When I turn the lights on in my dad's car the fuse blows. If I remove the radio we just put in, it doesn't blow but the radio turns off. I've manged to figure out that it only blows if the casing for the radio is earthed. Any ideas?
Are they wired on the same circuit? Mabye that fuse is simply overloaded. If the radio is no earthed it may not get enough amps, hench why it turns off. And by lights, do you mean the headlights? As these take quite a bit of power from the battery.
I mean tail lights. I actually got pulled over because of it. If the radio is playing and you turn the lights on it either a) turns the radio off or b) if the radio is earthed, blows the lights fuse... strange In the engine compartment fusebox, they are wired on the same 60A fuse but have seperate fuses in the internal fusebox
My advice, take it down the garage. After you've been pulled a few times the 'But, I was getting some advice from a random d00d on teh intarweb so I could fix it myself' isn't going to cut it anymore
Wow, you think that up all yourself? Wish I'd thought of that.... no offence, but could you be any more vague?
I would take Bradfords advice. Take it to a garage, or find someone with the service manual, and figure out how it is wired. Sounds like a case of too many amps.
Already used the wiring diagram to kind of come up with a temporary solution, but if you go over a speed bump the stereo jumps and touches the inside of the centre console, blowing the bulb Cheers guys
So if the sterio's chassis touches the car's chassis, then the buld or the fuse blows? What puzzles me is that in most cases, the bulbs can handle 12 volts across them with no problems. Unless the voltage is more than that, there shouldn't be enough current to blow the bulb. This might be what you have already looked into, I mean no offense. But have you looked at any place the wiring for the light's circuit runs near the sterio? Or maybe the wires have had their insulation damaged and somthing is connected to a 'floating' plate in your dash, and your sterio's chassis completes the circuit. The chassis of the sterio is connected to the negative of the battery/ground of the car's electrical system. If it was raised to 12 volts, then the sterio essentally doesn't see any voltage and the light sees some strange things in the electrical system. maybe there is enough current in that to blow the bulb or the fuse.
I see you're a somethingawful.com fan too. As far as the thread is concerned, I agree with you. Dodgy electrical systems should really be fixed in a garage promptly, boefore they become a source of endless misery (even worse than the radio not working at night. )
It's worth taking it into the garage. No sense in blowing fuses and ripping your hair out trying to figure it out when someone else knows exactly whats the problem. But if you insist D ). From what you say it sounds like some wires haven't been properly insulated (or the insulation came off). Check all the wires. You say it happens when you go over a speed bump, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Jiggle the stereo a bit and see whats going on.
Turns out it was the speakers. I already said that it could be the speakers but I was ignored The terminals had been snapped off from the supports and were touching the magnet when going over bumps. If the lights were on at this time, boom. Cable ties fixed the problem Still dunno why the radio is losing power, but at least the fuses are no longer blowing.
