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Car Stereo Installation

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zebano

Diamond Member
1999 Buick Century 90K V6

I bought this car half a year ago w/ an aftermarket stereo which didn't expel CDs or get any AM reception. My wife got me a Kenwood stereo for xmas and after our travels I set about installing it on Sunday.

I detached the battery and removed the old stereo.

1. The old mounting case wasn't secured at all (no screws, just sitting loosely in the dash). Should there be preexisting screw holes (I can't find them) or do I need to get a drill in there (I'm leery of hitting something I shouldn't)?

2. I cut the old wires and spliced them to my adapter, plugged it and the Antenna into my new stereo and everything worked while the car was on and while running off of battery. All 4 speakers/AM/FM/CD/AuxIn all worked so I decided to push it all back into the dash the same way the old one was. This done, I reattached the battery and got no power to the stereo on either battery or ignition.

I pulled the stereo back out and found that my butte splice on the battery line had come apart. I re-spliced it and reattached the battery. No dice.

I then got out a voltmeter, cut the ground, ignition and battery wires. The ignition (with car on) ran about 15V. The battery line was dead (~.3V).

Other Symptoms: After starting the car I also noticed that the LED which shows what gear I'm in doesn't turn on and the gauges on the dash all remain at their lowest/default state (0 MPH, gas tank empty etc.). The lights on the dash (and elsewhere) do turn on so I assumed I'd shorted something and blown a fuse. Negative ghostrider, the fuses in the fusebox are fine.

After that I started removing trim and tracing the yellow (battery) line as far as I could looking for another fuse but I didn't find any.

Does anyone know where to look for another fuse on this model car (or have other suggestions)? I'm trying to avoid buying a Haynes manual (I believe they have schematics).
 
Thanks LTC; The problem was (naturally) with me. There are actually 2 fuses labeled radio which were both fine (I think they're front and back speakers but I'm not sure). The third fuse was labeled for the dashboard gauges (which also went out) and that one was blown. I replaced the fuse and the everything started working.

Edit: I did buy the Haynes repair manual and that thing is amazing. My wife was wondering why I was sitting there reading it after getting the stereo working yesterday. (end advert)
 
Most stereos use 3 wires for power - (+) wire that is switched on and off with ignition, a constant that provides power to keep all settings stored when car is turned off, and the ground. The (+) usually has it's own fuse and most likely will be labelled radio. The constant however is usually part of other circuits in the interior (dash lights, interior lights, cig lighter..ect) so a short in this wire will blow the fuse for all these other circuits.
 
One of the easiest, but not necessarily cheapest ways is to buy through Crutchfield. They provide both detailed step-by-step instructions AND dash kits with all of the parts you need for the install. My son bought me a stereo for my PU truck through them and it was a breeze. It involved replacing a double-DIN OEM unit with a single (standard) one. The kit included a great dash kit that makes the installation look seamless AND it included the (essential) wiring adapter that plugs right into the PU's radio wiring harness. All I had to do was tie a few wires together and I was done.
 
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