cd player problem. need answers please

[ninety3lude]

i put in new speakers and i had them hooked up for about 5 hours and they started to pop and crap. i had my cd player on low gain so i was thinkin there was no way i blew them. that problem just magically stopped and they worked fine the rest of the night.

i went out of town for the weekend and when i came back my cd player wouldnt do anything. it will show the time if you hit display and it will load and unload discs but then it just shuts off. doesnt read cd's and no radio. i checked all my fuses and all my wiring behind the cd player is still connected good and everything. i took it to a store and they hooked the cd player up and it worked fine. audio guy said he doesnt know what to tell me, that the only way he can think of is to bypass my harness and run wires directly to my fusebox.

so im pretty sure its a problem somewhere before where the wires are connected/spliced together. im going to test all of them after school tomorrow.

but please. if i have to take this to someone it is gonna cost me so much to trace wires to find the problem. any input would be appreciated.

also keep in mind i had that fire under my drivers side dash. but as far as i can tell, the cd/radio harness doesnt have much to do with that.

[twokexlv6coupe]

wtf, you had a fire in your car?!?!?! when did that go down, that prolly has a huge roll in your electrical problems.

[mcimo]

Yeah when the heck did that happen!?

[91Si4WS]

mmm... Fire = melted wires... melted wires = fireworks... fireworks = another fire under your dash, get that chit checked out yo!

[ninety3lude]

i have, i had a thread on it. http://www.preludezone.com/showthread.php?t=7018&highlight=car+fire

its really hard to tell, but the fire was pretty small and i dont think it had enough time to melt through the plastic wire coverings.

ill recheck all the wires again but again, the radio harness is on its own, not even close to where the wires were exposed to the fire. but there is still a possibility of a reaction kind of problem so its not out of the question

[yogi_pahl]

did u have the proplem b/4 u put in the new speakers

[ninety3lude]

no. it happened like a few hours after i put the new speakers in. they worked great though when it did still work. i didnt think changin speakers would really affect my cd player though.

[yogi_pahl]

maybe a crossed wire un hook all the speaker and just hook them up one by one and see sounds like it might be a short

[91Si4WS]

i would check those speaker wires and make sure they're not touching each other because that could screw up the built in amps inside the cd player

[ninety3lude]

i will try that. sure would be nice if that was the prob. that could be possible cuz i havent shrink wrapped over my connections yet

[mbeauc1]

does anyone know if there is a company that makes a cd player with orange display

[ninety3lude]

infinity cd players out of mitsu's do.

i separated the speaker connections now so they arent touching each other. but the cd player is still not working. i have a multimeter so i am gonna rip apart my whole radio harness tomorrow and make sure all the wires are getting current through them.

is there a fuse or control unit of some kind for the radio that i should check.

[PreludeBoy95']

yeah man agreed...the last thing we want is another fire...check it and let us know if u found any abnormalities

[ninety3lude]

well i think maybe im retarded... not really sure how to test the wires because the multimeter uses 2 probes that you use to tell if it makes a complete circuit. so i dont know how to just test if there is power going to the individual wires.

[91Si4WS]

if you just want to check if they're getting power then use a test light, you can do it with a multimeter but it's more work, much easier to use a test light

[Mdtdnb]

Set your meter to the 12V or 20V setting and hold the black probe to ground and probe the wires that are supposed to be hot.

aftermarket harness power wires:
Yellow - constant, should be hot all the time. if not, check the 15 amp fuse under the hood labeled RADIO or DOME.

Red - ignition, should only be hot when the key is in the accessory position or the on position. if not, check the 10 amp fuse under the dash labeled RADIO.

Black - ground. you can check this with the meter using the OHM setting (symbol is the omega sign on the meter). just set it to audible (looks like little sound waves next to the omega symbol) and hold either probe to the ground wire and the other to either the edge of the cig lighter or the metal around the ignition or some place that you KNOW FOR A FACT is a good ground. when it beeps, your ground wire is good.

check the fuse behind the radio too.

if your speakers are grounding to each other, the radio would still turn on as they are not part of the power supply circuit.

I think you have a bad ground. strange problems with car audio are a bad ground 99 percent of the time.

Finally, DO NOT run new wires to the fuse panel. it is a pain and is very difficult to get a good connection and is not a very reliable source. Run new, FUSED wires to the ignition harness under the dash for the easiest, best place for a new power source. I can give you detailed instructions on that if the stuff above doesnt fix it.

[ninety3lude]

Mdtdnb you are the effin man. thanks for all that info.

ok so i just checked between my aftermarket cd player harness where all the connections are spliced together and everything is good there. i checked the 15 fuse on the back of my actual cd player and that is good. i checked all my 15 and 10 fuses under the hood and they are all good.

the display will come on and it will eject and load discs. it just acts like the car is off. so i think my problem is with the red wire. i didnt know of the 10 amp RADIO fuse so i will locate that and check it. im hopin that is it.

my other plan is, if that doesnt work then i am just going to disconnect my ground wire straight from the harness and ground it to where my ebrake would be (since im in the process of the 94-96 console conv.) i checked all my engine grounds. my battery one is a little funky but i got that fixed.

also i disconnected my rear speakers for now.

