Messed up my wiring. Stereo won't work & Blower turns on Master Power?

[GIJeff]

Hi all,

I have a 2006 Tahoe w/ a 4.3L Mercruiser. I recently messed up the wiring on my stereo and can't get it to work right.

I had my stereo working (has worked for years), but last weekend I took the boat out and I accidently disconnected some wires when I shoved some bags too far up in the compartment against the wires. I have a head unit powering 2 speakers, and an amplifier powering 2 tubbies. The wires that were disconnected (that I could see) were the blue/white from my head unit that I had going into my stock boat wiring, I think it is to a purple wire which I thought was the ignition/remote turn-on from the boat, and then also the pos & neg for one of the speaker to the head unit. I reconnected the blue/white to the purple on the boat, and I reconnected the speaker wires. Amp turns on, head unit won't. I started wondering, was the blue/white not connected to the purple previously? I didn't see any other wires that looked like they had been ripped apart, so I didn't think there could be any other connection that I was missing. I have my yellow and my red from my head unit attached to my boat wiring red (power to the battery, I believe?) and to the blue amp remote turn-on. I have all 4 connected together. I thought maybe these were loosened during this whole issue, so I disconnected them and reconnected. Same issue, amp is turning on and getting power, but head unit is not. I think I have it connected the way it was originally, but head unit still won't turn on.

Another problem that just began: When I flip on the blower, it acts as though the Master Power is turned on instead (I think this because the amp turns on but the blower does not). Master Power seems to be working properly in addition to the blower switch seemingly turning on Master Power, too.

Everything worked properly until I mistakenly disconnected the wires and then likely did not put them back together properly. Any advice, please? Thank you all very much.

 

[gm280]

Okay GIJeff. Seem you created a wiring problem by your own admission. The problem here is you have a head unit and amp unit that you (or somebody else) wired into the existing wiring setup and we have really no idea how everything was wired on your boat. I would suggest to see if you can find a schematic diagram for your hull/engine combo, or see if somebody else on here can help with the original wiring. Then look at the standard wiring for your head unit and amp setup and wire it to work as you want it to. There are others on here that probably can assist you with the original wiring and maybe even the after market head unit and amp wiring as well. However, after getting everything wired correctly again, take the time to take some intrigue pictures of how everything is then wired for future issues. Picture do help out so many times. And even at that, maybe make a little wiring schematic diagram as well to explain how everything is then wired also. Let's see if others can help you out with your boat and amp wiring... :thumb:

 

[GIJeff]

Thanks for the response. I've had quite a bit of difficulty finding anything related to Tahoes. I have all the manuals and part listings for my engine, but can't find much support from Tahoe. Is there a good source to buy Tahoe parts with diagrams that specifies every part and part number for my model, or a good website that shows all of the electrical in the boat? I've found plenty of generic diagrams and diagrams for other boats, but haven't had much success for my specific model.

I think I may just install a separate switch to power on the amp & head unit separately from using Master Power. Is this recommended? Where I just wire everything myself and do not use any factory equipment already installed on the boat?

Does anyone have any idea why my blower switch would now turn my amp on?? That is blowing my mind.. pun intended :lol:

 

[GIJeff]

Alright I'm at a loss. I'm trying to rewire my amp and head unit directly to the battery with a rocker switch and bypass my master power/boat wiring. I wired my blue/white from my head unit to the amp remote; yellow and red from head unit to the amps red via a switch, so the yellow from h/u is constantly connected to amp red for constant power and the red from h/u connects when the switch is flipped on; black from h/u is wired to the ground on the amp which is grounded in the boat.

I'm not getting any power. I think all connections are secure. My amp has 2 fuses and neither are blown. What could I be missing??

Pioneer MVH-X36BT head unit, JBL MA6004 amp.

 

[GIJeff]

Another part to the problem is now my blower doesn't function at all, and when I have my master power and my bilge pump turned on (which doesn't start), I get a constant "clicking" from the fuse box underneath the dash.

None of the fuses are blown.

