odd car problem

[trance247]

i've had aftermarket deck installed in my honda civic, worked great i've been driving aroudn for months with it, i got pulled over one day for no having tail lights on, brought the car to the shop next day (it was blowing fuse), guy worked on the car all day and figured out that my radio was putting in 18v into 15v fuse or that fuse would receive only 3v if nothing was connected...i paid him 100 for his research and went to my firends and we put in stock radio back in...no the freaky stuff started, smoke started coming out and wires melted, not the lights worked and everythign else does not (power accessories, buttons, alarm etc) and entire in-car fuse box is blown...anyone has any idea, car is in the shop again and i never had any problems and had it since new, it's an 2005 honda civic and i;ve onyl replaced headunit 4 times

 

[imported_inspire]

Jesus - who installed the aftermarket Stereo? Did you have a system (like an amp, sub, etc?) or just a receiver?

Lastly, is it still under warranty? (Although that may not apply, this seems to be an exceptional situation - a radio shouldn't fry your fuse box at all...)

 

[Pulsar]

First of all, you'd probably get a better response in off-topic. As the initial sticked post in the forum states, this is not a place for troubleshooting.

You have a major short. Somewhere, one of your hot wires is touching the frame.

Disconnect the battery, then disconnect every fuse in the box. Recharge the battery then reconnect it. Then plug the fuses back in, one at a time. When you get to the first fuse that blows, you've found the short circuit. Disconnect the battery and follow the wires connected to that blown fuse until you find the issue.

 

[theslickvik]

It is the steroeo but I cant figure out why the wires would melt and all your electricals not work. Probably touching connection. Go back to where you got it installed (if you did get it professionally installed) and tell them to check it out. What year is your civic?

 

[trance247]

i've installed it myself, this is the 4th unit that's been to this car, it's just a HU no amp subs etc, but why would it blow fuse first then melt the wire later, mind you i've been drining for a while and stereo worked like charm, it's out of warranty but has been used ffien for like 2.5 years, car is 2005

 

[Mark R]

but why would it blow fuse first then melt the wire later,

A fuse will blow because of a fault, in order to prevent the wire from melting.

Either the head unit was faulty, or the wiring that was used to connect it was faulty. If you had to run extra wires to the battery, etc. in order to install the HU, then it's most likely that those wires were not installed correctly. Hence the fuse blew.

Wires should not melt. The fuse should blow first. If the wires melted then it suggests that either the wires were incorrectly connected or the wrong type of fuse was used (or the fuse was bypassed).

Sounds like whoever installed it completely screwed it up.

 

[imported_inspire]

Originally posted by: Mark R
Sounds like whoever installed it completely screwed it up.

QFT.

I can say that because I've done it before. I didn't fry the entire fusebox, though...

 

[bwatson283]

Dont tell me that it was Quality Auto Sound here in CO. Their work sucks ass. "The home of the $1 install", My thought is it is the home of the $1 car fire.