[Mdtdnb]

if your radio turns on but you have no sound.....here is the solution:

#1. your power supply is fine, all fuses good, you do not need to worry about the yellow, red, black, blue, or orange wires.

#2. there are one of two problems. one is easily fixable, the other will require you to replace the unit.

#3. one of your speakers is grounded out somewhere. you need to set your volt meter to audible again (ohms with sound waves next to them). you can test to make sure it is setup right by touching the red and black probes to each other and the meter should beep. for this you are simply testing for continuity.

#4.go ahead and have the black probe stick to a good ground somewhere. you can just strip back the radio's ground wire and wedge the probe between the wire fibers so it will stay so you don't have to keep messing with it.

#5. take the red lead and probe EACH wire of each speaker in any order.
on the aftermarket harness (solid color is positive, black stripes are negative):
-whites are front driver's side speakers
-grays are front pasenger side speakers
-greens are rear driver's side speakers
-purples are rear passenger's side speakers

If ANY of them beep, that wire is touching ground somewhere, usually at the speaker itself, and it is causing the radio to go into protection mode and the amp is cutting off.

also, if any wires beep, you can cut it right there at the radio, turn the car off for a few seconds, restart it and you should have sound.

If it still doesnt work, worst case scenario, the radio's amp is fried.

this is also a good oportunity to check the resistance of each speaker. with the radio disconnected from the harness, probe the speaker wires (pos and neg of each one together) on the speaker side of the harness and each one should read 4 ohms. anything that is off by more than +/- 3-5 ohms is a bad speaker.

[nevrdun]

^ Bingo! A lot of times any newer CD players have a protect mode built in as to not damage the unit as a result of a blown or shorted speaker. But check your ground as well. Measure the actual ohms of the good chassis ground to your black wire. Using the continuity test is not always a sure fire sign of good ground. It should read anywhere from 0-15 ohms is fine. Hope this and Mdtdnb helped. Let us know what you find

[ninety3lude]

i took my cd player out and went down to a car audio shop and they hooked it up and my cd player worked great.

my stock speaker brackets wouldnt work with my speakers, and the bracket that i made to make them be able to fit is metal. also they are touching my torsion bars. none of the actual speaker connections are touching though, and they are unplugged right now anyways so i would think it would work.

im not sure if you understood what i meant. my cd player wont really turn on, it just shows the time if you push a button and ejects and loads discs, no fm tuner, no cd, and you cant change any settings. sound like the protect mode you are talkin about

[Mdtdnb]

did you meter out both the yellow and red power wires? should be 12V for the yellow all the time, red should be 12V when the ignition is on. It looks like you may be right and have only constant power. does the clock keep the right time or does it reset everytime you turn the car on/off?

[ninety3lude]

well its hard to say. i have the cd player unplugged and i only was pluggin it back in to test to see if it was workin so i cant really confirm if its keeping track of time or not. i think so though.

and when i checked my wires, i only checked to see if all the splices(solderless connections) were good to rule out that problem. i havent checked for actual power running to the wires. i have school all day lol and then work. but its spring break for us so i will for sure work on this on the weekend.

[yogi_pahl]

when the clock cam on and ejected the cd was the key in the on or off position i think it would be the red one b/c when i hooked up a few cd players and i hooked up the yellow first it would ejected even if no cd was in it and flash on if the red wasnt on it would do nothing else so i would check that one as soon as u can

[ninety3lude]

it works the same whether the car is running, or off with the key out and the door open. the actual cd player isnt malfunctioning, it will load discs too.

also if the car is running or off completely, as soon as i plug in the cd player the display will come on and say "see you" and then shut off, then it turns off.

i think you're right. it sounds like a red wire prob because you pretty much described exactly what it is doing

[Mdtdnb]

^^^^bingo. since you have access to a multimeter, it would be best for you to test those wires too to be safe. the red wire's fuse is under the dash. 10 AMP labeled RADIO.

[ninety3lude]

just to save me some time, the RADIO fuse is where under the dash.

[Mdtdnb]

it may not be labeled RADIO, it may say something like AUDIO or possibly even DOME (if your dome light or cig lighter doesn't work either, they may be on the same circuit). It is in the fuse panel inside under the driver's side dash. it should be a red 10 amp fuse. I'm not 100% what the label is on the 4th gen but I know for a fact the igniton fuse for the radio is inside the car.

[nevrdun]

^ dome would be for not constant power ;)
Use your meter and test the red wire at the radio for 12v with the ignition on. Im guessing no. Also, how did you make your connections? Butt connectors? strip, twist, tape?

[Mdtdnb]

yea i know dome is for constant but since we don't really know which ones have been checked, I thought i would throw that one out there.

[ninety3lude]

well i checked every single 10 fuse anywhere near my fuse panel under the dash. they are all good. but there is nothing that says RADIO, AUDIO, or DOME anywhere on the diagram of fuses. ACC is about the closest thing. and that one is fine. the only other 10 fuses are for like rear defrost and sunroof, and a few others.

so where is this RADIO/AUDIO/DOME fuse?

