And now I screwed up my radio

[stevedmc]

About a year ago I managed to install a modern radio without any problems. Today I decided to remove the old speaker wire and to tidy things up. Boy do I wish I would have left things alone.

I also shortened some of my connections which resulted in me having to cut and reconnect wires. Well to make a long story short my radio isn't getting power anymore. I do have to confess that I did forget to disconnect my car battery before I started disconnecting stuff.

I have traced the problem down to voltage. I removed what looks like a diode pack and tested the white/green and purple wires which I believe each provide 12 volts to the unit. If I understand correctly, one is supposed to provide 12 volts continuously and the other is only to supply 12 volts when the key is in the on position.

The green/white wire is putting out 12 volts when the key is in the on position and the purple wire never puts out voltage. I have verified that fuse 11 is good, in fact I have checked all of my fuses in the relay compartment.

On another note, I also disconnected what looks like a diode pack that somehow connects between the power/ground and the radio. I wish I would have taken notes on how it goes because I have already forgotten. Does anyone have any advise or suggestions? Hopefully I didn't screw up and short something out.

Thanks,
Steve

[Michael]

Most modern stereos have at least one inline fuse in the constant or switched power lines. Also, there maybe a blade fuse in the head unit itself.

[content22207]

Green/White is indeed switched and Purple is live all the time.

Are your courtesy lights working? If so, Fuse 13 is fine. All the Purples take off from Fuse 13 (there's a junction underneath the console, towards the back on the passenger side, where they branch off to various circuits).

As Michael stated, the factory radio had an extra inline fuse behind the radio bracket which is most likely where your problem is.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[stevedmc]

Green/White is indeed switched and Purple is live all the time.

Are your courtesy lights working? If so, Fuse 13 is fine. All the Purples take off from Fuse 13 (there's a junction underneath the console, towards the back on the passenger side, where they branch off to various circuits).

As Michael stated, the factory radio had an extra inline fuse behind the radio bracket which is most likely where your problem is.

Bill Robertson
#5939

Thanks for the advise. Fuse 13 is fine and so are the courtesy lights. I have also temporarily disconnected both of the radio inline fuses and and am plugging my voltage tester directly into the purple wire connector. I am still trying to figure out how I will connect what looks like a diode pack back once I get voltage to the purple wire.

My next plan with the dead purple wire is to either run a new wire or to start unwrapping the harness and seeing if I can trace it to the problem. I inspected the wiring harness and I saw a bunch of purple wires sticking about an inch out of the harness on the rear passenger side (under console) and sealed off. Perhaps I could just tap into one of those.

[content22207]

That's the junction where all the various Purple circuits separate:
882
You'll see similar junctions under the console for other wire color circuits as well (Green/White, Orange, etc).

BTW: That junction takes off from Fuse #12, not #13 -- apparently I'm going blind.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[stevedmc]

Sorry about the fuse confustion. I thought something was a little funny with your fuse info but I simply brushed it off as my fuse box being wired wrong. Anyway, I did check all fuses in the relay area and they are all fine. Plus the courtesy light works.

I decided to test the purple junction real quick before heading to work.

The junction seems to be fine, if indeed I checked the correct thing. I assume the purple wires that meet under the console are the junction. I removed the protective cover and put the volt meter to it. I tested with the key off and it has a solid 12 volts.

So I am guessing I must have screwed something up when I was removing my old speaker wire. I did do some pulling and perhaps this somehow screwed up the purple 12 volt wire that goes to the radio.

Now I have the debate of just tapping a new wire into the junction or unwrapping the harness and tracing the dead purple wire.

Btw, does anyone know what the black pack is that I removed? Do I need it or what is the correct way to connect it if I put it back in?

[content22207]

I'm guessing it's a capacitor to reduce AM radio interference.

If you need to run a new wire, NAPA sells Purple jacket color so you can keeps things orderly.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[stevedmc]

NAPA sells Purple jacket color so you can keeps things orderly.

Sweet. I need to goto NAPA today anyway to get a high side 134a fitting. They close at 5pm around here and I didnt make it in time yesterday.

[stevedmc]

Well, I just finished fixing things up a few hours ago. I couldn't resist going for a little drive and I just got back home.

What I ended up doing is snipping the old wire, taping it up, and running a new purple wire. I figured out how to connect the capacitor thing back up, hooked my radio back up and presto, now I have radio!

As an added bonus, I also replaced my power antenna last week. I have never had a functioning antenna until I replaced it. So now I have a working radio, power antenna, and nice cold AC.

I went driving around tonight for about an hour and loved it. Tomorrow I plan to drive at least 120 miles round trip to visit a friend. It will be interesting to see how the AC holds up in 94 degree heat.

[content22207]

... Tomorrow I plan to drive at least 120 miles round trip to visit a friend. It will be interesting to see how the AC holds up in 94 degree heat.

Did Steve's A/C survive the trip?

Bill Robertson
#5939

[stevedmc]

Did Steve's A/C survive the trip?

Bill Robertson
#5939

Yeah buddy.

[stevedmc]

I was too tired when I got home to say much last night. Here is the rest of the story.

It rained a good bit yesterday so I didn't get the full test but all seemed to be well.

Today we didn't have any rain and the car sat in the church parking lot for a few hours baking in the sun. I got in the car, started it up, and within a few minutes it was blowing cold air at 45 degrees.

I put both center vents in my face (I disabled the door vents to increase airflow) and I was good to go for the 30 minute ride home.

[sdg3205]

How much power loss do you experience with the A/C on?

[content22207]

None -- his car is carbureted.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Bitsyncmaster]

None -- his car is carbureted.

Bill Robertson
#5939

It has to use power. My guess would be 3 or 4 HP.

[sdg3205]

None -- his car is carbureted.

Bill Robertson
#5939


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrDz5btp4X0

[content22207]

You can't open a door like that and not expect someone to walk through.

In all seriousness, there is no need to add a solenoid to press against the throttle linkage when the compressor is pumping. Of course it puts a slight load on the engine, but not enough to make a material difference. Steve does have the ability to increase his idle speed slightly if he wants (he can set his idle speed anywhere from 500 RPM to 2,500 RPM.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[stevedmc]

My idle drops from about 900 rpm to somewhere around 800ish. It isn't enough to worry about but if I ever find myself needing to idle for an excessive amount of time I can simply shut the AC off. Most of my driving is on the highway so I don't idle much anyway.

Common sense and diet cheer wine are two of the things Bill likes to include with his carburetor kits.