Wiring problem - battery dead because of the radio

I tried to add a CD player on my 98 Camry V6. After several hours' try, the mechanic said he couldn't put it in. Then he put my original radio back.

Several day's later, my car was dead. I got it checked in another shop and it turned out the radio drain the battery. I don't want to go back to that guy because I don't trust him, so I decide to work it out myself.

Now the radio works no matter if I put my key in ignition, not bad but it fry my battery just in several days. I take out the radio and find there are 2 wires twisted together! I believe they are constant and acc. That's the reason why my radio works without the key in ignition. But after I take them apart, my radio doesn't work at all, no matter if I start my car!

I checked both radio fuses (one under hood, one beside driver's seat) with multi-meter and they are OK.

I am totally confused now. Please help if you have any clue. Thanks a lot!

Reply to
Rocky
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you should go back to the hack, He may have shorted something and rewired it Thinking he was right but is trying to hide it

Reply to
mark Ransley

Thanks for your reply. Actually that happened months ago, the guy may already forget everything he did. Also I really don't want to see him again. That's why I decide to do it myself. Any suggestion is very welcome!

Reply to
Rocky

OMFG

You took your car to a TOTAL RETARD to begin with, what was he trained at walmart?

Anyway, if you would have spent LESS for the stereo at

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you would have also recieved the wiring plug already installed on the radio ready for you or your nitwit mechanic (OK Maybe he could'nt even acomplish that) to plug directly into the car's harness.

You would be out driving around listening to that new Polka CD you love instead of wtiting in this newsgroup if you would have just spend less and spent it at

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Reply to
Im Right

You need to take your car to an expert an have them fix it. I put in a replacement radio in my 98 Camry when there where no wiring harnesses available, and they had some trouble figuring out the wires. It seems that your installer also had a lot of trouble hand has done some changes to the wiring that you need reversed back to the original scheme.

Reply to
Mark A

You have two wires switched.... You should have battery backup and power on

+12v switched
Reply to
AV

Thanks for all you guys' sugguestion. You are right. I believe that mechanic (maybe trained at walmart :) may have already done some changes to the wiring.

Now what I want to do is to reverse it back. I would try it myself first. If I can't, I will bring it to an expert. But who's the expert? the dealership?

Reply to
Rocky

If you want a new receiver, I would try to find a good installer who can fix it. That way you won't pay just to get it fixed. Let them know in advance what the problem is and judge for yourself whether it sounds like they have the knowledge to fix it when they install the new receiver. Stay away from discount stores.

Reply to
Mark A

Reply to
Gary Danaher

Check with a multimeter or lamp that you have constant voltage on one wire and voltage on the other when the accessories are on and only then. Check it where the wires were twisted together. It sounds like the installer found/caused a problem and covered it up by twisting the two wires together. I would guess that the accessories voltage is not getting to the radio.

Reply to
John

Does your clock (and tuner presets) stay programmed?

First off, you have to make sure the 12V constant is with the constant and acc with acc. if you have an after market deck the acc is red and the constant is yellow. The constant in a 98 toyota camry should be blue with either a white or yellow stripe, and the acc should be grey or grey with a blue stripe. If your battery keeps dying it might be that it wasnt able to recharge properly after the mechanics mistake. Take your multimeter and test your battery when the car is off and again when the engine is running. when the engine is off it should be over 12V and when the engine is running you should be at 14V+ .

And remember, don't ask mechanics to do an electricians job, they always screw up... !

Check ALL the fuses. There is up to 3 fuses for the radio, kick panel, under the hood and behind the radio even though, sometimes your radio wont work if some other fuse is blown (security thing)

Reply to
DSPL

Thank you so much for your advice.

Actually this happened year ago and I'am just trying to fix it recently. The battery was already changed after the mechanic's job. But now I have to take out the 20A radio fuse 1 when I don't drive. BTW, the clock/presets is still working.

I checked 2 fuses, one is 20A "radio 1" under the hood, the other is

7.5A "radio 2" under kick panel. I don't know if any other fuse I have to check.

To me it sounds like the constant is OK, but acc doesn't work. I will confirm that. I will do the last try this weekend. If still no luck, I will bring it to Toyota dealer.

Thanks again for all you guys' suggestion. Even I can't fix it, I still learn a lot from it, and from you.

Reply to
Rocky

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