[ninety3lude]

also, i havent tested any more wires yet. i plan to do that tomorrow cuz it is supposed to be like 60. YAY!!!

[ninety3lude]

well i checked every single 10 fuse anywhere near my fuse panel under the dash. they are all good. but there is nothing that says RADIO, AUDIO, or DOME anywhere on the diagram of fuses. ACC is about the closest thing. and that one is fine. the only other 10 fuses are for like rear defrost and sunroof, and a few others.

so where is this RADIO/AUDIO/DOME fuse?

[ninety3lude]

alright. will someone please tell me where this 10 amp RADIO fuse is. I cant find it anywhere

this is my fuse panel diagram just to show im not a retard. lol
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/ninety3lude/030908_161100.jpg

[yogi_pahl]

idk man but if u checked all the 10A i say its not a fuse check and see if all the fuses are the right size for the spot then id check the the red wire on the back of the radio

[ninety3lude]

yeah im pretty sure all my fuses are good. i checked the wires and i have current goin to the yellow(constant) but no power to the red(in the on or acc. position in ignition). so. my next move is to run a test wire straight from under my dask kinda behind the fuse panel, where i was testing the other end(of the red/green), to the red/green wire directly in my radio harness plug and see if it solves the problem.

also, could someone tell me where i can find out what all the color combinations of wires mean. ex: green/red, blue/white, etc

we have for sure established it is a problem with the red wire. i have a good constant and a good ground.

[Mdtdnb]

alright. will someone please tell me where this 10 amp RADIO fuse is. I cant find it anywhere

this is my fuse panel diagram just to show im not a retard. lol
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg15/ninety3lude/030908_161100.jpg

this is the fuse panel under your hood. It has your radio's constant power; it is 15 amp ECU fuse. the ignition fuse (USUALLY a red 10 amp. possibly a 15 or 20) is under your dash board on the driver's side.


I was looking for a pic of the 4th gen inside fuse panel but couldn't find one. here is a 92-95 CIVIC inside fuse guide. this is NOT accurate to your car, just a reference to give you an idea of what you should be looking for.

http://spoon.org/civic/pics/Interior-Fuse-Panel.jpg


Prelude 1992 through 1995



Typical Honda/Acura
Right Rear Spkr (+) Red/Yellow MATCH TO: Purple
Left Rear Spkr (+) Blue/Yellow MATCH TO:Green
Power Antenna Trigger Brown/White MATCH TO: blue or blue/white
+12 Volt Ignition Wire Yellow/Red MATCH TO: Red
Right Rear Spkr (-) Brown/White MATCH TO: Purple/Black
Left Rear Spkr (-) Gray/White MATCH TO: Green/Black
Ground Wire Black MATCH TO: Black
+12 Volt Battery Wire White/Yellow (or Blue stripe) MATCH TO: Yellow
Left Front Spkr (+) Blue/Green MATCH TO: White
Right Front Spkr (+) Red/Green MATCH TO: Gray
Left Front Spkr (-) Gray/Black MATCH TO: White/Black
Right Front Spkr (-) Brown/Black MATCH TO: Gray/Black

[yogi_pahl]

just a thought if u just want to have tunes till u fix it u can hook the red to the yellow but u have to turn ur radio off or take off the face plate or it will kill ur battery

[ninety3lude]

i swear on my life that pic i took it of the fuse panel under my dash, not under my hood. i will try the ecu fuse though.

and i will prolly end up wiring it to the constant temporarily.

[Mdtdnb]

If that is the inside fuse panel (remember I have a 5th gen so I'm not AS familiar with 92-96's) then Honda did something backwards. Every one I've worked on, which is a lot, has the switch inside. I guess you just need to meter out the factory yellow/red behind the radio. I was trying to download the manual but the link is crapped out.

[ninety3lude]

alright. red/yellow is my problem then?

i planned to just unplug that completely and just get a new wire and run it straight from my solid red wire(on the cd player harness) to the 10 amp acc fuse. good idea?

[Mdtdnb]

Any updates? I gotta friend who is gonna let me take a look at his 4th gen so i have a better idea of what you're dealing with.

[ninety3lude]

o ya. sorry for not updating.

i cut my red wire straight from the connector in my cd harness and taped over one end and connected another wire directly to that and ran it to my 10 amp acc fuse, lol right now there is just a wire running under my floormat but i plan to redo it better later. everything works just how its supposed to.

the only thing is. im not sure if my cd player is protected by the fuse. i have the wire just touching one end of the fuse and i was thinkin that it would have to be in there a certain way to make sure it was protected.

[yogi_pahl]

u can get a in line fuse i would look in to what that ACC fuse runs tho and try to figure y the red didnt work.
hear are the 2 most common

http://www.rd.com/images/tfhimport/2003/20030701_Fast_Auto_Fixes_page003img003_size2.jpg

[ninety3lude]

thanks, ya my plan was to get an in line fuse like that.