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[mic]

Recently changed old tape deck for cd player but its caused a bit of agro so today ive found out what it is!

problem i was having was that i could either have the radio on OR the lights!

i thought it was a dodgy wiring attempt from a previous owner so started to look into it and trace the wires back to their origin. i found them. under the dash bar where the connectors for the wiring loom goes is a set of wires i havent seen before..... one red, one red/green, and one purple. one is a perminant live, one is ignition live (as i call it) and the other one ???????? i thought it was an earth but found out it wasnt. turns out, if i use the 2 live wires for the cd player and make a new earth, everything works fine. if i get the 'unknown' wire and touch metal whilst the lights are turned on, the rear lights and the dash lights go out and sometimes i have to replace a fuse..... oh and the cd player turns off......

so what is that other wire for?!

mic

[Dan]

Funnily enough it's the lighting feed to the stereo. The standard stereo has additional lighting that comes on with the sidelights like the instrument lights do. You are shorting out your lighting circuit. It will read as zero volts when the lights are turned off and appear to be an earth, this is a fairly common mistake. If you can't find a genuine earth there then make a new one.