 

Besides checking wires you DID use, did you make sure to cap/cover all unused wires on the cd player harness? You have a short, its just a matter of finding where it is. If you have and are comfortable with a multi-meter, put that sum-bitch on Ohms and dress warm.

Oh, and if that makes no sense, I was basically saying go start checking wire resistances, I bet eventually you'll find one with 0.

 

oh yea, i made sure i did that, i double taped every wire

the thing is - i havent taped off the wires from the factory wiring harness which im not using...even though im almost positive that they get no power, the first thing i do tomorrow is going to be capping/taping those wires...

 

You didnt tape off which harness? The original harness that runs to the stock cd player? Or was the clip part cut off and left with wires hanging behind the dash?

 

its the original wiring harness for the cd player but none of the wires from it are being used... its just a bunch of chopped wires - or at least thats what it looks like

 

Yeah, theres quite a few wires in that bundle that could cause a short. Definitely cover those up.

 

yea i figured i shouldve done that first but theyre so hard to get to cuz theyre cut so short...1st on the list to do tomorrow