please save your idiot comments, i already know im dumb. but... i attempted to install a car stereo in my 87 cougar LS and i apparently shorted out half the car. i forgot to connect the grounding wire. as far as i know, the digital speedometer dosent display anything, the interior lights do not work, the vanity lights dont work, the door locks dont work....as far as i know thats it. about the speedometer, the green backlight goes on, but the entire screen wont display anything at all. i checked all the fuses and as far as i could see none of them are out. im dreading going to see what this is. does anybody know what might have happened? thanks.
I did the same thing and I've been g with car stereos for a good 5 years. It's no big deal. Same symptoms in my '84 Thunderbird and it was a fuse... not sure which one but it was a 20A one.
Assorted circuits run by different fuses and circuit breakers... all fed by probably a blown "black" fusible link (under the hood by the battery) that feeds fuse#16, CB#12 (door locks), fuse#8 (dome light, instruments, door switches), fuse#4 (parking lights, dash lights), and the headlight switch.
does that mean i have to replace a wire?
means u have to replace a fuse.
If you look into your glove box, there should be a chart of some sort stuck on, and it will tell you what fuse u need for the specific thing, check that.
If the fuses are all okay, then you may need to replace a "fusible link", which is not an actual fuse, but a specially calibrated wire that's spliced into the wiring loom to protect against massive short circuits.
Forgot to connect the radio ground, or forgot to DIS-connect the big ground (-) cable from the battery?
..If it was bad....you would have smelled burning wire insulation or heard popping sounds. Sounds minor--like a fuse somewhere. Should start by checking fuse panel.
JR
i had originally checked all of the fuses in the entire fusebox and they all appeared fine to the naked eye, and then after tbirds post i went back and by trial and error took out and replaced the 20A fuses. nothing happened. i guess its the fusible link, because there was no smoke, burning smell, or popping. so what exactly is involved with replacing the fusible link?
p.s., thanks for everybodys help on this, i dont know about cars electrical systems
oh yea, and i forgot to connect the ground wire coming out of the stereo, not from the battery.