Electrical Gremlins
 

Im having issues with my audio system and maybe something bigger. My friend tried hooking up a small 100 watt amp to my radio..it didnt work and when he tried to hook it up my antenna would go up and he would disconnect and it would go back down...ok so i took it off and went home...tried to reassembly my cd player back in and it work again...checked all my wiring and everything...checked my fuse box and my audio 20 amp fuse was blown...ok so i replace that with a spare and try again...still no power...so i bought a new radio thinking my old one was blown..i hook up this one and my radio still doesnt turn on and i check my fuses again and my room 7.5 amp fuse is blown. So I was mad and left to the store on the freeway so i get caught in traffic and its night time...all of a sudden my charge the battery idiot light turns on and my dash and headlights dim....so i raced back home and i sit here now so confused and no clue where to look...I dont kno where to start first...and my alternator/belts/ and battery is new...is there anything else in the car that controls or electricity passes thru that would get blown of any importance. Any ideas? Please let me know

your friend does not know what he is doing.

The antenna wire on a RX-7 is ground and only works while the radio is on. If he is adding an amp, and wants a turn on he should be using the power amp turn on wire from the stock deck.

You will need the room and radio fuses to be good before the radio will work.

The stock wiring is listed in the FAQ for FC sticky thread at the top of this section.

And your problems are not a electrical gremlin unless your friend is one.

well that solved the audio problem but im still confused on why my battery doesnt full charge....i have around 14.09 voltage...new battery, belts and alternator but for some reason with the cd player...it would cut off when i applied brakes with lights and heater on....or even cut off at idling sometimes....i have yet to put on a connector to where the alternators power is tapped off and just wrapped the wires around the stud and screwed it on tight...could that cause charging issues?

check the voltage with a meter and see if it is dropping.

If it is, chances are one of the connections are bad or the new alt is not a new alt but one of those crappy autozone rebuilds that last about 2 weeks.

well I checked it and it goes lowest to 13.8 and 14.1 volts...and i had the alternator checked and it holds around 80 amps...

This is at the connections to the stereo???

And you do have the 2 small gauge wires plugged into the alt right???

no the alternator is putting that much out...i will start it up and it puts out one number...turn it off...puts out another number....and i have the red and yellow wires from the radio also going into the right stock wires...also one other question....how can i get the antenna to pop up because i had this problem with my other radio...it doesnt go up when i switch the radio...i have the mle antenna pllug going into the radio but whatelse do i need to get it to go up?