 

[GIJeff]

No Title

Does anyone have any suggestions for either problem? Any idea why my amp and deck will not turn on? I'm pretty sure my wiring is correct... And what about the blower and bilge pump not coming on, while the bilge pump causes a "clicking" to come from the fuse box? I've attached a pic - the part I'm pointing at is what is clicking.

 

[Grandad]

I'm not familiar with wiring in a Tahoe, but that may not be much help anyway after others have possibly made alterations, but I'll try to help cuz I see you're not getting much response. Often when strange things start happening, such as your blower seeming to turn on your master switch, it's because of a poor ground connection. This is because seemingly separate circuits may in fact use a common negative point as a return path to the battery. If this path gets partially interrupted from corrosion, you'll get situations where devices of different resistances will develop different voltage levels based on where their supply circuits become common. This voltage difference then can cause feeble current flows between disparate devices. Sometimes small loads such as switch indicator lights will have enough current to light them, though heavy loads won't function at all.

OK. So the thing you're pointing to in the picture looks like a master relay. Unless you have something such as a timer (for the blower) or a flasher for warning lights (bilge pump operation?), let's assume it's a master relay. If you look closely, there's a green discoloration at the edge of the plastic on the relay that tells me there's something ugly happening to the adjacent terminal and there may be other terminals in need of attention. If you're lucky, you can clean up the wiring terminals and maybe solve your problem. Let's hope the corrosion doesn't extend to contacts inside the relay enclosure. I suggest you start with the obvious trouble spots and perhaps clean them one at a time and see what happens. Starting to relocate wires or rewire a number of things makes troubleshooting much more difficult because changing more than one thing at a time can produce confusing results, even for experienced troubleshooters.

If that fails to find the problem, you may have to resort to using a voltmeter to test various points, but that will require some electrical knowledge and perhaps a rudimentary diagram of the circuitry to know what to expect. If you strike out with cleaning those connections perhaps you can come back with a close-up picture of the info printed on the relay.
- Grandad

 

[gm280]

Grandad, It gets really hard to explain to folks that have no real understand about electronics and such and even more difficult when you have zero knowledge how their boat is initially wired. I applaud you for trying. I wish I could honestly help him but without a lot more knowledge of how it is presently wired, where to start. I guess I could talk him through to get his radio working, but I'm not sure about everything else...

 

[GIJeff]

Thank you both for the response. Please tell me what pictures/info I can provide to help you all help me!

Grandad, are you referring to the discoloration on the fiberglass around the master relay, or something on the master relay itself? I will pull the master relay off, clean it up, clean up the connections, and post the results. I'll also check for any discoloration elsewhere around there.

 

[GIJeff]

Problem solved - I began tracing wires at the fuse box and found a loose ground wire that was impacting both the stereo system and other electrical components. Bilge, blower, and stereo all work again.

Thank you all for helping me troubleshoot this!

 

[gm280]

Problem solved - I began tracing wires at the fuse box and found a loose ground wire that was impacting both the stereo system and other electrical components. Bilge, blower, and stereo all work again.

Thank you all for helping me troubleshoot this!

GIJeff, I'm glad to hear you found the problem. Amazing how many times the "ground" turns out to be the real culprit so many times. Too many forget that for any circuit to work, you have to have the positive voltage present, but also a good ground. If I were you now, I take a camera, smartphone or whatever, and snap a lot of pictures as to how your boat is wires for future problems. Pictures never hurt... :thumb:

 

[NicoPags]

GM that's good advice with the pictures a quick Microsoft paint diagram too with labels never hurts

 

[theBrownskull]

I just read your posts and I know how it feels. It never fails that it is something simple that causes so many problems. Glad you figured it out.

 

[Bonus Check]

To the OP, What model of 2006 Tahoe do you have? I have found that my BPS dealer can provide just about anything I need for my 22006 Q6. That will not last long as generally when boat get about 10 years old, its harder to find the parts. A lot of my parts cross with the newer Q7 and Q8s. I installed a seperate battery just to power my radio and amplifier. I took the radio off of the master switch.