help me solve a fuse blowing problem

[Chevy305]

Every now and again my radio cuts out for about 2 seconds and I lose all my presets then it comes back on. Which is anoying and I decided to live with it until now which might be rlated to my fuse problem. I just installed a Sirius car player that plugs into the cigarette lighter and everytime I plug it in I blow a fuse. I don't want to leave it plugged in because I don't want it draining power while the truck is parked. The fuse that keeps blowing is responsible for my cigarette lighter, horn, and the constant power for my radio as in my presetts. The fuse is the standard 20amp fuse. Even though I know it was a bad idea, I put in a 25amp fuse for ****s and giggles and it blew just like the 20amp ones.

Anyone have any ideas why this fuse keeps blowing?


I think i can avoid this by wiring in another hidden cigarette lighter powered by a different ignition on source so I can opporate the Sirius player as I wish and not drain the battery. Then again that would just be side stepping the problem at hand.

 

[suntadz]

funny I have the exact same thing going on. When i plug in my phone charger it blows the fuse. Sometime like you say it flickers on off a couple time then blows the fuse. I havent researched it enough I just carry a pack of fuses now. I wired the stereo myself into a harness that plugged into the factory one. Now Ive done many of these but I did have more wires from the stereo than on the harness. There was the dimmer one and the illum one that I was thinking I got mixed up and was sending voltage the wrong way for some reason. Was going to cut those loose and see if my problem goes away. Just havent got around to it. Good luck

 

[lectric80]

Make sure the dimmer line on the stereo is not wired to the ground on the stereo. Seen it way too many times.

I leave my Sirius receiver plugged in at all times and it never has enough draw to do anything to my battery. I have also left it unplugged for days at a time and it still keeps it's presets, so I don't think you will have any concern there.

If the fuse blows when you plug into the lighter socket, the socket itself may be bad, so when you plug in it shorts ground to hot and causes the fuse to pop. I have seen this with a few of my vehicles, replace the socket and it works great. There may also be a loose connection to the stereo's memory, and it will lose connection causing the loss of memory. If it is tied to the cigaretter lighter outlet, the problem may still be the socket, even with nothing plugged in it may still short to ground for a second.

Just a couple of things to try.

 

[bp71k5]

Anyone have any ideas why this fuse keeps blowing?

It's blowing because either the stereo, the sirius, or the cig connector has a short in it, or (more likely) everything together draws too much current for that circuit after it's all plugged in.

Isn't there a dedicated connection on the fuse box for the stereo? It's a little surprising it's blowing with only a stereo and a sirius, unless you're running an amp too.

 

[lectric80]

It's blowing because either the stereo, the sirius, or the cig connector has a short in it, or (more likely) everything together draws too much current for that circuit after it's all plugged in.

Unlikely, since the Sirius draws about 5 amps, and the stereo memory should only draw 5 amps. On a 20 amp fuse neither will give enough draw to blow the fuse.

 

[Chevy305]

I did replace the lighter a little while ago with an el-cheapo autozone replacement, I'm not surprised if its screwed up already.

 

[lectric80]

Try removing the wire from the back and connecting it to another socket. Then see if the fuse blows when you plug in the receiver. If it doesn't then you know it is the socket, if it does you know it is a short somewhere else.

 

[pauly383]

Set the sirius to auto power off after an hour or two , its in the menu . Will not drain battery , and I doubt it would draw five amps , a better than 4 watt CB on transmit doesn't draw 5 amps .

What I would do is make sure all the wiring is cleaned up by removing any splices , and other added on appendages , tape it up , and then rewire the add ons .

Run one constant 12 volt from the extra terminals on fusebox for radio memory . If no extra spades , get a clamp over tap connector with a spade slot and use a wire already plugged into battery terminal .

Cut the cigarette lighter plug off ( you can always buy a second to cut ) and I would tap into the passenger side power lock harness to power the Sirius . That circuit is pretty strong , and uses a self resetting circuit breaker .

Ran my add on Sirius tuner like that , and it wasn't even noisy since you really don't sit there and lock/unlock while driving and listening .

 

[lectric80]

Set the sirius to auto power off after an hour or two , its in the menu . Will not drain battery , and I doubt it would draw five amps , a better than 4 watt CB on transmit doesn't draw 5 amps .

