Car stereo not working

[Chevytrucker]

Hooked all the wires right, but it wont turn on unless i hook up the ignition wire from the stereo to constant power... and itll kill my battery....

 

[BonzaiDuck]

If it works with a straight to-battery connection (call it "ignition" or whatever you want), then it has to work properly with the ACC circuit.

Pull the hot wire to the stereo head unit from your DIY wiring.

Find the fuse box where the "ACC" fuses are located. There should be one for the cigarette-lighter, another for audio, possibly a third for some other items that only turn on when the car is running or the key set to "ACC".

Decide which of these fuses you want to use. You will -- in practicality -- wish to fuse the stereo hot wire in addition to the fuse you will connect it to.

Go out on the web, Amazon or check O'Reilly's, Autozone --- any number of places. Find some little metal clips called "Fuse Power Tap" -- made for regular ATC blade fuses, mini-blade fuses, etc. -- but get the right ones.

Get yourself a female shovel-clip connector and crimp it on your hot wire.

Pull the ACC fuse you will tap into, and test with a multimeter or continuity-tester with the key turned to ACC. You need to determine the "draw" side of the fuse as opposed to the "load" side connected to the battery through the ignition switch.

Use the "Draw" side to re-insert the fuse with the clip on the corresponding blade.

Connected your wire with the female shovel-clip.

Also, at this point and before you start (if you choose to trace through my directions here) -- check the ACC fuse you're using to see if it's blown.

IF you already did all these things and are miffed at me for my lecturing, I apologize. But the head-unit will either work or it will not work. The fact that you have it working one way (direct to battery) and not the proper way tells me that the trouble is in your own wiring job.