new stereo put, and no more instrument light

pcube · 09-02-2009, 02:48 AM

hi,
newbie here, with 92 sidekick jx.

i bought a cd player today. the guy at the store told me that i had an aftermarket player so i just have to take it out and put a new one in. wiring would be easy.

so, here's what i did.

i took the old one out. the connector didn't fit i (but had the same colored wires), so i cut all the wires and then soldered the new adapter, color by color. i connected the player and tested it, and it didn't work. i did all this without disconnecting the battery, simply because i'm stupid.

i then checked the fuse, and the one for radio/cigarette was shot, so i replaced it. that's when i noticed the instrument light had gone out. signals, oil, and battery lamp etc still work. oh, the dome light doesn't work anymore.

and the cd player still doesn't work. it doesn't seem to get any power...

i'm not sure what to do......
any help would be great.

thanks.

pcube · 09-02-2009, 03:15 AM

hi,

before, i checked only the radio/cig fuse, but i just found that dome fuse was burnt. i replaced it and the dash light came on!! why am i so dumb?

i haven't tested the stereo yet. this time, i'm gonna disconnect the battery, and connect the stereo and see what happens.

i will post the result soon.

MrShroom · 09-02-2009, 08:12 AM

Often the dome light fuse blows even after you disconect the battery. the issue might be the wiring, look up the stock wiringdiagram and make sure there are no colors the same or similar. Also check the Constant and ignition hot wires, in my Honda they were messed up so I had to hardwire it to the battery and such

rns0504 · 09-02-2009, 08:46 AM

I had the exact same problem. Make sure that you dont mix the wire for dimmer switch with another similar looking one. I did that and was blowing fuses till I figured it out. You dont need the dimmer wire anymore

MrShroom · 09-02-2009, 08:49 AM

thank you I forgot to mention that, It's generally an orange wire

rns0504 · 09-02-2009, 08:58 AM

Yup. I tied the Orange to the Orange with a hair thin stripe, which caused my problems.

MrShroom I see you're from Cocoa FL? I'm live in Melbourne but am residing near Oviedo for the time being.

MrShroom · 09-02-2009, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rns0504

MrShroom I see you're from Cocoa FL? I'm live in Melbourne but am residing near Oviedo for the time being.

Well I'm from Georgia originally but I currently live in Cocoa, though I may move to the Tampa area soon

pcube · 09-02-2009, 11:31 AM

hi,
thanks for some suggestions.

mrshroom, what do you mean by constant and ignition hot wires?? i'm not sure what they are. sorry, this is pretty much my first attempt to get to know cars... you all are very inspirational! i wanna be a handy man who knows whats up under the hood.

anyway, what i did was that i took the working aftermarket radio unit out. the cable consisted of wires: yellow, red, black (ground), blue (remote), white, white/black, gray, gray/black, purple, and green. the orange dimmer wire wasn't even used. my new cable had same colored wires PLUS purple/black and green/black. The adapters, therefore, were different shapes, so i cut the wires, switched the adapters, and soldered accordingly, leaving those two extra wires just hanging.

i think i wired it right (it was pretty straight forward) although i haven't installed and tried the stereo yet.

but, a new problem came up.
after i changed the dome fuse and fixed the dash light problem, i went to bed. i was gonna put the stereo in today. this morning, the car didn't even start! the battery was totally drained. i didn't leave any lights or anything.

do you guys have any ideas what might have caused it??

thanks.

pcube · 09-02-2009, 11:20 PM

UPDATE

the stereo works. thank you everyone.

about the battery drain, i guess i have to wait till tomorrow to find out. i charged it up this morning and it hasn't died yet...
last night, i left all the soldered connections naked without electrical tapes, so maybe they were touching something and made the battery to drain? (i don't even know if they do such a thing.) hope that's the case, and it won't die again.

MrShroom · 09-03-2009, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcube

UPDATE

the stereo works. thank you everyone.

about the battery drain, i guess i have to wait till tomorrow to find out. i charged it up this morning and it hasn't died yet...
last night, i left all the soldered connections naked without electrical tapes, so maybe they were touching something and made the battery to drain? (i don't even know if they do such a thing.) hope that's the case, and it won't die again.

yes that is quite a possibility, the bare wires arching can cause battery drain if left overnight and such