Audio Systems: help with car stereo., bench test, electrical department

Question
I have a car stereo that I just baught, and I hooked everything up, and pushed it in and while I was pushing it in the power went out and the Stereo doesnt work at all. NO power goes to the stereo. I dont know if its the Stereo thats broken or the car that isnt sending power to the stereo.

If you could please help? thanks.
Brian.

Answer
Without the make and model of both car and stereo unit I cannot give you specific information.

However, generically speaking, you must check the connections carefully to make sure it is really wired correctly.  If the car is a few years old you may find wiring information at www.installdr.com or other such sites.  But, I recommend you go to Walmart and get their $9.83 VOM in the electrical department.  With that you can check to see if the unit has 12volts at the power connections and you can also check speaker continuity.....

In the worst case, when you are certain the wiring is correct and the unit is somehow not working you must pull the unit and "bench test it" which requires you to run wires from the battery to the stereo and hook up a standalone speaker to the power output to verify the unit is working.  If so, then back to the wiring connections in the car.

Take it from there and come back if you need more specific assistance.

C