So recently I was driving to a friends house when my car lights started going in and out on the dash and the engine shut off. I had to push it the rest of the way which was right around the corner. It was raining and I did drive into a big puddle, but I didn't think that did anything.

Long story short I had to jump the battery and then the car started, but now the first auxilary position(i don't know the terms for the key positions) won't have any dashboard lights on and my stereo doesn't work. If I put the key in the second auxilary position (the car has 3 technically) the dashboard lights work, but the stereo still won't turn on. I checked all the fuses and they seem to be intact. I was wondering if I friend the stereo system or if there is a cause for this to be happening. If pics are needed I can take some. I just can't drive without music >.<

 

Sounds like a bad ground wire. Check all 3 of them. One is on the valve cover, another one is on the tranny and there is one on the thermostat housing. Make sure they are all clean and tight. Don't just look to see if they look clean. Take each one off and clean where it mounts with a wire brush or sandpaper. Then put them back on and tighten them.

 

Alright I'll check that out and see if it fixes the problem. Thanks. If not then I don't know what it could be..maybe Autozone could tell me?

 

do what he said^^^^^ and let us know if that worked or not... and dont forget to clean ur posts on the bat too...

 

There is also some spray or gel (they make it in both forms) that is a corrosion inhibitor.
It's not a bad idea to put some of that on after you have cleaned up all your grounds and battery connections.

For your radio - it seems that you got it started and have everything working except the radio?
Check your cig lighter and see if it's working. If it doesn't (or if you don't have a lighter) replace the fuse just to make sure.

 

I'll have to check about the corrosion inhibitor gel/spray then.

I havn't checked the ground wires yet, doing it later today (it's 2am), but yea I beleive my ciggarette lighter does work. I checked all fuses and I couldn't find a single one burned out. I will take pics of the process of checking the ground wires and such tomorrow. I might as well take pics of the rest of the CRX then too It's so beat up I'm sad.

 

I went out and checked all my grounds and the fuses again, still nothing. The stereo fuse is still intact as well. My dad thinks I shorted the stereo, but that doesn't explain why I don't have power on the first key position. Pics below for what I am talking about. I'll see about taking out the stereo and re-installing it. Maybe a wire came loose somewhere or I blew something in the car itself since.

All pics are links because they are pretty big in size. Sorry.

First Key Position (No power): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...r/CIMG0981.jpg

Second Key Position (Power, but still no Stereo): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...r/CIMG0980.jpg

Ground Wires Good: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...r/CIMG0977.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...r/CIMG0976.jpg

 

only thing that appears to be not functioning is the stereo itself. at the first key position only your stereo will come on. at position 2 you're main relay and fuel pump will cycle, and your gauge lights will come on. so if i had to guess i'd say your stereo is toast.

did the problem happen right after the puddle, or much later? is it possible your stereo wiring shorted out?

 

In the first key position my brake light and oil light would always come on and my stereo, but now none work. I'm guessing the stereo is toast either way, but I don't know why those lights don't come on now in the first key position.

A little bit after the puddle is when it happened. The stereo was working in my friends garage before we jumped it. If I turned my lights on the gauge lights would dim or flicker and the stereo would turn off. The wiring could of shorted out, I'll find out when I rip it out of the car.

 

A lot of radios have a secondary fuse, besides the inline fusebox, that is on the back of the the radio or inside it.
Not sure what radio you have.
Seems really odd that you could have shorted the radio out and nothing else.
Do you have a meter to do a power and ground check on the wires?

 

Yea I believe my dad does. I don't know what kind of radio I have either. I got it for free, it's a Pioneer head unit though. When I take it all out I will check the wires and for the secondary fuse. Thanks.

 

my X's 89 sedan is like this. in fact, i tested the power to the stereo with a meter, and its fine. and the standby light on the stereo comes on, but when you push power all the interior lights dim, the clock flickers, and the stereo just blinks on and off. oh and the trunk warning comes on. ANYWAYS, I would say its a ground loop some wheres. with the car off and key out, everything off, disconnect the positive cable and check for current between the post and the cable, there's probably a draw. clock/radio standby is very minimal. check your friends car and compare if you can.

edit: stereo is known good, checked it before and after testing.

 

Well the radio is deff fine. Both fuses are still intact. It has to be something electrical with the car. I'm just going to see if Autozone can help me out. The grounds seem all fine and the wires are good. I'm just not getting power to the first key position stuff and the stereo. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

Troubleshoot ignition switch

 

yep^

http://mycomputerninja.com/~jon/IgnitionSwitch.html

 

I will do this in a bit tonight then. Thanks for the site ^ as well.

I checked to see if power was going through the wires to the stereo and they are getting power. I can't pull out hte 4-p and 5-p connectors from the fuse box without pliars or something. Also can I pull the wires out of the connectors? I'm a little iffy on how to check for continuity with this since the volt meter has to connect to the wirest directly.

 

This can get locked or something. Problem fixed for the most part.

I checked everything and power is flowing. The cord that attaches to the stereo must have came loose when I hit the puddle because after checking the power to the wires I plugged the stereo back in and now it works. Thanks for all the help again. When I get money I'll probably need more help with a build; turning my POS CRX into a nice 'clean' CRX.