Help PLEASE.. My 1999 SL1 radio.. Wow - where to start.. A couple of years is when this all started- but for the last year or so we just went without a radio altogether.. Anyways - it started with the fuse blowing on the radio, etc.. We were just replacing it- but if the car it a big bump, it would blow again.. Now it wont work at ALL. If you put a fuse in, even one larger than recommended- it blows automatically?? If I go to a saturn dealer - they want 400 bucks to just put a new radio in - but is this really the problem?? Any help please!!! Email is snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net. thanks
First off, 400$ for a new radio unit is WAY too much. I paid 250$ for a nice aftermarket radio/CD.
Secondly, putting in bigger than the recommended fuse is, well, not recommended. Fuses are protective devices, and if they are blowing it means that something is wrong ;)
All that said it sounds like you have a short circuit - that is, wires are making contact with things they shouldn't - ie, the metal frame around the center cluster.
I would pull the radio out and check the harness wires to see if they could have been accidentally jammed into the steel frame and have damaged insulation - check carefully. Check to be sure that the connector which links the radio to the car wiring (it is a black block which looks like an odd shaped plug with lots of colored wires coming out of it) is secure and the two ends are connected solidly.
While it is _possible_ that the radio itself is at fault, it seems more likely the wiring.
If the wiring is damaged, don't just put electrical tape on it - go to radioshack and look into using one of the following types of connectors to repair the wiring:
Each of those connector types have protective casing to keep them from shorting if they contact metal. Be sure to use the right color connector - different colors are generally different size connectors.
If the wiring which goes into the radio itself is damaged, you may have to hit a junkyard and see if you can just find a new one. Also, by putting bigger fuses in than are meant to be, the radio itself could possibly be damaged.
Somewere a wire is hitting ground. Maybe in the radio. Get a nice aftermarket. Much better and way cheaper. Many big electronic stores will install cheap or free... depending on the sale. $150 is about what you need. Depending if you need 6 CD or just radio.
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