So I had an issue with my Trac Control Off light being on and took it to my mechanic. He wound up fixing it but somehow killed my radio in the process. He said he messed with the Trac Control button and checked a couple fuses in the driver side fuse panel. He's not quite sure what he did and neither am I. Also upon fixing the Trac Control button my brake lights stopped working which he traced to being a bad wire in the multifunction switch which he fixed. I think he said it was the white wire?

I have a Kenwood aftermarket deck and Kenwood amp.....both fail to power up now? I'm wondering are there any fuses in the driver side fuse panel that would control the radio? Is there something that could have come disconnected in the multifunction switch when he repaired the wiring to the brake lights? I'm at a loss here I swapped the fuse in the passenger side fuse panel as it was the only fuse I can see that pertains to the radio.

Here is a diagram on Yahoo of the fuse box:

One thing I will note is that I have red wire like what is shown in this video running to what appears to be back of my radio BUT its tied in on the 10A fuse for cig/aux? Is this correct or could it have been misplaced by the mechanic?

Any suggestions at all????

Thanks guys.

 

By looking at the video you included it appears that the red wire your referring too is tied into a relay that is already being used. Guess first thing I would do is find a different power source before you let the smoke out of the wire. You could find power from the factory power wire to the radio or pull the fuse for the radio and use that power source.

 

FYI - I removed some posts that were off topic. Please remember, Michelob is looking for help to troubleshoot why his aftermarket radio and amp stopped working after a recent service. He is not looking for opinions as to what audio equipment to install in his car (I believe it's clear he made that choice already).

 

The mechanic found the issue apparently there is an issue with this factory wiring harness on this Kenwood the mechanic said there is a hot AND ground wire so near each other they are touching. He said he can see where its been an issue for a long time and has been shorting out. He said it should blow the fuse before burning the car up LOL. Thanks for the advice I'll probably be getting a new radio installed soon.

 

OH WOW! That's not a small issue if the wiring harness is allowing a power and ground wires to bridge. I have worked with a few aftermarket radios (mostly Sony's and JVC) and normally those are set up pretty good, never seen a problem from them.

But, happy to hear your issue was found. So what needs done to fix it? New radio harness? If it appears to be a design flaw in the product, it might be worth contacting Kenwood about it with pics.

 

I'm actually not quite sure what the issue was I tried to understand what the mechanic was telling me. He said something to the effect that the harness had a power and ground wire touching.....which I find hard to believe they would put out a harness that had a major flaw like that and would allow those two wires to touch. The problem seems to be fixed now as the radio is on and working and isn't cutting out like it was before (which I reasoned now may have been this problem the mechanic spoke of). I have a buddy that manages a Best Buy near me and plan on going in and letting his installer take a look at it soon.

 

From my experience with modern aftermarket radios, the vendor gives you a plug that connects to the radio and on the other side, wires with no ends. The reason for this is so the installer can get a wiring adapter kit to match the vehicle the radio is being installed to. Let's build a plug and play harness so you don't need to cut up the factory wiring. In older days, it was common to cut the factory connector off and tie the radio direct to the car wiring (luckily that was days that pre-date any of my car audio adventures).

When I assemble car wiring harnesses, I favor soldering the connection and using heat shrink tubing to protect the connection. Electrical tape also works to protect the connection.

I have seen some methods of connecting wiring that could cause problems. Perhaps your radio was improperly installed and a connection came loose.