Radio won't turn on.
 

Ok so I foolishly cut a wire to my antenna so I could get it to go down. Whoever setup the stereo in this car before i got it had it set to be extended anytime the car was on.

The wire was at the back in the left hand side of the trunk where the antenna base is, it was black with grey dashes going down it.

It worked to lower the antenna, but now after hooking it back up, I cannot get the radio back on. The fuse in the back of the head unit is fine, and the other radio fuse is fine. I replaced them anyways to be sure.

What did I mess up? Anywhere else I can look? Thanks.

radio must have a 2 +12v make sure its all there. One with key 12v and one is memory always there.

Also, since the 240 have no ground, make sure the radio is back in its place and bolt the bracket or connect a jumper ground and see.

Yes the radio was working perfectly, i just reached in the back of the car and cut that wire, I assume it was a ground, and it all turned off.

Went back and reconnected where I cut, and it doesnt work.

I just took the headunit out again and ensured all wires were connected, antenna wire plugged in, and fuse in good condition. The screw holding the head unit it was loose and had a ground wire going to it for something so i made sure it was also tight.

No go as of yet! Will keep trying

On my s14 there are three fuses that turn the radio on:
-switched 12v (in car)
-constant 12v (under hood)
-fuse on head unit

Check the one under your hood.

I did, my under hood fuse box had 2 audio listings on the map, but only equipped for one. All fuses are accounted for.

The thing thats strange is that all i did was cut that one wire and then rewire it, any chance i broke the head unit? Im not an audio guy, maybe it actually broke the head unit when i cut it

Possibly. I would reconnect the wire to see if the radio turns on so you can rule it out as the issue.

Yes that is the whole issue. I cut the wire, and when I reconnected it the radio wont turn on. I didn't think it would cause any issues cause it was just to the antenna.

Try grounding the radio directly.

I was having this issue with an aftermarket unit on my S14.

The aftermarket harness didnt come with a ground wire (like previously mentioned, the radio's grounded through the antenna plug)

So for aftermarket radios, you need the antenna adapter and then run a ground wire directly from the radio's harness.

Hope that helps, Good luck!

It sounds like a good idea. But aren't these radios grounded through the metal bracket that the radio mounts in? So are you saying just find the extra ground from the head unit and ground it on it's own?
edit: yeah makes sense now, gonna break out the multimeter and find a new ground

I had to do the same thing when I was troubleshooting my power antenna. Come to find out, the previous owner sucks and put in a switch under the dash that he never told me about.

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So I took it all out today, tried grounding the radio every which way and it wouldnt come on.

However I did find where the previous owner cut the stock antenna wire and moved it to the motorola style plug, instead of using an adapter, he spliced together that realllllly thin antenna wire into the new plug end.

I wonder if this hack job was the reason...

No, your hack job was the reason.

Bet your cluster lights don't work...

They work, nice attitude there bud. Super helpful.

Does your antenna plug into the back of your head unit im not familiar with s14s but remove the antenna from the back of the unit see if it turns on while the antenna is unplugged

Will try this next! Thanks

Just fixed it, I know it's been a while.

I was only checking the 12v, Audio, Room fuses... It ended up being the fuse titled "ELECTRON BATT" in the kick panel.

Next time you have an issue with something on the interior elec related, check that fuse panel. I've had it solve a couple of different problems that don't seem related to it.