Ferrari Mailing List: Re: More Stereo Installation & Wiring Expertise Needed

[Todd Walke (racertod]

Robert wrote:

> I am no electrical expert and am having a real hard time with this
> but, when I turn the car off or hook up the power to the factory
> always on wire the unit works great all the way up to max volume with
> no "Protect" warning its only when the cars ignition circuit is
> activated it shows a short.

        Well, since the manual says that the Protect warning is only for 
speaker shorts I'd start by disconnecting all the speaker wires, then 
adding them one at a time.  Even though you used new wires, it's possible 
that a wire got pinched in the door jamb, or the insulation got damaged 
when threading a wire though the body or a terminal is touching the body 
and grounding.
        If you get Protect even with all the speakers disconnected, then 
I'd investigate your red and yellow power leads.  Maybe some sort of weird 
ignition interference on one of those wires is freaking out the radio.

        Do this experiment: temporarily run both red and yellow to the 
battery directly and see if you get the Protect with the car running.  If 
you don't, hook up your speaker wires.  If you still don't get the warning 
with the car running, then the problem lies in where you are hooking up the 
red and yellow power wires.

        Were it my car, my preference would be to run the yellow wire 
directly to the battery with a fuse inline.  Second choice would be to run 
that wire to the fusebox, tapping off the main wire the brings power from 
the battery, again with an inline fuse.  That way you're bypassing the 
whole fusebox.
        For the red wire, I'd prefer to tap directly into the ignition 
switch, again bypassing any fusebox circuits.  I'm not familiar with the 
GT4 wiring, but there is likely a wire from the ignition switch to the 
fusebox that is only hot when the ignition is on, my second choice would be 
to tap it there.

> If there was some kind of short wouldn't the unit give the
> same warning straight from the battery??????

        You'd think so, but sometimes even older, simple cars can do wacky 
stuff.  In an older car, you never know what butcher has worked on the 
electricals before you.


Todd
Seattle,WA
'86 GTI, Red of course. (exciting racey car) 268,000 miles
'01 Golf TDI, silver.   (new work car)       202,000 miles
'87 Golf, Polar Silver. (retired work car)   654,000 miles <- Gone to a new 
home :(
http://www.pureluckdesign.com <-Ferrari & VW stuff