Please understand that I am not that smart.

First of all, someone stole the faceplate off of my after-market CD stereo, leaving the stereo box without any buttons. I drive a 2000 Chevy Cavalier. It does not have power door locks or windows.

I went to Circuit City to get a replacement. My budget was limited so I got one that was $59. Also, it was the only one that had buttons attached to the box instead of a faceplate and I didn't want a faceplate because it might get stolen again. The guy told me that Installation was free. I said ok but then he said the mounting kit was $40. I said I already have a mounting kit because somebody stole my radio and left the mounting kit. He said ok and then he said the installation kit was $20. I said I'll install it myself and took my radio home and started taking apart my car. I did a pretty decent job, I think, at least for my intelligence level. I mean the wires are all the same color right? I did not use an installation kit -- instead I used black electrical tape.

Unfortunately it was a $59 radio, and therefore it started behaving erratically. It would turn on or off by itself, or else the volume or tuner would change, or else the CD would eject. I was not pressing any of the buttons. Also, the radio did not have pre-set buttons that you assign to a radio station, and it had an analog knob instead of the more convenient digital display and so it kept slipping from 90.5, which sounded good, to 90.3, which did not.

I took the radio out of my car and went back to Circuit City to return it. Since the wires were all over the dashboard and therefore possibly hazardous, I took my wife's car. After I got my $59 back, I went next door to Best Buy to get a $100 radio because I did not want a $59 radio anymore. It was a Sony which from what I hear does not make radios that turn on and off unless you press one of the buttons. Also, it had a $20 in-store rebate and I had a $20 reward card and so it ended up costing $60! This made my wife very happy, but she would not let me finish the job because it was time for dinner.

The next day I tried to install the Sony radio. The wires were the same color as the other radio wires so it was just as easy. I used an installation kit that I bought at Best Buy for $3.00. It consisted of a bunch of plastic caps that did not hold the wires together, so I had to use the electrical tape again. But when I pressed the button, the radio did not come on.

There is a part that I forgot to tell you. That morning, I had to drive my step-daughter to school. We were in a hurry as usual because we were fighting over some cheese that we both wanted to pack for lunch. My wife had already left for work and we took my car, but since we were late I did not have time to do anything about the wires sticking out of the dashboard. So I asked my step-daughter to cover up the ends of the wires with the pieces of electrical tape that were lying on the floor from taking out the first radio. I had to give her the cheese but she did a pretty good job except for the time that a spark came out of the dashboard. Later that day when the Sony radio did not work I thought that the spark from that morning might have had something to do with it.

I happened to have an electricity detector. It was shaped like a pen. It was left over from a dishwasher self-installation project that was actually a lot easier than my car radio project. I hooked it up to the red wire and the black wire and it said I had 12 volts which is exactly what the Sony radio needs, so I don't understand why the radio doesn't work because the red wire is working. However the yellow wire is not working. But the Sony radio manual says that the yellow wire is for when the car is turned off and it is only to keep the pre-set buttons from forgetting which radio station you assigned them to.

My wife asked if I blew a fuse, and after a while we found the fuse box underneath the hood, near the battery. However none of the fuses were labeled so I have no idea which one it was, and so my question is, why wouldn't the radio work if the red wire works, and if the radio requires the yellow wire to work, which fuse did I blow?

I'd really appreciate any help from this forum. Thanks,

L

There is a fuse on the back of the radio itself, Other then that, ill let the audio gods handle your situation.

And thank you for being honest about yourself.



http://members.rankmyride.com/djtorello

When you open your door check the fuse box on the side of the dash. One of those fuses might be blown. If you didn't have anything installed at the time the spark happened that means you couldn't have destroyed your radio. So that's out. The spark tells me that you shorted and probably blew a fuse. Which one I don't know cuz i'm not that big into audio. My guess is one of the fuses inside the door on the driver's side of the dash.

One of the other guys can probably tell you exactly what fuse it is. But if you don't wanna wait, read the diagram on the cover for the fuses and look at the fuses to see if they're blown.



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just use ur probe u already used and touch the point to each fuse on the side of the drivers side dash. or just pull each fuse out till u see the center of one snapped. yellow radio wires are for ignition. so look at ur fuse cover and check all the ignition fuses and radio fuses. make sure ur key is in the ignition and on but not running.

Thanks everyone... it was a fuse. I was not aware of the fusebox inside the driver side door. Now I am!

Best way to learn is by doing it yourself...

Congrats for getting it all mostly figured out on your own



If there's a moral to be learned from that story... it is..... you get what you pay for! $59 decks are pretty much guaranteed to suck.

Oh, and most stereo store salesmen are out to screw you




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