Radio fuse causes engine gauges to go off?

AzTruckGuy

Original poster
Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
So over the labor weekend I did some maintenance to the Trailblazer putting new passenger fender, changing out fuel filter and an oil change. I have an HDMI cable hooked in my stereo that I never used and since I will be putting the Trailblazer up for sale in Nov, I decided to go in and remove it. Forgot to disconnect the neg cable on the battery. Removed the HDMI cable and the stereo doesn't come on and than I had the 4x4 service light come on, and some other warnings come on, checked the fuses and yup blow the stereo fuse, which was a 10v fuse and looking at the fuse box it should be a 15, when I fixed the wiring on the Trailblazer when I first got it and put in the stereo I guess it had a 10V fuse and worked fine and when I turned the vehicle off the stereo would turn off, now when I turn off the vehicle I have to turn off the stereo unit it self also. It has been like this since Monday and no the battery is not draining, but I am wondering what happened since it use to turn off before and all the wiring is fine?
 

Reprise

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Jul 22, 2015
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That is strange. Just as an 'fyi' - I blew the radio fuse once (the one in the secondary fuse box under rear seat) - and while it took me a while to figure out it was the fuse, and not the radio itself (I was installing a new one) - I did not have anything else go south, gage-wise.

I would have remembered if it had, as I drove the vehicle w/o the radio for the better part of a day, when that happened.

If I were to guess, I would say you might have a grounding issue (not 'lacking' one, but an 'extra' one). You could try disco'ing the 15A radio fuse, and seeing if the 'service 4WD', etc., goes out. After that, I'd look for a crossed wire in the harness (something hot touching a ground, etc.)

In one of my Exploders, the drivers' 'door ajar' sensor was broken when I got the vehicle. Until I got it fixed, I had a bunch of weird electrical gremlins, similar to you - so it could be something very small (or unrelated). I nearly fell over when I realized all that was fixed by replacing that sensor.

Good luck - hope you find the issue soon. :yes:
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
What adapter are you using? PAC? Metra? Sounds like a messed up adapter.
 
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AzTruckGuy

Original poster
Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
The adapter is correct the stereo was put in a year ago and has been working fine until I blow the fuse on Monday, all I did was remove the plug and play HDMI cable from the stereo and didn't mess with the wires.

Just an FYI I didn't know either that I blew the fuse in the secondary fuse box under the rear seats and that's why the gauges were acting weird. I replaced it with another 10V fuse and drove back to Phoenix 200 miles with no issues, the only side effect is the stereo wont turn it self off when I turn off the vehicle.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
The fuses are in amps, not volts :wink: (electrical guy just nitpicking here)

Whatever popped your fuse could have damaged your harness thing too.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
the only side effect is the stereo wont turn it self off when I turn off the vehicle.

Known failure of Metra/Axxess adapters. I had two do this on me.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I've still got my old Metra harness floating around that hasn't had a problem if you want it dirt cheap. I need it gone. No onstar or bose is the only thing.
 

AzTruckGuy

Original poster
Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
I've still got my old Metra harness floating around that hasn't had a problem if you want it dirt cheap. I need it gone. No onstar or bose is the only thing.

I might take you up on that offer and just leave it as is...I don't have the time to rewire and sod the harness. Will include it the sale in Oct when I put it up PM a price
 

AzTruckGuy

Original poster
Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
Honestly I am so over this SUV at this effin point. Good to know I almost got standard because the Stereo fuse owns the whole electrical on this POS Trailblazer not even Christmas and never seen so many effin dash lights let up. Some how I made it home, gotta go to work tomorrow and I bet the fuse blow out again. There will be a time soon where I will get rid of this GM POS, too much effort and money put into this type of BS
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
I'm a little confused as to which fuse you are referring?
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
So... what's going on?

Calm down, take a breath, and describe the issue.

Oh, and I'll give you three fiddy for it.
 

FearlessAZ

Member
Jun 7, 2016
156
Phoenix, AZ
If the fuse keeps blowing, there is an underlying issue. Has nothing to do with this suv being a POS. You have the greatest collection of knowledgeable people on this platform. And I have never once seen people on here turn someone down for help.

If you have an issue, describe everything and take a minute to listen what these members are telling you. Then try what they say and see if it helps. If it doesn't help, it helps to narrow down what the correct problem is.
 

