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Aftermarket stereo problemo

slaughterrt

Well-Known Member
Joined
April 11, 2008
Messages
279
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1
City, State
Old Bridge, NJ
Year, Model & Trim Level
2011 Explorer XLT
I have had my Sony stereo in the explorer for years. During that time I had installed some extra foglights, and ran the power wire for my toggle switch to the 12v stereo power wire. I also had the ground for the toggle tied into the ground for the stereo. Well, those lights had been not functioning for a while and I finally got around to taking them out. Today I removed the toggle switch, and cut the wires going to the stereo. I then started my car and no radio. I checked the power going to the radio with the old multimeter and indeed there was power going to the radio. I also checked the external fuse on the radio and it had not blown. Does anyone have any idea what may be the problem? Could there be something wrong with the radio itself now?

This is an extra bit of info that I dunno is helpful. I took the harness off the headunit and checked for continuity between the inputs for the power wire and the ground wire. There was slight continuity but not as much as between the power and some of the other wires. Is this normal or should there be a lot more continuity between the power and ground?

Thanks for any info...

On a lighter note, I have my roof light bar lights working...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2458382#post2458382
 



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I finally got around to taking them out. Today I removed the toggle switch, and cut the wires going to the stereo. I then started my car and no radio.

did you remember to butt those wires back together?... as in... is your stereo connected to power still or did you cut the wires and forget to reconnect them? lol
 






Check the ground wire? Maybe the wire got disconnected when you were messing with it.
 






lol, yeah, I checked all the wires...there was power going up to the harness that goes into the back of the radio. I am curious if it is something with the headunit itself.
 






Anyone else got ideas?
 






Make sure the switched wire has power when the ignition is on, if it does then I would run a wire straight from the battery to the stereo, and the ground from the stereo to the cig. lighter ground(or the frame, just make sure the cig lighter works first), and see if you can get it to come on, if that doesn't do it, then you have a dead head unit.
 






Thanks a lot bro. I will try that tonight and see what happens.
 






Did you have the wires for the fogs spliced in before or after the fuseable link?
 






The fog light wires were spliced between the aftermarket harness and the headunit. I'm a little unclear of what you mean by the fuseable link. If you mean a fuse,then there was one on the headunit, but it was fine.
 






I believe I have found the problem. Apparently there is no power going through my 12v ignition wire to turn on the headunit. The question is, what could be causing the power loss? I have checked where I spliced into it and there is no power before the splice, so it must be on the stock wiring. Should I really look for the source of the problem, or just tap into another source of ignition/accessory power to turn on my radio? (If so, where would be a good place to tap for ignition power?
 






Well do your windows roll up and down when the key is in? Im 99% sure that they are switched off the same circuit that turns on the head unit. If they are working then you probably cut the switched wire somewhere close to the head unit, by accident. But you could probably tap into it at the windows and run it to the head unit.
Or if the windows aren't working, then you either have a blown fuse or a significant electrical problem.
 






Thanks a lot.
 






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