Fuse for stereo

[frankieboy]

Not having much luck installing an aftermarket Sony stereo head unit. Bought one from Argos (don't laugh - nice stereo actually!). Got it working then it stopped turning on.

Got a replacement and this one I can't get to turn on at all. I think the fuse in the car must have blown. It's highly unlikely that both stereos are faulty. I've checked the stereo's fuse and it looks ok.

My question is : which fuse is it for the stereo, and if it is blown where can I get another?

Cheers. New to this forum but am very pleased with responses so far! :beerchug:

Frankieboy

[Shipz]

Have you checked the stereo fuse in the fuse box to see if it is still working or if it has blown?

What car are you installing this stereo onto?

I've got a Bora myself and i also installed a Sony CD player, but luckily i havn't had any problems...

It might also be worth just double checking the connections behind the stereo to see if anything is loose at all?

Stereo is probably fine, most likely to be a loose connection(likely) or blown fuse(i doubt).

Hope this advice helps.

[frankieboy]

Getting really annoyed with this stereo problem....

I'm on my 3rd Sony HU from Argos now. None of them turn on. Strangely there is some power getting through because the eject mechanism has worked on all of them.

The fuse is fine in the back of the stereo. I've checked almost all of the fuses in the fuse panel and they seem fine. I've got the right Sony to VW adapter. Everything is wired in correctly.

I still can't find out which fuse is for the stereo.(not in manual/rang VW dealers who don't know. HELP!:aargh4:

The Argos fitters say they'll get it working (rather arrogantly) and said it was because I was a "civilian" (strange choice of word) and they were electircal engineers. Whatever. Well all i can say is they couldnt wire it up any differently than i have.....

Frank

[Flash2]

Frank, on the wires leading to the radio you should have a yellow, a red and a black wire (ignore all the other wires. These three power the unit). Use a test light or a volt meter and make sure you have 12V on both the red and yellow wires and that the black is going to earth (with the ignition switched on). The yellow wire should be powered direct to the battery and the red should be powered through the ignition switch. If I remember correctly, when fitting a Sony radio to a VW you have to swap the red and yellow wires. There is usually bullet onnectors on the radio wiring loom. Disconnect both wires and reconnect the yellow to the red and red to yellow...if you see what I mean.

Let me know how you get on.

[frankieboy]

The Sony to VW adapter does that job for you as far as Im aware....Anyway I borrowed my friend's adapter which does just this and it didnt help.

I don't have a voltmeter which is a shame...

[Flash2]

The Sony to VW adapter does that job for you as far as Im aware...
Is that the wiring that came with the radio? If so, it does do the job, but you need to change the wires around as I said before.

....Anyway I borrowed my friend's adapter which does just this and it didnt help.
Since your friend went to the bother of removing his radio from his VW, did you try plugged your radio into his car to see if it works OK in his car? (or tried his radio in yours)


I don't have a voltmeter which is a shame...
You said you could eject discs from the unit but it wont turn on. That sounds to me like you don't have voltage on the ignition feed wire on your radio plug. I could tell you which wire that is but your going to need some way to test the wiring on your car if you want to try and fix the problem yourself.
(http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?MenuNo=11808&MenuName=Digital+Multimeters&worldid=-8&FromMenu=y&doy=5m6)

Another thing to try is join the red and the yellow wires on the radio wiring loom together. Leave the yellow wire connected, unplug the red one and reconnect it to the yellow so both are powered from the same wire on the vehicle's wiring loom. The unit may work now, but it wont switch off with the ignition.

Regards - Jim.

[frankieboy]

Thanks very much Jim. Spot on. The ignition feed is not working properly. When connected to the always on 12v yellow, the stereo works fine. Something's happened here. When I put the VW stereo back in, it works and without the key in I can turn it on and off - something I'm sure it didn't do before...

So the question is, how can this ignition feed problem be sorted....Anyone?

Thanks

Frank

[keano16]

Hi Guys,
Im having the same issue with my bora. Temporarily I have connected the red to yellow and into the back of the stereo.
I would leave it as it is as it would remind me to always take the face off the stereo but im worried about how much power it is using up while the face is off and the ignition is off too. Any ideas?
Also is there any other way to have it so that you wouldn't lose your memory on the stereo when you take the key out of the ignition?

[neileg]

VW wiring is well known for having the permanent and switched live feeds reversed. On OE audio units, the internal wiring is set to match, on aftermarket units you need to switch the two over. That's what Flash2 said in the first place...

