So had to get my baby towed home tonight

I went to a guy from work to get a subwoofer system installed and he said he has done it tons of times. Everything went well and it was all installed but I realized my backup camera didn’t work anymore and he must have unplugged those wires or something. So he pulled the deck back out and started messing with wires tying them in to other wires and a bunch of lights on the dash came on. 4lo, VSC, traction control, and check engine light all were on. And for some reason the P for park and R for reverse etc would no longer light up. Then I started the truck and it barely started and idled super low at about 2-300 rpms and then died after a bit. I tried a couple more times and it kept dying. Then I unplugged the battery and let it sit for a bit and same thing happened. I noticed the battery gauge was almost as low as it would go so I thought it might have drained the battery causing the truck to spazz out so we switched a new battery in and it did the same thing. I have work in the morning so I tried to drive home and the battery slowly died, the deck shut off, then the whole dash including speedo went out and then the headlights started dimming and the truck died while I was driving.


Does anyone have any sort of explanation? Did this guy fry my ECU computer, etc? Sounds like the alternator is for sure done. I know I should have had it installed at a shop that guarantees their work but it’s too late to worry about that, I just need it fixed. I’m going to have it towed to the dealership and hopefully they can figure out what my problem is and fix it, really started my new year off about as shitty as it could...

 

I just don’t really understand how wires in the back of the head unit could possibly affect the lights on the dash and the way the motor runs. Unless it just sucked all power out of the battery or something

 

Yes I jumped the original battery and had truck running and it was barely running and wouldn’t charge. Switched battery and same thing. Just very weird that headunit wires could effect so much. I’m scared, almost willing to take a loss on my loan and trade it in for a new one tomorrow. Hopefully it’s nothing too major

 

It's been a lot of years since I installed stereo equipment, but how did your guy run power wire for amp? Did he use a fuse or straight to battery, sounded like a possible short to ground on power wire.

 

He ran it straight to the battery I believe. I took the power cable off the battery so it’s like the system wasn’t there and it didn’t fix anything. It did some sort of damage

 

Next step I would start checking all fuses, but sounds like something did get fried unfortunately. I'm sorry you have to go through this.

 

I haven’t pulled any of the check engine codes but it had the 4lo light on, VSC, traction control and CEL. What a mess

 

what year is the truck ?

 

That would be my bet.

 

Might want to call someone like James Randy Taylor and see if he has any guesses as to what your guy might have done. It sounds like a connection was made that should not have been though. Sorry. That stuff is stressful.

 

It’s a 2008 limited. Such a terrible situation I’m stressing

 

Ok. Try to get contact info for the pic in the next post. He might know something to help.

 

Alright thanks for the help man

 

I’m just thinking your installer might have cut or tapped into a wire that was not a good one. Maybe James has done something similar or knows something that might be able to help you out. Or maybe there is something special about that model of truck and there is something special that needs to be done to make it alright again. It is a shot in the dark, but it is still a shot. What part of the country do you live in?

 

I had a similar a few weeks back, because I blow the dome fuse replacing the bulbs with LED— while the truck was running.

Pop hood and check the ECM 7.5a fuse.

I hiccup is I switched the blown dome fuse with the ecu fuse, not realizing the dome fuse was blown.

Idled rough and VSC light came on.
Update us

 

I would first uninstall then check function. If no luck then check fuses.

 

There are CAN-bus wires in the Head Units harnesses. They're pretty thin gauge and since the bus goes everywhere, a cut or tapped bus wire can cause weird symptoms and lights.

If that's what it is, then there really shouldn't be any long term effects or damage once it's repaired.

It's pretty easy to identify the bus wires. They are a "differential pair" so usually the + and - signal wires will be twisted together in the harness run.

 

Definitely check those fuses. Everything should be protected by those fuses.

 

Sounds like you have a very good ground, I would do a quick check on all fuses then DQ everything that was installed and test to see if it's still drawing from batt.

 

I’m in California. But the stereo system is already disconnected so now that it’s light out I’ll have to go check fuses. I’ll update this

 

Forgot to mention, I checked all the fuses in the cab down by the parking brake and they were all good except for the cigarette lighter one. I changed it and nothing changed. I should be checking fuses under the hood? I’m sorry I’m not an electronics guy

 

Unfortunately, you get what you pay for..

 

Yes, check all the fuses under the hood.

Hope you can get it resolved, best of luck.

 

That will be my next step and if I can’t uncover anything I will be taking it to the dealer. Thanks for all the help, only got one smartass answer! Just never thought installing subwoofers could screw up so much or never would have done it obviously

 

Life lessons Travis, we've all been there. Just praying it works out for you.

Having said that, here's my old man words of wisdom. Unless I KNOW my "friend" is 100% capable I'll either attempt it myself (can only blame myself if it goes TU) or take it to a professional.