RioCar Keeps blowing my running lights fuse

I have a RioCar Mk2a (I'm pretty sure its a Mk2a) in a Honda CRX. It has been working fine for a number of months. Then one day I noticed that the fuse for my running lights blew out. Its a 10 amp fuse. So I bought some more and put in another one. Everything seemed fine when I turned the lights back on. Then I go down the road for a minute and look at the lights. Fuse is blown again. I can't figure out what the hell is going on. I thought maybe the RioCar was putting the draw a bit over 10a so I put a 15a in to see what would happen. The 15a fuse blew just the same. When I pull the RioCar out, the fuse never blows.

Does anyone have any idea whats going on with my RioCar?

Silly question, but have you wired the amp into this power line as well?

pca

Nope.. If I did that, the amp wouldn't turn on unless my lights were on. I'm using the power antenna lead from the RioCar to trigger the amp to turn on.

Greetings!

Um, that sounds strange. There is an amp signal line as part of the connector. While you could use the power antenna line for the amp trigger, I would think this wouldn't work unless you had the tuner as your source.

Now, as to this suddenly happening, you might want to double check your wiring. Something is shorting, assuming that no wiring has changed or been modified recently. Check for any connections having pulled from the harness, or a splice grounding somewhere it shouldn't.

Also, how do you have your headlight sense line set up? Where are your connections leading?

You should be using the amp remote lead to turn on the amps, not the power antenna lead. The power anteanna lead is only found on the tuner extension cable and is only "hot" when the radio is on.

(So I assume that you're actually using the amp remote and just didn't know what it was called.)

The only time I've ever seen the lighting fuse get blown in a car is when the stereo wiring was hooked up wrong. When I saw it happen, it was because a ground wire was plugged into the car harness' headlight-sense wire.

I'm guessing you went by "Color" when wiring your car up, and hooked the orange wire from the sled to the orange wire on the car harness. That's the problem I'll bet, or at least something like it.

Usually aftermarket harnesses use Orange to indicate the headlight-sense wire. But the Rio Car Sled uses orange to indicate the igntion-switched wire (I think it should have been red instead).

So triple check your wiring, and don't rely on the colors. Look at the labeling and make sure you know for certain what each wire does.

I just went out to my car and checked what lines went to what with my meter.

This is using the colors on the RioCar's plug:

White -> Running Lights (Only +12v when I turn my running lights on, not the headlights)
Yellow -> Constant +12v
Blue -> Goes to amp turn-on trigger
Orange -> Ignition +12v (Only on when the key is on)
Green -> No connection
Black -> Ground

Does this look correct? I don't have my docs anywhere here that has the wiring diagram.

Yes, that looks correct for everything except the white wire.

There should be a specific wire in your car that goes on when the dash lights get turned on. This is the headlight sense wire. If the wire you've connected is behaving as you're describing it (only goes +12 when the running lights are on, but does not go +12 when the headlights are on), then it's the wrong wire and you need to find the correct wire. That's why it's blowing your running light fuse.

Sorry if I confused you..

The white wire goes +12v when the running lights are on, and stay on when the leadlights are on as well. Its the same line as the running lights so any time the running lights are on, this white wire is +12v. This is the line thats blowing the fuse, and thus I don't have any running lights.

Yeah, it shouldn't do that. Was this wire on the wiring harness that normally goes to the car radio? Or did you splice it from somewhere else?

Its coming from the stock wiring harness in the Honda connector thats right there where the stereo goes.

Is there a chance that the wiring on the back of the docking sled has this problem?

By ``running lights'', do you mean your dashboard lights? I mean, I can't imagine why running lights would be in that connector, nor do I quite understand how you can see that your running lights are off from within the car.

By ``running lights'', do you mean your dashboard lights? I mean, I can't imagine why running lights would be in that connector,

I think he just means that when he turn on his running lights (called parking lights in the US) or when he turns on his headlights, then the following things happen:

- The dashboard lights also come on.
- The wire we're talking about goes +12v.

This all sounds kosher except the fuse blowing.

Again, sorry for any confusion.

All my interior lights, dash lights, and parking/running lights (side markers, tail lights, etc) are all on the same 10 amp fuse.

Adding to what pgrzelak said, have you tested the empeg on the seat (with running lights on) in case you have a trapped wire somewhere in the dash where the physical presence of the empeg is causing the wire to short out?

Yes, as I mentioned in my first post, if I pull the RioCar out the fuse never blows. I drive around all over the place and its fine. Put it back in, and within a few minutes, the fuse is blown.

I'm going to check a few things to see if I can't narrow it down a bit.

Thanks for all the posts guys.

I think he meant: Did you remove the sled from the dash, and have the Rio Car running and working in the sled that's sitting on the passenger seat with the wires running into your dash. This is to help rule out a wire crimped against a piece of metal behind the sled when it's installed.

Ah, I think I mis-understood what you meant by pull the RioCar out. I took that to mean "you remove the player from the sled (leaving the sled in-dash)" but what I now think you mean is you remove the player and sled from the dash?

Edit: Yes, exactly what Tony said (above) while I was typing

Nah I mean't that I pull the deck from the sled that is still mounted in the car.

Ok, understood.

I still stand by my previous suggestion: You should test the empeg in the sled on the seat (out of the dash basically) to help rule out a wire crimped against a piece of metal behind the sled when it's installed. (c)TFabris

That's very odd - if the player itself was sinking 15 amps - even for a short time - you would expect to really know about it! Complete with lightshow probably

It really sounds like a wiring fault. It's not out of the question that it's a problem with the internal harness, although the external harness is more likely (but hard to explain in your specific case).

Rob

Yeah it maybe not have anything to do with the empeg at all I seem to remember my friends CRX showing the same symptoms and he traced it back to a short somewhere cause my water I do believe I could be wrong though

My brother's 1985 CRX kept doing this. The Honda dealer's solution was to put a 20A fuse in and conclude that "it seems to hold".

Very worrying having a missing 10A somewhere in a car. Ouch. Fire risk, if you ask me...

Hugo