May be this one needs a new thread!

Interior lighting. (dash, switchgear etc)
No.7 fuse blows as soon as I switch the lights on.

Makes life difficult when driving at 5:30am!!
Have disconnected the rheostat...

Only thing that I have done which I think may affect things is to replace the stereo head unit - I assume there is a 'dim' function lead on there when the lights turn on??

Any assistance on this will be greatly appreciated... One issue at a time.

 

Maybe try to narrow it down a bit? Normally when something goes wrong after I have been working on the car I start by undoing the last thing I did. So disconnecting the stereo and seeing if the problem goes is my favourite.

There are two feeds to the stereo on mine: the power to the thing, and the background light that comes on when the car exterior lights are switched on. If you disconnect the sereo and the lights do not fuse, then it looks as if the illumination feed to the stereo could be the problem. Maybe a pinche wire earthing out somewhere?

Incidentally which model do you have?

 

Thanks Greg, will try that as is the easiest thing to go back to.

I have an 87 3.6 Coupe.

 

Took out the stereo - success - lights!!
No to figure out which wire is causing the probelms....
Also no drain on my battery now.

 

Great news!

 

Okay.... Next gremlin.
My wipers... The do not seem to 'park' properly and sit about 30deg up from flat. whish is a little annoying as they slightly onstruct line of site, and more importantly doesn't look very nice.
Recently replaced the wipers from coat hanger type to blades... doesn't make a major difference do to theextra curvey windsreen.

So, any way i can adjust the park position?

 

Mefoote,
As I recall it was the left hand wiper on mine that parked about 30 degrees from the flat. I removed the arm from the post, turned it towrds the flat and then refitted. Problem solved.
Have a look, it may be as simple as that.

Hope this helps.

 

worked a treat. fitted a new wash pump too. now got clean windows!

 

mefoote,
Glad you got it sorted, most often than not, it is the simplest things that make the biggest differences.

 

Coming from me, a professional car audio installer:

On your new radio, there is most likely a orange wire, or orange wire with a white stripe.
That is your DIM/ILLUMINTAION wire.

Disconnect that wire from what you have hooked it up too.

Did you hardwire it? or did you use a wire harness adaptor?

If you hardwired it, did you test for a ground? Illumination wires on a vehicle are 99% of the time "ground at rest" hence why it only blows when you turn them on. So you may have your ground incorrect. Ground your stereo to a piece of metal in the vehicle, and disconnect your current wire you have it grounded too, it will be by far the best ground you can get.

After you have a solid ground, go ahead test the wire you used for a ground previously with a volt meter and switch the lights on/off. If it goes from ground to 12v or more, thats your ILLUMINATION wire, you can now hook that up too the orange wire and your stereo will now dim with the rest of your dash lights

EDIT: Feel free to PM me and i can better guide you through the process, Im terrible at explaining these types of things, its better when you can visually see/do what im talking about

 

jake 21.. many thanks.

The car came with an aftermarket JVC stereo hard wires in.
I swapped in a sony unit, and wired in the connecteions directly tothe JVC's old wiring (just cut off the block and matched the colours).

Will go through this at weekend.

 

Okay a quickie.....rear window doesn't demist. how to check?

THANKS!!!!

 

OKay - Radio - DONE. Great Advice. My ground wasn't connected to the ground at all!! No interior panel lights work and I have music! (Managed to blow the heater / fan lighting though) so have bulb out light on all the time...

Electric Windows - Done.

No to check rear windw. and maybe re-seal as getting a lot of condensation.

 

awesome, glad we could help