I tried to install a new car stereo today. Like the idiot i am, I ignored everything I read about disconnecting the battery negative before I started. I assumed that removing the fuses for the radio would be fine. Anyway. I got the radio, and it was working fine for about 5 minutes. Then one of my dome lights flickered, and the radio started turning off and on again. I decided to try turning on the engine at this point to see if it just wasnt getting enough power. By the time i had gotten to the drivers side, everything was dead. The car wouldnt start, the lights dont come on. Everything is just dead. It got dark on me, so I've yet to remove the stereo, or check the inside fuse box. I'm hoping that its just a fuse, but with everything being out, and the main fuse in the motor-area fuse box intact, im losing hope that thats all thats wrong. I was thinking fusable link, or a solenoid. How did I manage to mess it up that bad? And how do I fix it? Thanks
It's impossible to tell what else might be connected to the same fuse without knowing the make an model. It's unusual for a radio to pull enough juice to damage any sensitive electrical components. Did you use factory connectors, or did you just guess and check splicing things together? Get a test light (alligator clip onto a ground and a probe that lights up the handle when you touch a hot wire). Poke every fuse on both sides inside the fuse box. Be careful. Don't panic, rarely are manufacturers dumb enough to connect truely important or fragile sensors to the same circuit (fuse) as the radio, knowing that many repairs and replacements will be done incorrectly. Whatever has been done can be undone, it's just at matter of whether you can undo it or someone more knowledgeable. Good luck.
it's possible that you're stereo drew power for the five minutes and so have a flat battery. Charge it up again, try it out with the engine on, use a multimeter to test the voltage going through the battery and make sure it is 13V or higher, which means that it is charging, it's a pretty standard thing to do when adding electrical systems to your car, you have to make sure that the alternator can charge the battery enough to still charge it while it is running the stuff in your car. it's also possible that you have a loose connection sumwhere did you just twist and tape the wires? if so, the connection could have become broken to the stereo? but even then it would still probably just be a case of a flat battery.
try jumpstarting your car
It would help if you told us the year make and model of car.
Sounds like it could be a fuel pump problem, what car is it? Escort, yes it will be the fuel pump i think it is close to the tank on your car so it has to pump the fuel a little distance, when your tank is over half it is ok because gravity is helping to feed the fuel through, but when it starts to get empty there is less to help feed it and the weak fuel pump starts to struggle. I had the same problem with a Mitsubishi colt Gti.
