need help....think i blew it and its bad...

[shastalakeguy]

need help....think i blew it
ok first i am new here cool site and in desprate need of help...

ok i was trying to do something nice to my brothers 2004 grand am but failed...i got a new cd player and amp and speakers for his car and i was gonna do the install and surprise him...well oh boy i had no idea the problems i would face....

first let me say this isnt my first install...but first in grand am

so i hooked evrything up minus the antenna..... because i didnt know about the smaller dia antenna that is in the ga ...np though...everything worked fine steroe and amp worked great...not one issue......

heres were my problem lies....i turned the car off..steroe goes off..he comes home to see what i did for him.....

and then while its playing the dash lights go out...all the gauges work, the warning lights everything works except the lights in the cluster and on the shifter (automatic) so i thought what the heck, i traced the fuses ...all good...i got my test light back out and tested things evreything worked...so i thought i would undo what i did and maybe start over...

thats when things got worse...




i did have at one time a pos orange come from the car now it is not pos....and niether is my accesory hot...so i dont know what i did wrong...

i have hooked many systems up with no problems...i am very puzzeled...

i did search on this site for info...

but nothing was exactly my problem....

the local hole in the wall stereo shop was no help...
they said it was a fuse in my bx but its not...

i dont have a stereo wiring diagram for the car..

i did see somewere on here about removing the cable from the battery for 30 min to reset puter...maybe i should try that?


any help would be great...cuz now hes got a hole in the dash were a steroe would be and my pride is stomped on cuz i thought this would be simple......ha

[tenspeed]

http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66426&highlight=wire

Check the end of this thread. There's a couple of wiring diagrams that might be of help. They list wire colors and fuse sizes. They're Adobe files so they might take a little while to load.

[kamoguy]

Grab a Haynes manual and quick. Most aftermarket systems will require rewiring of the car.

[PontiacGT]

Ive been scared a few times about my dash lights being blown, but I realized that when I took off my dash, the roller switch thingy controlling my lights was turned all the way down....try turning that up.



that's all the help i have at the moment.

[kamoguy]

As an absolute last resort though, Circuit City is probably the best electronics store for automotive applications, but that costs money.

Also I forgot to mention that Grand Am antenna's require adapters for aftermarket Hu's 99% of the time. The reason to put most of you new aftermarket system though on fresh circuits is that GM likes redundancy for vital electronic systems. And theftlock blows. And the factory system draws very few watts so they tend to use skimpy wires for the stereo.

I really do admire the ambition displayed by your project. When I do something nice to a family member's car it usually just involves Armor All and Febreeze.

[shastalakeguy]

I really do admire the ambition displayed by your project. When I do something nice to a family member's car it usually just involves Armor All and Febreeze.

thanks....

but i have tried most the things you guys have described...i am hoping i blow a relay somewere...



Grab a Haynes manual and quick. Most aftermarket systems will require rewiring of the car.

thats not what i want to hear....this is such a nightmare

fortunatly he is cool about it and its not a big deal to him as long as i fix it...


anyone have a wire diagram for the stereo for a 2004 ga?

[-grandamfan99-]

http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/GM-Wiring.pdf this was all i could find on a quick search, i would reccomend profesionals if your having so much trouble though

[shastalakeguy]

thats exactly what i need for now...but i need the 2004 model..there are wires i have that are not on that diagram...

i am trying to figure this out before i have to blow alot to get it fixed

[shastalakeguy]

were would you start looking to find out about the lights ...thats what puzzles me...and were are my hot wires for the radio? what happened to them

is there a rerlay somewere?

so what would be the cause of the lights on the cluster and by the shifter to go out?

[hamiltonaudio]

does the interior light or cig lighter still work? It sure sounds like a blown fuse.... did you check ALL the fuseboxes? There are often boxes under the hood and such...don't miss those!

As well, did you use a wiring harness for deck wiring? If not, I suspect you may have used the factory dimmer wire for ground. It reads ground (not great ground, but ground) when off - but when the lights go on, it goes to +12V. If you had the ground of the head unit wired there, as soon as the headlights came on you blew a fuse....also look at the obvious - you pulled the dash panel, which has the light switch plugs and such on it that you had to undo - you DID put them back correctly right? ;)

If you DID use a factory wiring harness and wired it correctly, then this is more of a puzzle than you might think. But rest assured its usually something stupid. I get the feeling you connected ALL the wires on the harness (including dimmer, etc) and somethings not right there....

bmoney

[Tommy00GT1]

Could very well be the outer insulation of a wire that got nicked, exposing a bare wire and touching somewhere where it shouldn't. Those can be a nightmare to find....particularly if a previous owner did some mods or radio wiring at one time and was careless and nicked some wires.
Not knowing if that fits your particular scenario, but might be worth a look. If no previous owner botched up any wiring, then disregard.......

[shastalakeguy]

you pulled the dash panel, which has the light switch plugs and such on it that you had to undo - you DID put them back correctly right?

i didnt pull the dash panel just the stereo section and its just got the hazards and the cig lighter on it....


If you DID use a factory wiring harness and wired it correctly, then this is more of a puzzle than you might think. But rest assured its usually something stupid. I get the feeling you connected ALL the wires on the harness (including dimmer, etc) and somethings not right there....

i cut the old wires and just used what came with the radio


the car is a 1 owner car also