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After installing my after market radio unit, my car won’t crank as if my battery was low. I tried jumping it and it won’t even try to crank. The only thing I can think off is that I might have screwed something up in the ignition switch because I tapped into the brown wire (accessory position 12V ON) to power the switched 12V that feeds into the aftermarket radio. I cut the brown wire in order to tap into it and reconnected it with quick disconnect type of connectors. Could this be the cause of it? I need to try and solve this by the weekend because this is my daily.
I did and the wire harness I got didn’t work so I decided to just go to the source of ACC switched 12V. I now notice it was a huge mistake. Luckily I just found the problem, but I have no solution as of yet. Problem is the connectors are restricting current flow or changing the resistance of those wires and doesn’t crank with them. I cut the connectors out and held the wires together by hand as I cranked and car cranks, starts and runs fine. Now I need to solve this best way possible, either with a really good butt connector or just sauntering the wires. Problem is Im almost running out of wire since they’re so short.
Well this got more interesting. It wasn’t the connectors that was causing the issue. It was the actual splice into the radio turn on. I resautered with a piece 10gauge wire and the results were the same when I had the splice of the radio on connection, but cranked fine as soon as I cut that splice out.
I guess I have no other choice than to get another source of key on voltage that doesn’t interrupt the ignition cables.
The back panel of the passenger side foot well panel lifts up to reveal a fuse box and other electrical connectors. At the upper left corner there will be a three wire connector (white, if I recall) that can be used to power auxilliary devices. One wire is for the ground, one is is ignition switched power, and one is constant power. The plug is male / female and can be disconnected / unplugged. One side is wired into the car's wiring harness (do not cut this side) and the other side can be used to wire your device. Run your wire(s) under side of the center console and up into your radio area so they are hidden.
I used this connector as a power source when I connected power for a blue tooth device in my '02 Z06.
There are several threads here on CF regarding this connector.
There is factory wiring in the area of the BCM in the passenger footwell specifically for this....one wire always hot, one wire switched power, and one wire ground. Pull off the BCM cover and look and you will find them, taped off. You can search here and find many threads that address these wires, there from the factory. Good luck.
Last edited by frodo84; May 2, 2020 at 10:22 AM.
Reason: M.Y.02Z06 was typing at the same time.
Yes I was able to get switched ACC from footwell. But this wasn’t the root cause of my issue. I had a capacitor installed on the radio to prevent radio reset with voltage dips for example when idle rpms dropped below 500 when coming to a stop or rolling out the clutch. The problem was this damn capacitor. It was doing something to the electrical architecture of the car that when it was wired to ACC Power, it would prevent the car from cranking. I removed the capacitor and problem is gone. Radio is now powered by ACC, and my AFR gauge by KEY ON and everything works and car cranks fine.
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Help! Car won’t crank after radio install.
