Today i thought id install a nice cd player in the tp wagon... after a few hours of buggering around eventually got it done... Now i have just gone to turn on the headlights... No parkers or tail lights! Brake lights/headlights work.

The 15 fuse under the bonnet is blowing. Upped it to a 20, still blew, then went for a 30 for the heck of it and they worked again but the fuse box started smoking and i stopped it just before it melted permantently in place!

Any ideas what has happened? Id imagine it must have something to do with an earth and something ive done to the stereo fitting thats caused it... unless coincidence?

Or could it be... something thats just conincidental!!???

Alex.

Today i thought id install a nice cd player in the tp wagon... after a few hours of buggering around eventually got it done... Now i have just gone to turn on the headlights... No parkers or tail lights!

The 15 fuse under the bonnet is blowing. Upped it to a 20, still blew, then went for a 30 for the heck of it and they worked again but the fuse box started smoking and i stopped it just before it melted permantently in place!

Any ideas what has happened? Id imagine it must have something to do with an earth and something ive done to the stereo fitting thats caused it... unless coincidence?

Or could it be... something thats just conincidental!!???

Alex.

Dude dont ever put bigger fuses in...if they blow there is a problem, putting a bigger one in as you can see is just making it worse, lucky you didnt fry all the wiring!

Im not really that great with electronics but just double check all your wiring.
i.e. your earth's and make sure you've got power from the right place too, blowing a fuse usually means its shorting somewhere

Correct me if I am wrong but the instrument lights are on the same circuit as the tail and parkers.

I would say that in the process of connecting you have accidently either let a wire bare or you have earthed it.

No offense, given that you have tried to use bigger fuses would indicate that you should not be playing with wires :)

I had a wiring diagrame for the tp already set out

this is the wiring and junction box closest to the radio


http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?p=832785#poststop

have to check if the TP had two power wires one as a constant and one for accessories

did you retain the factory wires and connector

Well the drama with it all was that it didnthave a factory radio in it, had some 80's looking toyota cassette... wires going everywhere... very messy.

It seems as though they do have two power wires too. (constant and access)

i know i shouldntve put the bigger fuse in but!! frustration got the better of me and i thought what the heck... stupid i know. it actually had a 20 in it when it should be a 15. Thats what helped the decision.

Anyway, it appears that after pulling it all apart again, that the wires going into a light in the ashtray were to blame!!

So i tidied that up ok but a lot of the wire is burnt (due to the 30a fuse,tuff tr... it burnt it all as you pointed out!)

Now, ive followed as much as i can without removing the seat/carpet at this stage, looked up under dash and can see its melted up there too.

Any idea where that wires ends up? i cant see it near the fust box so it must go into a joint somewhere so to speak? If i was to cut it off right near the end at each end and simply run it straight from under the dash or near fusebox (wherever it ends) and along under the dash and it the back of the console/stereo area and join it again bypassing alot of it, would that be ok? Id imagine it would but just thought id check if anyone had any ideas.

I gotta go get some sleep now and go to uni in the morn then come back and have another fiddle!

Thanks for your thoughts :P

Listen worse comes to worse you can tap ACC from somewhere else, and constant direct from the battery with a fuse.

a lesson learned :redface:

grab another loom from a parts car in the yard
if the main loom to the fuse box is fried
a lot of important wires may have lost the insulation

cutting and joining wires in a bunched loom of 20 + wires is just time consuming
each join should be soldered and heat shrinked

you remove the console and the dash and instrument panel to get to the loom and feed

the replacement loom through to the engine bay without cutting anything

you use a small bladed screwdrivers to push out the wires in the connectors
and dont forget which colour goes where

take pictures if memory failes

do you have a TP factory repair manual

Fail to understand why you would even think about taking pins out of plugs when they simply unplug.

The loom does not go into the engine bay, it goes through the fire wall under the front right guard, it then enters the engine bay forward of the front wheel.

If the dash loom is fried, you do not even neet to touch the bay loom, simply take out the dash (about hour and a half tops) and unclup the loom, it goes across the intrusion bar under the dash. The rear loom and the bay loom will detatch.

THis will be quicker and safer than patching what you currently have there.