wiring short - truck won't start

Is it possible you didn’t ground your new head unit ?

 

Copy that. thanks!!

 

I don’t throw darts, I am a fucking wizard with electrical. Battery should be checked, not denying that. What you are failing to pick up is the OP said it was running, THEN the stereo was installed and it won’t run now. THAT system needs to be fully run through FIRST. Which involves checking the fuses and tracing wires which lead to other components, which in turn lead to others.

This is different than a vehicle driving and then quits.

Aftermarket is always the first thing to rule out. 99% of issues on vehicles with aftermarket electrical parts are related to 3 things, install, bad part, or improper load.

The cop cars have these issues due to all the damn equipment. Majority of this issues come from crap install work and overloading one system.

Just sayin, if I got my hands on it it would be fixed in about 2 hrs...

Have a good one, I know my expertise are not needed here.

Sorry OP.

 

Yes, regrettably it is.
The instructions on the Stereo said to ground the black wire to the chassis.
The Metra wiring harness has a black wire too though, which is what I connected the other black wire to.
That wire connects to the brown wire on the truck, which from what I can tell, runs to ground.
But, I’m not sure WTH is going on w this now.

Previous owner did have a stereo with an amp/ subwoofer in it from what I can tell. It had wires run through the firewall, and butt splices in the tail light wire. So I’m not sure if it’s an old or new issue.

 

Thanks. God bless Texas!
Your expertise is definitely needed!
Cheers

 

You should be able to confirm or rule out any of the light circuits as a cause by pulling the fuse for each light and trying to start the vehicle. Either there will be no change after checking them all, or it will start with one of them pulled. Same thing with stereo fuses.

 

Good deal, thanks! Will do tomorrow

 

Sorry but my reply is up with the quote .

 

One example I had one of our drivers call in saying he had a dead battery after delivering a few hours . Went out replaced battery . Still no start . Checked voltage of replacement battery . 13.2 volts . Checked voltage at terminal 0 volts. Cleaned terminal started up .
Thats the reason trying to confirm baterry is good .

 

I'm still leaning towards this as at least one of the issues. I also think the starter needs checked once the battery is confirmed to be good. I'm finding it hard to swallow there's a short in an ancillary circuit that isn't popping fuses, but still nukes the truck.

 

Interesting read thus far. Something clearly draining the battery which caused it to die. You recharged it but something still drawing on it, I bet, and dropping the voltage. When it gets at or near 13, it won't start. Would be of note to find the draw and see what voltage does on the truck for a few hours. Also how old is the battery? How much power is the head unit and speakers drawing? Is more than the prior one?

Clicking is good sign for the starter. That should mean the starter is engaging at least, correct? Just can't turn over.

 

When I completed the motor swap, I wasnt able to get the truck started.
Bought a brand new starter from Napa. Denso OEM brand.
But, I am wondering if I may have fried the solenoid with this whole debacle.?

Maybe I should pull the starter and have it bench tested..

I dont want to jump it with another vehicle and have my problems extend to that as well.

Battery is old. Came w the truck.

 

I think so too. It sounds like when I have had this with other starters in the past.

May have fixed the short? Now its a battery / voltage issue?

 

Before you pull your starter...
Yeah, if your battery is old just get a new one. Maybe there were multiple issues. My first one lasted 9 years. But even that was longer than most.

 

The only way you're going to solve this is with a multimeter and the knowledge of how to use it. Sorry to be blunt, but your observations, questions, and resulting answers are all over the board. You need to start with checking voltage between the battery posts, then between the battery cables, then at the starter relay terminals, all while someone is twisting the key.

If you want to get scientific about it, you can use the multimeter to measure voltage drop, but for now, start with simple stuff.

 

Battery is old. Came w the truck.[/QUOTE]
Reason should have confirm good or bad battery first .If good(may as well buy a new one since its old) check starter and pos neg cables .
With all work done so far hope you find problem soon .

 

Thanks. Good advice.
Pleased to report that the truck is back up and running!

I took the starter & battery out and took em to Napa Auto. Had them test them both.

Battery was reading over 13V, and was cranking over 700 cold crank amps. So, batt is good. Saved myself some Dough there cuz I was ready to buy a new one.

Starter also bench tested good.
Customer at the store heard me talking bout my issues, said I have a bad ground.
Told me to grab a set of jumper cables, and run from the negative battery terminal to the engine block and try and start it.

I did that when I got home and it worked! Started up pretty quick.

I also sanded the ground contact on the block next to the starter with rough grit sand paper, and sanded the contractor itself before re-connecting. There was definitely some salt and road grime built up on there.

I ran a new ground wire from the negative batt terminal to the frame as well since the one I had was missing part of the jacket. Sanded tree contacts there too.
Disconnected the jumper wire, tried to start it up again and voila! Starts up now, no problem.

After putting everything back in the interior, I noticed the lights on the A/C /Heater controls (re-circ & AC) aren’t illuminating anymore.

And when I was coasting down a big hill home on a test drive, the engine was revving up from 1k to 2k, would fall back down and repeat. Unsure what that’s about.
But otherwise seems okay.

Not sure what to make of this whole thing.
Only other thing I did was put the bracket back on the alternator, that holds the wires running to the starter/battery in place there. I hadn’t put that back on after the engine swap.

I’m guessing the stereo short was draining my battery, and the ground was not solid either, which contributed to the issue.
Also- my back up lights still aren’t working.
Idk. Gremlins?
I’m gonna hope it doesn’t happen again.

And yes, take everyone’s advice and get Better at using/reading my multimeter!

Bonus- while I had the interior trim off, I took the opportunity to paint the stereo surround flat black, which I think matched the new stereo mounting insert better. Looks good.

Thanks for everyone’s help! Happy taco-ing.

 

Thanks for the update OP. Feels good.

 

The short pin is not a fuse.