Hi all, Im hoping somebody can give me some advice on radio wiring, I’m not well versed in electrical work because this is my first vehicle where I’ve had any electrical headaches. I’ve recently bought an 89 Cherokee and when I bought it only the rear speakers were functional, (the ones in the hatch). The jeep also has an old sony amp, xm4040. Knowing this I bought and installed new door speakers and connected them up to the amp using 16 gauge speaker wire (I disconnected the rear hatch speakers). Then I ran new 10 gauge 12v and ground wire to the amp (the old wire was 12 gauge and wired to the fuse panel without a fuse), but I reused the existing amp remote wire.
When I tested the head unit leads with a multimeter I had no power at the constant 12v (pink wire), so I tapped into an existing 12v I had previously made for my electric fan which is on a 30 amp fuse. After everything was connected at all ends, I connected the battery and turned on the jeep. Everything worked, and it sounded good too. But the next time I turned it on I had no sound. The head unit still turned on and functioned normally, so its obviously something with the amp. I tested voltage at the amp with everything on and found 14.35v between the 12v and ground, 0 from ground to ground, and oddly I had a reading of .02v between the remote wire and ground. The remote wire being the issue I checked my connections, which were fine, so I believed the issue to be the head unit not pushing 12v through the remote output. With the amp still not turning on and the remote wire being the only weak point, I decided to connect it to the switched 12v on the back of the head unit using a tap splice (all my other connections at this point have been made with butt splices, disconnects, or rings).
After reconnecting the battery and turning on the jeep to test the system I immediately started to see smoke come from the dash, so I turned it off and disconnected the battery. The wires continued smoking so I pulled the radio out and saw the switched 12v and remote wires both melted and cut them. I believe this was caused by a possible short to ground with the remote wire. Now im left with figuring out this ignition wire, I only have access to about 1.5 feet of it before it goes into the wiring harness behind the gauge cluster and onto the fuse panel. All 1.5 feet of it that I can see are melted, however it gets better just before going into the wiring harness with the coating melted but no copper showing. I’m wondering what I can do to remove this wire or at least disconnect it so it is not a fire hazard. I took out the gauge cluster to try and find the wire but it is in the plastic above the gauges, and where it drops down the side of the footwell to the fuse panel it is in a large bundle of wires wrapped in tape.
After I get that wire taken care of, so it doesn’t start a fire, I still need switched 12v to my head unit, and maybe even for the amp remote if a new wire doesn’t fix that issue. My current plan is to pull the fuse panel and run a wire from the back of the radio fuse, which is ignition only and the same source of the burnt up wire. Hopefully someone here with experience can chime in and let me know what to do about that wire, and if my current plan is any good.
Thanks in advance for reading this any for any help.
When I tested the head unit leads with a multimeter I had no power at the constant 12v (pink wire), so I tapped into an existing 12v I had previously made for my electric fan which is on a 30 amp fuse. After everything was connected at all ends, I connected the battery and turned on the jeep. Everything worked, and it sounded good too. But the next time I turned it on I had no sound. The head unit still turned on and functioned normally, so its obviously something with the amp. I tested voltage at the amp with everything on and found 14.35v between the 12v and ground, 0 from ground to ground, and oddly I had a reading of .02v between the remote wire and ground. The remote wire being the issue I checked my connections, which were fine, so I believed the issue to be the head unit not pushing 12v through the remote output. With the amp still not turning on and the remote wire being the only weak point, I decided to connect it to the switched 12v on the back of the head unit using a tap splice (all my other connections at this point have been made with butt splices, disconnects, or rings).
After reconnecting the battery and turning on the jeep to test the system I immediately started to see smoke come from the dash, so I turned it off and disconnected the battery. The wires continued smoking so I pulled the radio out and saw the switched 12v and remote wires both melted and cut them. I believe this was caused by a possible short to ground with the remote wire. Now im left with figuring out this ignition wire, I only have access to about 1.5 feet of it before it goes into the wiring harness behind the gauge cluster and onto the fuse panel. All 1.5 feet of it that I can see are melted, however it gets better just before going into the wiring harness with the coating melted but no copper showing. I’m wondering what I can do to remove this wire or at least disconnect it so it is not a fire hazard. I took out the gauge cluster to try and find the wire but it is in the plastic above the gauges, and where it drops down the side of the footwell to the fuse panel it is in a large bundle of wires wrapped in tape.
After I get that wire taken care of, so it doesn’t start a fire, I still need switched 12v to my head unit, and maybe even for the amp remote if a new wire doesn’t fix that issue. My current plan is to pull the fuse panel and run a wire from the back of the radio fuse, which is ignition only and the same source of the burnt up wire. Hopefully someone here with experience can chime in and let me know what to do about that wire, and if my current plan is any good.
Thanks in advance for reading this any for any help.
