Car Stereos: Head unit install trouble, sony cdx, power antenna

Question
I have a 02' dodge ram and I just installed a Sony cdx-gt630ui head unit and
eveything is working properly except when I switch it to my FM radio when it
on the radio all my gauges shut off and my odometer reads no bus what
went wrong

Answer
Hi Mike,

I'd pull the head unit, find the solid blue wire in the Sony harness, and disconnect it from the vehicle wiring.

It sounds very much as though your deck's power antenna output (the blue wire) is connected to the CAN-bus wire in the factory radio plug--either through an installation error, or a mis-pinned adapter harness.  When the head unit is switched to "tuner" mode, it sends +12VDC to the blue wire.  If the blue wire is connected to the CAN-bus, it disrupts your vehicle's communication bus system, which can potentially affect many different vehicle systems.

I doubt that your Ram is equipped with a power antenna, so there's no reason for the solid blue wire to be connected to anything at all.

Hope this helps!

Brian