Hey Monte Lovers,

I have a 2002 MC SS with onstar(not activated)and and stock CD head unit(stock amp)with the door chimes and message center stuff too.

I took out the head unit to wire up the new CD player i bought and got theharness($120.00!!) to put the stock radio in the trunk. I was moving the wires around while the stock unit was on when I had the dash takenoff. I hear a click and the stock radio goes dead. Keep in mind that I havent wired or even began to add the new unit.

I jiggle the wire some more ( i cut a wire earlier, but taped it back together and all was good) to see if it will come back on but it doesnt. So i just put it back and went about my day without music till i could look at it later.

Im coming home that nite and notice that my headlights wont come on no matter what i do. The fog lights worked though. SO i get home and pull it back out and notice that my headlights are working again.However, my dash lights are extremely dim, I can barely see it. Also, I noticed that my back lights where not on even though my headlights were. They do illumnate when I brake though. I cant drive at nite till this gets fixed.

So, I wire the new radio with the T cable anyway and it wont come onand stock radio in the trunk wont come on either.

What the heck did I do to my baby?
any suggesstions would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

This might call for a dealership run...sorry, I wish I could help. I'm sure some of our members will be able to help you though.

 

Time to upgrade to a 5th gen Monte. (just kidding - that was for all the 5th gen monte owners here)

You definitely had something short out. The first thing I would do is check all the wiring you touched very carefully for any nicks or cuts. Then check all your fuses. Keep in mind there are multiple fuse panels. I don't have my manual handy, but check the fuse usage chart in your manual to see which fuse(s) all those things have in common, and it's location. There's a fuse panel on both side panels of the dash, and one under the hood too.

Then if nothing, go to the dealer if you have to. Keep in mind the dealership's service department charges by the hour for diagnostic time, and charges A LOT of money.

If your factory stereo has the theftlock feature, you may need to unlock it when you get your power problem cleared up.

 

i agree wit taz...it sounds like u blew a fuse, if u cant find a fuse that is blown in the boxes grab ur multimeter and check for power to each one of the fuse holders to c if there is power there, sometimes there are in line fuses that are there jsut for backup and since the others r closer to the battery, will not blow unless there is a connection made b4 them, i have only seen this once but i have seen it, especially if someone owned the car b4 u did and had a different head unit in and swapped it out when they sold it

 

check the fuses... I had the same problems with the lights and my fuse had blown!

 

so what was wrong i am having the same problem and all of my fuses are good

 

I just fixed this same problem today. I was installing my radio and shorted my illumination wire. Lost all interior lighting, tail lights (didn't know this til officer friendly pulled me over) and rear defog. There is another post about this same thing that said to replace the tail light fuse. I checked each and every fuse with an ohmmeter and they tested good. I finally pulled the tail light fuse and sure nuff it was blown. Checked the circuit without a fuse and it checks good as if a good fuse was in there!! That threw me off. Anyway, I put in a new fuse and everything works now. Now my daytime lights won't come on. Do you know anything about this??

 

Man, what is it with everybody having lighting issues all of a sudden??? I count no less than 3 threads on this subject specifically. I hope you guys get them all figured out as i'm sure it sucks, especially when it's self inflicted.

 

i just got my car back i had a blown fuse they had to test it some specail way the gray wire in there is only hot when the running lights are on and acts as a ground when they are off