OEM radio locked after lighter short

[Curlybandit]

Hi everyone.

I recently went to plug in my FM tuner for my MP3 player into the lighter. I didn't realize at the time but the plg was broken and when I tried to insert it into the lighter it shorted out the lighter and caused the radio to shut off and now I believe it's in theft mode.

I tested the lighter at that doesn't work. I checked the fuse for the radio (I think it was the right one) and it looked okay. By the looks of things I may need to replace the lighter assembly (a new post for another day...)

My radio is dark with only a few buttons in the bottom row lit. The red anti-theft light flashes on and off. If I push the RCL button the time will show for about 5 seconds then turns off. The CD player won't accept or eject a CD unless you press the RCL button first.

Any ideas as to exactly what is going on and how I can fix this problem?

Thanks

[joatmon]

Welcome to genvibe

Vibes were made for eight model years. The 03-08's were almost identical, to each other, the 09s are pretty much the same as the 10's, but the 03-08's are significantly different from the 09-10's. You didn't say what year your Vibe was, and I don't know about the wiring on the 09-10's, so I'll assume you have an 03-08. If your Vibe is a 2009 or 2010 then disregard.

On the 03-08, there is no theft lock in the OEM radios.

Sounds like you blew the CIG fuse. This fuse provides power to the cig lighter power outlet, and also the radio.

There are two fuse panels in the 03-08 Vibes. The easy one is under the hood, along the driver's side fender. The other one is up under the dash, on the left side between the steering wheel and the door, and can really only be accessed by working on it up from the bottom. This inconvenient under dash fuse block is where the CIG fuse is.

[beemerphile1]

In addition to what joatmon said, you cannot determine if a fuse is good by looking at it. Either use a meter to test continuity of the fuse or replace with a known good fuse.

[Curlybandit]

Thanks for the replies.

Sorry... Totally slipped my mind. It's a 2005.

It happened as we were on our way to a 5 hour road trip. I only had a brief moment to take a peak at the fuse box under the dash and under the hood. Whoever decided to put the fuse box under dash must hate people!

I could really only check one fuse in each compartment while in the parking lot of a Tim Horton's (my fellow Canadians will understand). Once I get a moment to take a better look I'll be able to see if any of the fuses have blown.

I hope that's all it is, but I'm a little concerned... I can't see how the radio would still illuminate nearly all of the buttons and the anti-theft LED. Perhaps it runs on several fuses.

Let see what happens...

In the meantime, more feedback is appreciated!

[joatmon]

The radio gets power for at least three different things.

The CIG fuse gives it main power to turn on and produce audio.
The TAIL fuse controls the illumination of all the dash backlighting, including the general illumination of the radio
The DOME fuse provides constant 12V to the radio, to power the fake theftlock light and to keep the clock's time when the car is off.

THe lights still ight up when the car is on because your TAIL fuse is ok. The blinking red LED blinks becaseu the radio still gets backup power fromt he DOME fuse, but since it does not get main power from the CIG fuse, the radio thinks the car is not running and makes the LED blink. This backup power from the DOME fuse also gives you enough power to eject a CD when the car is turned off.

There are other fuses involved in operating various relays in the power distribution in the car, but at least those three fuses can affect the radio.

I have blown the CIG fuse from a faulty plug/receptacle enough times to witness to it first hand that all of the symptoms you have reported so far can be caused by a bad CIG fuse. The CIG fuse is a 15A fuse. For what it's worth, if you put a bigger fuse, say a 30A fuse in there instead of the 15A one and then short out the power outlet again, a different fuse (AM1) further up the chain will blow instead, causing unpleasant and more widespread electrical failures, so stick with a 15A fuse. There may be a spare one in the underhood fuse block

[Curlybandit]

Great info!

I'll take a look at that fuse first.

Thanks again.

[jake75]

IMO opinion everyone should be required to have a signature that identifies their "ride(s)" to facilitate answering questions. I do note that the signature is now limited to 255 characters - my old one is a lot longer (must be "grandfathered") but if I try to edit it I can't unless I reduce it to no more than 255 characters. So I leave it as is.

[Curlybandit]

It was the CIG fuse that was the problem.

Thanks again for the help.