Aftermarket Radio Nightmare

[Bruisbe]

Well just as it would seem, as soon as I get my car up and running great, from my suspension upgrade, I run into another issue. Maybe this is just God telling me to stop already..lol..

At anyrate, I bought a new Jensen VX7020 2 DIN radio from Crutchfield. It came with extra wiring harnesses to make everything idiot proof. Apparently it is not Curtis (Bruisbe) proof because something is off.

I plugged the Metra Harness's that they recommended for my vehicle to the factory radio harness's and then spliced them by color to the Jensen head unit. Everything matched up perfectly. Radio started and sounded great. Even the mach amps and subs worked as they were suppose to. All that would be left was to run the GPS and Sirius XM antennas to the unit, which I planned on doing this weekend.

The next morning I wake up to leave for work and the car won't start. The radio, headlights, interior lights etc. all come on but the engine won't even crank. I check the batter and it was displaying 12.2V. A little low but nothing crazy.

I ended up taking the battery to Advanced Auto Parts and they tested it. 12.2V and 449 CCA and the battery is rated for 590 CCA. It said that the battery was good and recommended charging. They offered to put it on their charger for 35 min for free so I let them. After 35 min of charging the volts shot up to 12.8, however the CCA only rose to 471 and now it was recommending for the battery to be replaced.

The battery was only 1.5 years old and still under warranty so they replaced it with a new 610 CCA battery since the 590 CCA was no longer carried. I left thinking awesome I got a new battery and it made sense as to why the older one wasn't starting the engine.

So I get back home with a fresh battery in tow, drop it in, get in the drivers seat to fire it up and..................nothing......Same symptoms as with the old battery. Wouldn't crank, however there was power to all of the lights.

Things that I have tried up to this point.
- Negative battery cable was disconnected prior to installing the new radio
- Cleaned all of the connectors and terminals
- Replaced the terminals with brand new connections.
- Checked all of the fuses and none of them are blown or appear to be bad.
- Put the factory stereo back in to see if it would work.
- disconnected all wire harnesses for the radio and pulled the radio fuse.

None of the above seemed to solve the issue.

Any advise or suggestions on what to try next.

Thanks in Advance for reading the long post.

[TTSaleen]

Is it turning over but just not firing?

[Bruisbe]

Originally Posted by TTSaleen

Is it turning over but just not firing?

Nope...turn the key and nothing happens... No clicking...no turn over...nothing...

[311-420]

Can you hear the fuel pump prime when you roll the key forward?

[01yellerCobra]

Do you have a stick or auto? It sounds like something what would happen with the clutch safety switch or neutral safety switch.

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[Bruisbe]

Its a 5-speed...where would i go about testing the neutral safety switch...

[DSG2003Mach1]

5speed reads a safety switch on the clutch (should make contact with clutch all the way down), youd have to crawl under the dash probe the output side of the switch to make sure it was sending a signal

[Mach351]

are you reading 1.21 jigawatts at the flux capacitor?

[Bruisbe]

Originally Posted by Mach351

are you reading 1.21 jigawatts at the flux capacitor?

I def made sure it was full on blinker fluid and since it is warming up I replaced the oil with coolant...so that should make a difference. I will check for the jigawatts tonight...I just hope I can get it up to 88MPH.

[Mach351]

hope you get this successfully resolved without too much trouble.

I had the fuse to the PATS module go out years ago - thinking this prevented the starter from engaging.
it was a bugger to find because this particular fuse is separate from the fuse block under the dash.

[DSG2003Mach1]

with a PATs issue the motor will turn over but it will not start (PATs kills the fuel system)

[Mach351]

thank you, sir. honestly could not remember.
do remember the pissed-off-o-meter reaching near the red zone at the time.

[311-420]

Originally Posted by Mach351

hope you get this successfully resolved without too much trouble.

I had the fuse to the PATS module go out years ago - thinking this prevented the starter from engaging.
it was a bugger to find because this particular fuse is separate from the fuse block under the dash.

Where is that fuse located, anyway?

[Bruisbe]

Ok everyone...All is resolved....

I learned something new last night when I was messing with it...Apparently there is a fuse box under the driver side dash...I thought the only one was in the engine bay.

I found the diagram for the one under the dash and the first one I looked at was the Starter Relay Fuse...Sure enough...it was fried. Little 20 Amp fuse giving me all sorts of nightmares. Threw the 20Amp one from the Cig lighter in as a temp fix and she fired right up!!!!

Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions.

[DSG2003Mach1]

i always make the mistake of assuming people know that...whoops.

glad its fixed!

[Mach351]

Originally Posted by 311-420

Where is that fuse located, anyway?

the internets said it is an add-on Ford Security System module (aka PowerCode alarm)
it is under the dash above the driver-side kick-panel ("behind" the fuse-block)
there is a set of fuses under the cover

[311-420]

Originally Posted by Mach351

the internets said it is an add-on Ford Security System module (aka PowerCode alarm)
it is under the dash above the driver-side kick-panel ("behind" the fuse-block)
there is a set of fuses under the cover

Good to know. Thank you sir.

[DSG2003Mach1]

To the best of my knowledge Power code is fords aftermarket alarm equivalent it is NOT the same as the PATS system

[TTSaleen]

Glad you found the issue!