[frankieboy]

Tried that to no avail. It'll only work with the yellow wire.

To add insult to injury I spent £40 on a connects2 adapter which is supposed to allow you to keep the steering wheel controls....Unfortunately it doesn't.

Add to that the fact that I have a bare aerial lead because the previous owner has cut it off and you have a complete and utter unmitigated disaster!!!!

The Argos fitters are going to try and fit it on Thursday. They're not going I doubt they'll be able to sort it....

:zx11:

[keano16]

You said you could eject discs from the unit but it wont turn on. That sounds to me like you don't have voltage on the ignition feed wire on your radio plug. I could tell you which wire that is but your going to need some way to test the wiring on your car if you want to try and fix the problem yourself.
(http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?MenuNo=11808&MenuName=Digital+Multimeters&worldid=-8&FromMenu=y&doy=5m6)

Another thing to try is join the red and the yellow wires on the radio wiring loom together. Leave the yellow wire connected, unplug the red one and reconnect it to the yellow so both are powered from the same wire on the vehicle's wiring loom. The unit may work now, but it wont switch off with the ignition.

Regards - Jim.
Hi,
What would you advise if the red wire had no voltage on it as i think that is the case in my car?
As a side note when I joined the red and yellow wires, the remote alarm wouldn't work. After separating them, the remote alarm central locking worked fine.
:(

[Flash2]

Check all the fuses on the dash fuse box. Did you have an original VW radio? Did it switch on and off via the ignition key? VW radios can be switched on even when the key is not in the ignition, but turning the ignition on and off again should switch the radio off.
As for your alarm problem, have a look at the power connector for the radio (the ISO plug on the vehicle wiring loom). You will see a heavy brown wire, 2 heavy reds with a black stripe above the brown. You should also see two thin orange wires. The orange wires are for the vehicles CAN BUS. Make sure there are no wires from the radio connected to them. If there is disconnect them and try the remote again.

Jim.

[keano16]

Thanks Flash, I checked the fuses again and a 10amp one was blown. Changed it and then swapped over yellow and red from stereo and bob was my uncle!!!
The alarm also works fine now and what can i say but im a happy bunny (without sounding queer):beerchug:

[frankieboy]

Just tried the old VW stereo. Turned the ignition and stereo on then removed key. Unfortunately stereo stayed on.

:zx11:

There must be a fuse for this ignition feed. I checked all the fuses in the panel the other day and they looked fine. If anyone could tell me the exact fuse that'd be interesting.

Frank

[keano16]

Do you have a diagram on the fuse box lid? If so, the ones that blew while I was experimenting were the ones with book images on. Hope that helps.

[frankieboy]

That makes sense. I'll try them again. You'd have thought all these fuses would be labelled properly....

If no luck, it's in the lap of the Argos stereo fitters! I'm sure they'd be unable to solve a car specific problem like that....

Cheers

Frank

[Flash2]

Thanks Flash, I checked the fuses again and a 10amp one was blown.

Your welcome. Glad I could help.
Perhaps you could tell Frankie the location of the fuse you replaced before the Argos guys show up :)

Jim.

[keano16]

Hey Frankie,
The ones i changed were 10amp and 25amp with book images on them, Yeah they could make those icons more informative, anyhow let us know how you get on.

[Sam]

Just tried the old VW stereo. Turned the ignition and stereo on then removed key. Unfortunately stereo stayed on.

:zx11:

There must be a fuse for this ignition feed. I checked all the fuses in the panel the other day and they looked fine. If anyone could tell me the exact fuse that'd be interesting.

Frank

It's probably obvious but it sounds as though you're connected to constant live rather than switched live.

I've briefly skimmed the thread but I can't see any mention of what car this is you're trying to install a stereo into.

EDIT: Found out it's an 03 Bora - just searching for wiring diagrams now.

[frankieboy]

The argos fitter did bloody well. Wired up the bare aerial to the stereo - perfect reception. He replaced a fuse -annoyingly i wasnt there. Id love to know which one it was. No it turns off and on with ignitionm.

Unfortunately he couldnt get the connects2 sony to vw steering wheel adapter to work. I'm going to send it back. The question is, do I get replacement and try to fit it myself or just get a refund and take it to a car audio place and get them to mess around installing one? I know it's petty but I really want to keep the steering wheel controls!

Frank

[Flash2]

Hey Frankie, didn't I say you had a blown fuse :)
If I was you, I'd get someone else to wire up your steering wheel controls. I think it would save you a lot of frustration.

Regards -Jim