Car Stereos: wiring a stereo, blown fuse, cigarette lighter

Question
I just wanted to know why my stereo only works when I hook up both the red and yellow wires from my aftermarket stereo harness to the red one on the car harness.
It turns on but everytime I turn the car off and on it resets the stereo settings.

Answer
Hi Martin,

If you're not getting power through the yellow wire in the adapter harness, the most likely cause is a blown fuse in the vehicle's fuse box.  The yellow wire and red wire are each fused separately; often the constant power circuit (which supplies power for the yellow wire) is shared with other vehicle accessories like the dome light or cigarette lighter.  Make sure you don't have any bare wires, then check your fuses.  Be sure to look for a fuse box under the hood.

Once the fuse is replaced, you should be able to connect the wires correctly, and you'll get your deck's memory function back.  

If you aren't able to find the fuse, let me know the year and model of the vehicle--I might be able to tell you where to look.

Hope this helps!

Brian