So, long story short, it's my first time installing a car stereo. It was approaching the evening, so it was dark and I had low visibility (and was in a rush to finish), and while I was connecting the adapter and the compatible wiring harness, I did not properly insulate my wire connections (using electrical tape because I definitely wasn't doing a professional job) and it caused what I imagine could only have been an electrical short. The short caused the radio/cigarette fuse to blow and let off a burnt smell. After replacing the fuse, the cigarette lighter works, but the constant voltage wire (yellow one) isn't receiving any voltage (measured between it and a grounding screw), and I was told to check the wire running from the fuse box to the power connection for a burnt discontinuity (that smell maybe!), and I'm halfway through ripping my dashboard apart to figure out where everything comes from and goes. What I need to know before I get too deep into this:
- I checked all of my fuses, driver side and under the hood. Is there anything else that could be an easy fix I should check?
- How does the wire from the fuse box get to the radio? Is there a spot under any part of the dash that could be more susceptible to a blown out wire?
- I don't know the curcuit configuration from the fuse to the radio, or if the cigarette lighter runs paralell off of it, but which points would be the best to measure continuity from to determine the break location?
I checked all the fuses, including 3 behind the radio embedded in the wires. Again, this is my first time installing a stereo (much less debugging an electrical system), but I don't think I'm stupid (albeit lazy), and detail will go a long way in helping me. Also, my car is a 1997 GT convertible (guess that pretty much only means no dome on the cig/rad circuit). Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!