What I would do is make sure all the wiring is cleaned up by removing any splices , and other added on appendages , tape it up , and then rewire the add ons .

Run one constant 12 volt from the extra terminals on fusebox for radio memory . If no extra spades , get a clamp over tap connector with a spade slot and use a wire already plugged into battery terminal .

Cut the cigarette lighter plug off ( you can always buy a second to cut ) and I would tap into the passenger side power lock harness to power the Sirius . That circuit is pretty strong , and uses a self resetting circuit breaker .

Ran my add on Sirius tuner like that , and it wasn't even noisy since you really don't sit there and lock/unlock while driving and listening .

Sorry, my numbers are based off of the fuse size in the lighter plug, but that may just be the surge of the initial startup. I currently run the Sirius off the cigarette circuit that was there, but I have a double plug box that is mounted below the ashtray opening. Needed room for the Sirius, GPS, phone, and I still need more. I can run all of them with no need for a larger fuse, and no blown fuses.

 

[dyeager535]

What year truck are we talking about?

If it's a later fuse panel, do it right, connect the Sirius directly to the accessory spots on the fuse panel, so it's key on/off.

Cig lighters are pretty spotty with wiring when they do go, besides, cig light connectors typically aren't the most reliable connection.

 

[bigred88]

I had somewhat the same problem on my truck- but unfortunately the fuse didn't blow. I plugged my phone in to the cigarette lighter and it fried my phone charger and my phone. Then, I installed a new stereo, and was blowing the fuse to my horn and tail lights. I had to rerun all the wiring- the power to both the radio and cigarette lighter had shorted out- the coating around the wire had worn through, allowing the wires to contact metal under the dash. I just rewired both of them- solved the problem.

 

[Chevy305]

Not going to lie, but under my dash looks like spagehtti. I'm going to replace the cigarette lighter and then wire it to an ignition on source and see if that cures the fuse problem.

My truck is functionally an 85 and I have no power windows or locks.

 

[pauly383]

Not going to lie, but under my dash looks like spagehtti. I'm going to replace the cigarette lighter and then wire it to an ignition on source and see if that cures the fuse problem.

My truck is functionally an 85 and I have no power windows or locks.

These rigs are so easy to work with wiring wise , so cleaning it up is cake .

The main dash harness is just the fusebox and the bundle that foes over the column , with several branches that run to the light switches , radio , and column stuff .

A/C or heater subharness plugs into one black plug near the radio wires , and then goes to out the firewall .

Computer/ESC is a seperate harness .

Cruise is a seperate harness .

The top wires and dome light is a seperate add on to the fusebox area .

Transmission and case is a seperate harness with one piece running from fusebox under the shifter , and the other going through firewall to the vacuum switch and then down to tranny .

And of course power windows and locks are two harnesses meeting at the fusebox .

All modular , and most things will plug into each other , and the extra ports of the fusebox .

A six prong ground block on the ebrake bracket .

All this seperate from engine and lights harnesses which plug in underhood .

A good all Day project is to just remove the cluster and drop the column down a bit to access the wiring , and pull what you have , inspect for damage , and then repair and recover the bundles

 

[Chevy305]

These rigs are so easy to work with wiring wise , so cleaning it up is cake .

The main dash harness is just the fusebox and the bundle that foes over the column , with several branches that run to the light switches , radio , and column stuff .

A/C or heater subharness plugs into one black plug near the radio wires , and then goes to out the firewall .

Computer/ESC is a seperate harness .

Cruise is a seperate harness .

The top wires and dome light is a seperate add on to the fusebox area .

Transmission and case is a seperate harness with one piece running from fusebox under the shifter , and the other going through firewall to the vacuum switch and then down to tranny .

And of course power windows and locks are two harnesses meeting at the fusebox .

All modular , and most things will plug into each other , and the extra ports of the fusebox .

A six prong ground block on the ebrake bracket .

All this seperate from engine and lights harnesses which plug in underhood .

A good all Day project is to just remove the cluster and drop the column down a bit to access the wiring , and pull what you have , inspect for damage , and then repair and recover the bundles

A painless wiring kit is on my list of things to do as well as the headlight relay thing, and rewiring my offroad lights. As well as new speakers, new stereo, amp, subs, 6 lug 14sf, crate engine.... the list goes on.