AzTruckGuy

Original poster
Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
Yes I caused the issue by not removing the battery when I disconnected a HDMI cable to my stereo and when I turned it on, the fuse had blown and all the gauges went crazy and I had a dead stereo. Had to put in a new fuse, which left me with a working stereo that I had to manually turn off

Last night leaving the mall, I turn on my stereo and the gauges went all crazy and I lost power while in the D gear. Turned off the ignition and turned it back on, gauges are still all lit up and I continue to drive, they went out. Another fuse blown, but the issue I have is, if this would have happened on the freeway, I would been effed up. I was hesitant to drive to work this morning but it was fine.

Not happy that if the stereo blows a fuse, it has that much power to cripple it.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I don't see how removing a video cable should blow the fuse. I still think there is something else wrong, like the aftermarket harness or something screwing up.

Yeah, maybe radio fuse doing multiple things is a bit oddball, but I've seen worse things done.
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Depending on the model some do not like hot swapping actually... I never had an issue with it but I have heard of it. But it should kill the fuse on the unit not the in car fuse...
 

AzTruckGuy

Original poster
Member
Dec 1, 2015
501
scottsdale, az
The wiring was cleaned up, harness was wired and soldered as it should be, and I agree with you, removing a HDMI cable should have not caused an issue or blown a fuse, but it did and it also messed with the rest or the gauges and also caused a power loss the 1st time and 2nd time
 

Reprise

Lifetime VIP Donor
Supporting Donor
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Jul 22, 2015
2,724
I think it may be a self-inflicted issue based on this thread previously

https://gmtnation.com/forums/threads/radio-fuse-causes-engine-gauges-to-go-off.17585/

Good point. I reviewed that thread, and didn't see any indication of a resolution by the OP. What happened with that?

I mentioned a potential ground / short issue back then.
Alternatives, given the additional description:
- Something is miswired on your radio harness / connections (could be as simple as mixing up the constant / power-on (+) wires - yes, you have two separate power wires (more if you have the Bose))
- Your aftermarket radio has an issue (unplugging an HDMI connection 'incorrectly'; e.g.; with the radio powered on, as an example - *might* kill that input and require either a power-off or a hard reset - but it should not affect the voltage of the product. There isn't any voltage source in an HDMI, from what I know - it carries integrated video / audio signal from one device to another. Which brings up the question - what's on the other end of the HDMI, and are there *any* wires on that device connected to the *same* source as the radio (power / ground) ? A multimeter would help, here.

BTW, can you provide the make / model of your head unit?
Did you cut wires on the vehicle side of the harness? There are wiring diagrams that can be downloaded to validate which wire does what. And some wires, while present on the vehicle side, might not be used on an aftermarket install.

Another thing that can be tested - what happens when there is *no* HDMI connection (yes, your external device won't be sending audio / video - but is the radio 'stable', if the input is not connected?)

Still further...do you have a code reader, and if so, are there any listed when the dash goes haywire? For some reason, I'm thinking that these 'additional' issues you're seeing on your dash may be due to a secondary CANBus communication issue (caused by your radio issue, not the other way around). Just a thought.

<soapbox> Finally, although I'm not a mod here... starting multiple threads on what is essentially the same problem (especially if a resolution is not posted for the first one) - not only is bad 'form' - but all of us (including the OP) spend time chasing a problem down all over again, not leveraging the steps already taken. </soapbox>
 

dna59

Member
Nov 20, 2015
327
Belize
If you are using a adapter like a PAC try unplugging it and reconnect. I've seen that solve many issues stereo related. Sometimes those adapters can start acting up or even go bad.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Done
 

paul2005tb

Member
Nov 26, 2014
299
Massachusetts
Forgot to disconnect the neg cable .. and the stereo doesn't come on and ... checked the fuses and yup blow the stereo fuse, which was a 10amp fuse and looking at the fuse box it should be a 15, when I fixed the wiring on the Trailblazer when I first got it and put in the stereo I guess it had a 10amp fuse and worked fine and when I turned the vehicle off ..

Regarding the stereo fuse. It is also possible that the harness connector is not making good contact with the radio connection pins. This was the case with mine, I used a thin pick to flex the female connectors and bingo, back in power!!
 
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