Car Stereos: Car stereo problem, fuse box, work bench

Question
I recently bought a 98' Ford Ranger and i tried to install a cd deck but all the wiring in a ford ranger is different colors than the wiring for the cd deck. so i started trying wires and ended up touching the ground cable to a live wire and it made a spark and now i have no power to the cd player. Did i blow a fuse? or possibly mess up something else in my truck... I want to install this myself or else its going to cost me $200 to install my deck, amp and sub. Pease help me

Answer
Hi Josh,

It's almost certain that you've blown a fuse.  Check fuses #20 and #29 in the fuse box on the end of the dash, driver's side.  

I always recommend using an adapter harness whenever you're installing an after-market head unit, just to avoid problems like yours.  An adapter harness eliminates the guessing to determine which wire is which, and it allows you to make all your connections on the work bench instead of in the vehicle.  The correct adapter harness for your truck is Metra's 70-1771.   However, if you've already cut off the factory plug, it's probably too late for an adapter harness at this point.

Here's the wiring information I have for your Ranger:

+12VDC Constant:  light green/violet
+12VDC Accessory:  yellow/black
Ground:  Black/light green

Speakers:

Left front (+):  light blue/white
Left front (-):  orange/light green
Right front (+): dark green/orange
Right front (-): white/light green

Left rear (+): tan/yellow
Left rear (-): gray/light blue
Right rear (+): brown/pink
Right rear (-): orange/red

Hope this helps!

Brian