i cant get my headunit to work!!!
 

ok so i have the headunit all wired up correctly but it wont power up when i turn on the car. i checked the fuses but they seem to be good. which fuses should i check and if that is indeed not the issue, whats going on?

RE: i cant get my headunit to work!!!
 

Make sure your power wires are connected solidly, and to the correct wire. If you used the ground on the harness check that also. If you connected the ground to the body, although it should be grounded, take a volt meter put the positive to a power cable then touch the ground to the point where you connected the ground, and make sure you get 12v. If you don't and there is paint on the metal, sand the paint off and try again. If that checks out, check it one more time, by measuring the voltage on both power cables and ground to check they are getting 12v when the ignition is on. If all that checks out then you need to check ALL your fuses. If you have a fuse checker, just touch the top of all the fuses and replace the ones that are bad. If you don't have one, easiest way to check them with out pulling them out is to: Use a multi meter, set it resistance (Ohms, Omega symbol), and check to resistance on the fuses, there are two small pins on both sides on the top of fuse, use those to check the resistance. If the resistance is equal to 0, it is fine, if it is infinite or the same as before you touched the fuse (1.0000) the fuse needs to be replaced. Also don't forget there is usually a fuse on the back of the radio. Also don't forget, when you check the wiring once, check it three more times. If after all this it still doesn't work, you have a bad radio.


EDIT: Spelling

RE: i cant get my headunit to work!!!
 

check all fuses? would a blown fuse somewhere other than the radio one effect the radio?
in the box under the driveers side, is the radio fuse the top right one?

RE: i cant get my headunit to work!!!
 

I don't know which fuse it is, but the fuse is probably inside the car. Also check the fuses in the engine compartment. The easiest way to see if its a fuse or not is, turn the ignition on and check and see if your getting 12v on both red and yellow wires. If you are, then its not a fuse in the car. It could still be the fuse in the rear of the radio, or the wiring. If it all checks out, then its the radio, but chances are the radio isn't bad. So be sure to check and recheck, then check again.

RE: i cant get my headunit to work!!!
 

yea its probably the ground from the harness to the frame or radio to the frame, that's my gues, but like t00fatt said, it could be alot of things. just make sure the negative is on bare shiny metal, because i had that problem and i was still reading 12V but it didnt have enough juice to turn it on through the dirty metal.

RE: i cant get my headunit to work!!!
 

thnx guy but i got it workin but have no idea how

RE: i cant get my headunit to work!!!
 

if it just suddenly started working I would double check your wires, it might be a bad connection or lose wire somewhere.

RE: i cant get my headunit to work!!!
 

I am sorry, but this is all pretty simple. Its pretty much trial and error. I will try and explain again, if you don't get it still, I think you should have the rest of your electronics installed by a professional. First you should check the red and yellow wires for 12v with the ignition on. If you get 12v, then it is not a fuse in the car. If it is not 12v then its either a fuse or a bad ground. If you get 12v skip the rest of this paragraph. Now you need to figure out why it is your not getting power. If you get power on one and not the other, it is not ground and prolly a fuse. If you don't get power on either one, it may either be a ground or a fuse. To see if you ground is connected set your multi-meter to resistance(Ohms), touch one contact to your ground wire, then the other to any unpainted metal of the car. The meter should read 0.000, if it reads 1.00000 or infinite then your ground is not connected. If your ground is connected to black wire on the radio harness, which is what most people do on their first install do, that ground may have gone bad at its connection so you need to make a new ground. To do this you need to connect the ground wire to any unpainted metal in the car, use a crimp on ring terminal, a bolt and nut. Drill a hole or use an existing hole to put the bolt though with the ring terminal and a nut on the other side. Once you do this your radio should work, if not continue on.

If you get 12v and it still is not working, then it is 3 possible things 1) Blown Fuse at Radio, 2) Bad connection to wires or ground, 3) Bad radio. First off, check the fuse on the back of radio, if thats fine then keep going. Check the resistance between where the wires connect, and the plug that goes to the radio. It should be 0.000 not 1.000 or infinite. If it is infinite then you have a bad connection. If everything checks out, you may just have a bad radio, or did something wrong.

EDIT: WOnderful, after typing all that out I realize you fixed your problem. I guess it can help anyone else that is having the same problem. Although, if it wasn't working before, then it started working. Your prolly have a lose connection, and it made contact by moving it around. I would try and fix it, if not while your driving around the wires will probably lose connection from the vibration. To fix it, do the same as a above but shake the wire around a bit while doing it.