QuestionI don't have kids. There aren't any coins in the radio. We did check the underhood fuses today to no avail. Do you know which specific fuses would be involved with said problems? (door locks, dash gauges, interior lights, radio) Could it be a bad relay?
The main thing that concerns me is the fact that the speakers started acting up when I would drive in the rain. Is this possible a ground fault somewhere? Where do the major ground wires run?
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Followup To
Question -
I have a 2003 Tiburon GT Coupe 2.7l V6 engine w/automatic transmission. Starting in March, I noticed that when the weather was wet or I drove in the rain, I would get a lot of static and cutting out on my speakers. It would often move around as to what speaker was affected. At times the speakers would completely go out for a day or two and then start working again after the weather dried out.
About 4 weeks ago the speakers completely went out and didn't follow the previous pattern as to starting to work again. The head unit still worked and would say that it was on and was getting a radio signal or was playing a cd, etc., but no sound whatsoever. Then about 2 weeks ago, more problems. The head unit is now getting no power at all; the clock has a backlight, but no display; the interior lights aren't working; the power locks work when the car is running, but not at all when it's off, so can't use the remote lock or set the alarm; also when I start the car, the speedometer jumps up to 115 mph, the tachometer jumps around, and the temp. gauge jumps around as well. After that, they go back to normal and function normally during driving.
OK, so I took it to the dealership to get it checked out this week and they said that as far as the speakers go, the amp was blown. They ordered a new one for me. Their response for the rest of the issues is that I had 3 fuses out. Since not covered by warranty and an easy fix, I said, OK, I'll replace them then. They didn't specify which fuses, however, so my husband and I pulled every one out and inspected it. Not one of them was bad. We pulled the fuse that is for the dash gauges and tested to see what happened. They didn't register anything, of course. We put in a brand new fuse and it did the exact same thing as before, jumping around for the first few seconds, then returning to normal.
My husband tried to call back twice today to talk to a tech about it, but no one returned the call. I feel like they're dicking me around because they don't want to deal with whatever the real issue is here. I gave all of this info when I brought the car in, and I feel like even if they replace the amp for my stereo system, it's not going to resolve whatever the issue was that caused it to blow out in the first place and it will happen all over again.
Do you have any idea what the underlying problem for all of this might be? I feel like it would be better to go in armed with some info to deal with them in the future. Electrical systems are tricky and without a tech manual, it's pretty much impossible to figure out or deal with it on my own.
Any info you can give me is greatly appreciated!
Answer -
As I'm reading this, going along through what's happening, my first thought as to one cause that would explain everything-- coins in the radio shorting various circuits as they move around. If you've got kids, this is a significant possibility. I've seen it before.
The answers you got from the dealer are plausible. You say hubby checked all the fuses. Did he check both the inside and underhood fuse boxes? There could be blown fuses in either location. Also be sure to check the one in the inside fuse box with the little yellow holder around it, if there's one like that. It'll prevent radio operation. There's also probably a fuse in the back of the radio (depends on the radio you have). When you pull the radio to check the fuse in the back, shake the radio to see if you hear anything rattling around inside.
If you check all the fuses in all locations (inside fuse box, underhood fuse box, back of radio) and find none blown, then simply challenge the diagnosis when you take the car back to have the amp replaced.
If you'd like to look into it further, you can look at the shop manual, schematics, and technical service bulletins at www.hmaservice.com (requires Internet Explorer, and you may need a free download of SVG viewer to see the pictures and diagrams). Simply register for a free account. You can find the schematics under the ETM (Electrical Troubleshooting Manual) tab.
AnswerI looked at the schematics on www.hmaservice.com. I couldn't find an audio schematic for the 2003 Tiburon, so I went to the 2004, which should be similar, if not exactly the same.
Here's the pertinent fuses I see to the audio system and what they control:
-Inside fuse #2 -- AMP constant power -- AMP
-Inside fuse #18 (in yellow holder, I believe) -- Radio constant power -- room lamp, clock, audio, data link connector, multi gauge unit
-Inside fuse #27 -- radio accessory/ignition power -- audio, clock
-Outside slow blow fuse IGN -- power to fuse 27 through ignition switch (and many other inside fuses)
-Outside slow blow fuse BATT (50A) -- power to fuse 2 (and many other inside fuses)
I'd put my primary concentration on the fuse in the yellow holder, since it seems to go to everything that has an issue.
As far as a major ground wire, there really isn't one with the exception of the negative battery cable. There are many ground points throughout the car. You can view the schematics and pictures of the ground points on www.hmaservice.com. There are far too many for me to list here.
