As the title suggests, when I turn my Bose Gold system on, the CTSY fuse blows immediately. From what I can tell, that should rule out everything except the powered antenna, or an individual speaker/amplifier.

Anything else I should be checking out besides those two things? Could it be the Bose relay? If so where is that located on a 1991 ZR1? I just want to make sure I'm barking up the right tree.

Thanks in Advance!
Jason
91ZR1

 

Update: I've disconnected the power antenna relay, and still blow the fuse, so I think I've ruled that out.

That would mean one of the amplifiers is causing the issue, or the head unit itself.

FYI, the sound system is completely stock.

Any other possibilities I'm missing?

 

If you do not get any good responses try calling Factory Car Stereo Repair in FL at 800 428 1909. They are Bose specialists. I have a stock Bose gold system that I have kept alive. Have had 3 of the amps go bad and they rebuilt them all. At no time did I blow any fuses however and two of the rear ones went at one time. They are easy to talk to.

 

Disconnecting the relay does not rule out that circut. It only means the relay itself is not shorted.....I am bring this up because based on what your saying I tend to think the problem is related to the power antenna.

 

Ah, I see what you are saying. So the short might be somewhere between the power supply and the antenna relay plug under the rear hatch panel, correct?

Any chance there could be a short or bad ground from the power supply to the head unit, or from the head unit to the individual amplifiers?

The name of the widget that distributes power throughout the car slips me, but its behind/below the battery, right?

 

fusible link? they can go bad

 

Please explain how a bad fusible link can cause the CTSY fuse to blow when he turns on the stereo.

 

First question - Yes, sort of. The short could certainly be between the radio and the antenna relay, but I don't like that hypothesis because I would think it would blow the radio fuse. I don't actually have a schematic so I don't even know if the radio is on its own circuit but the majority of the time it is.

Second question - No, if the short were between the power feed and the head unit then a fuse would blow at all times, not just once you turn the radio on.

Third question - No, a bad ground will not cause a fuse to blow. I'm sure some arm chair expert is going to recite some anomalous example that occurred somewhere in the universe that makes them think I am wrong....Im not.

Fourth - Maybe, but I thought the amps were on the radio circuit and NOT the courtesy lamp circuit. I think this because my radio works fine when the courtesy lamp fuse is blown which happens every time a coin drops into my cigarette lighter socket. Its not impossible my car is different than yours.

The junction block behind the battery is just a junction block and should not be related to the issue your experiencing.

Last - I am guessing the antenna gets its power from the courtesy lamp circuit. I don't have a wiring diagram and I could be wrong. Im not in the business of memorizing factoids; instead I understand the totality of the system as a whole and how to use reference materials. That being said it would make perfect sense for the power feed to the antenna from the relay to be shorted, or the antenna itself. A short in that wire would do exactly what your saying (without blowing the radio fuse) if in fact the courtesy lamp circuit supplies power to the antenna, and I think it does.

 

Are you 100% sure beyond any doubt whatsoever that you disconnected the antenna relay and not some other relay ???

Im asking because I found a generic wiring diagram that's probably not for your car and it shows the relay coil side is powered up by voltage from the essentially the radio fuse, and I was thinking it came from the ctsy lamp fuse and only the relay power output side is sourced from the ctsy fuse. This means that my thesis outlined above could be wrong if in fact the shorted condition exists with the relay disconnected.

 

On my car the CTSY/CLK fuse powers everything that is on when the ignition is turned off. This includes things like the cigarette lighter, interior lights and the antenna. You need a FSM so you can check out/off all the circuits powered by this fuse.

 

Good input thanks. I think it is either switch (activating) wire for activating the relay for the power antenna, or the Bose speaker relay.

The Bose speaker relay is on this circuit, so I can only assume that it could also be the source of the problem (this is the Bose master relay I assume).

At least it's narrowed down to those two parts of the system I guess.

 

I'm 100% sure I disconneted the antenna relay. It's under the rear hatch interior panel. Your thoughts aren't wrong.

 

did not say it would was just guessing what his widget was.

 

If you have the correct schematic, post it on here if you can. If you figure it out first then let me know what you find for sure. I am very interested in this problem.

If you first disconnect all the loads in the circuit, then you can connect a test light in place of the fuse, it will be illuminated when the short is present. You can try to wiggle the harness and or disconnect any related connectors and watch for the test light to flicker or go out, in an effort to try to narrow things down; that's what I usually do anyway.

Shorts are probably the most difficult electrical problem to solve, so if it seems like what your doing is extremely difficult, its because it is.
Anyway, good luck with it.

 

Please explain how "guessing" is helpful to the OP.

 

you have offered nothing to help him.
he was trying to remember what the widget was called behind the battery was called. so I offered the fusible links on the block as a answer.

how is your butt surfing me helping anyone?

 

The CTSY fuse powers the bose speakers through the relay. The relay coil itself is powered by the RADIO fuse. So if the CTSY fuse blows when radio is turned on, one of the speaker/amplifiers is bad/shorted.* Its not the relay itself, its one of the speakers it controls.The power antenna relay is under the reveal panel across the rear inside of the car, with the hatch open. I don't know if (the FSM doesn't show one either) there is a connector at the base of the antenna under the car that you could disconnect to test whether its the antenna. If you don't want to cut wires, you'll have to access the relay and unplug it there.My inclination is to suspect that there is one bad speaker/amplifier.


I found this for you

sounds like your on the right track!!!

 

The above ... Love it ...

Seriously this entire forum would benefit from a source for wiring schematics....

 

get it figured out yet?

 

If you're serious about working on your car you have an FSM (Factory Shop/Service Manual). The wiring diagrams are included.