[ColoradoCourage]

Hey,

Back in July I began to experience electrical issues with my car. The first one I noticed was the window regulator stopped working on my passenger door. (I just replaced it a few months ago so I was pretty pissed). I plugged in the old one just to see if it was the regulator or something in the wiring wrong and it worked fine, leading me to believe my regulator was fried. Next was my dome lights. They have completely stopped working. I have found some replacement bulbs but just haven’t pulled the trigger on those yet. At this point, my alternator was charging poorly (which im unsure whether its related or not), so i replaced it. After this, my aftermarket radio went out. I’ve had it for two years and have had no issues with it. I tested my wiring to make sure it was getting power and it was, so I was led to believe my radio was fried too. Next to go was my car alarm and my key alarm (the one that goes off if you open the door with the key in the car). At this point things are getting pricey so I researched a ton and replaced my ETACS which seemed at the time to be a cause of these issues. After replacement, i still have issues. I ordered a new radio as mine was under warranty, checked all fuses, yes including 13 and 19, and went to wire my new radio up. I wire it up, nice as easy, and it still wont turn on. No power. Nothing. Same issue as before. What the hell is going on with my car??? HELP!!!

 

[Paul H.]

Its old, things burn out like the regulator. I replaced mine a little over a year ago on the pasenger side. I also bought the drivers side because I know it will die eventually also. Ive replaced my dome light, most of my dash light (I used LED) and all kinds of other things. Yes cars are expensive to upkeep. You can either pay 50K for a new one with a warranty for a few years or maintain the one you have.

Sounds like you still have a blown fuse somewhere to the stereo. Maybe an inline fuse?? Try running a new hot wire.

 

[ColoradoCourage]

Its old, things burn out like the regulator. I replaced mine a little over a year ago on the pasenger side. I also bought the drivers side because I know it will die eventually also. Ive replaced my dome light, most of my dash light (I used LED) and all kinds of other things. Yes cars are expensive to upkeep. You can either pay 50K for a new one with a warranty for a few years or maintain the one you have.

Sounds like you still have a blown fuse somewhere to the stereo. Maybe an inline fuse?? Try running a new hot wire.

The window regulator was replaced less than a year ago. I don't think the absolute amount of issues can be chalked up to blown fuses. The wiring leading straight into the new stereo is getting 12V, and I know the radio isn't shorted as it's brand new. I'll probably just have to spend a good chunk of cash and sadly make it some poor mechanic's problem, this is above my paygrade.

 

[95gto]

How did you test your wires, were you using a multimeter?

Have you bench tested any of the suspect equipment?

 

[ColoradoCourage]

How did you test your wires, were you using a multimeter?

Have you bench tested any of the suspect equipment?

I did use a multimeter to test the wiring, yes.

And as for the equipment affected, I haven’t bench tested any of it, but my radio is brand new as the old one was under warranty. And I also plugged the left regulator into the plug for the right one (the one that stopped working) and it worked fine. So i have a very solid suspicion that whatever is going on is “bypassing” the fuses and shorting out my equipment. Essentially as no fuses have blown, they aren’t stopping whatever is causing these issues.

 

[95gto]

The only way to have shorting on a circuit and not have blown fuses would be if the shorting happened before the fuse. So that would mean between the battery and the fusible link in the engine bay or between the fusible link in the engine bay and the fuse box in the driver's kick panel. Shorting after the fuses will result in the fuse blowing, regardless of how far downstream it happens. What you are describing sounds more like a voltage drop or poor connection issue to me.

I would suggest the following:

1) Remove your negative terminal on the battery, clean it up, and then reinstall
2) Verify you didn't unknowingly push the window lock button on the driver's door switch. This has happened to more than a few of us over the years.
3) Measure the voltage at the dome light, verify if you have voltage at the bulbs. If you don't pull a door switch and check for voltage there. The door switches go bad on these cars due to a poor design.
4) Do a quick a dirty check on the new radio by connecting the power and ground wires directly to the battery to make sure it is functional.
5) Perform voltage measurements on both the constant and accessory power wires at the radio. This requires wiring the radio up and then checking voltage on each wire with the vehicle off and then also with the vehicle on, preferably with the engine running.

If you determine the issue is voltage drop through your wiring I would start checking connections in the factory harness and verifying the factory ground connections for the harness are still nice and tight.

Also did you run a proper ground for the radio or are you relying on the radio chassis to provide the ground? If you are chassis grounding or piggybacking on the lighter circuit ground I would try running a dedicated ground to see if that makes a difference.