todd557

Help!!!

New engine harness & dash harness in my 66. Radio works fine when car is not running but as soon as I get going...radio fuse blows. I have the 3A fuses.

I do not have my radio ground straps connected yet but I was under the impression that they were to surpress feedback noise.

Is this my culprit? What else should I do to troubleshoot? I'm stuck.

Thanks

Todd

Gman58

A few questions. Was this radio working with the old harness. Have you replaced the radio. Are you sure about the fuse rating. Is that fuse dedicated to the radio only. Greg

todd557

The radio was doing the same with the old harness (which still did not have ground straps connected). The radio has been professionally rebuilt. If by fuse rating you mean is it really 3A...yes. I believe the radio fuse is only the radio and not other items. Everything else works.

magicv8

"bench" test the radio by running a 12volt line from the battery with a 3amp inline fuse and connect it to the yellow (power) lead for the radio. Make sure the case of the radio is connected to ground. If the radio plays and does not blow a fuse, put a new 3 amp fuse in the fusebox with the radio disconnected. If that fuse doesn't blow, the harness line is ok - and either the radio has a lousy ground when installed, or the plastic connector for the radio wires has the wire locations mismatched.

5thvet

The capacitors under the dash and under the hood at various locations are for the noise suppression. I would try to connect the ground strap..
Don

Gman58

There are a couple of things I would do. First contact the person who rebuilt the radio and describe the problem. Do you have a multimeter if yes check the resistance measurement between the 12v input and ground there may be a short. Does the radio actually play with the ignition switch in the on position and the car not running. Greg

todd557

Radio plays fine when in Aux or On with ignition switch. So...I have to believe bench testing the radio will result in positive results.

Would the ground either work or not? In other words...if the radio plays great when in the aux position...would a weak ground act differently when the engine is cranked and the alternator is pumping amps and volts?

I have no capacitors or ground straps connected in this car. What is the purpose of the radio ground straps? Could this be my problem?

5thvet

Why don't you just connect the ground and see what happens. It needs to be connected anyway. Seems like an easy step in troubleshooting the problem.

JohnZ

That may be part of the explanation for why they changed the radio fuse from 2.5 amps to 10 amps for '67, with the same radio.

todd557

Must have been the missing ground straps! Put them on and went around the block....no blown fuse. I've got tunage!

Thanks for the support as always

John...as an aside...if it happens latter...did your comment mean that going up to a 10amp fuse is safe for my 66 radio?

JohnZ

If it was OK for '67, it should be for '66; there's no difference in the radio or the feed circuit from '66 to '67 - the radio is the only device on that fuse.