I have a Garmin nuvi GPS and I don't like running the power cable to a cigarette plug. Earlier this week I hard wired it to a hot wire I found under my steering wheel right behind my OBD II connector. Well when I went to put a self tapping screw in (for the ground) i grounded the hot wire by accident and I blew a fuse (or more). I found the (one of them) fuse I blew and it was the radio hot wire. I replaced it and now my 6-disc in dash stock cd player has stopped showing the digital station i.d. readout (on FM channels). Did I blow another fuse I missed? I don't think there would have been more than one, but I want to get my station i.d. back.

I also want to know where a constant hot under the steering wheel is I can use for the power instead of the one for the stereo which I'm on now. I want it to stay hot all the time. I also get buzzing through the speakers when the radio is off when I drive so that has to stop. I appreciate the help cause I got tired of searching the threads.

 

If you lost power to the radio for a moment, station pre-sets& clock usually stay programmed for a bit, where RDS and speed volume ( in what I have seen ) are returned to default upon any loss of power.
Press menu, and turn RDS back on, would be the first thing I would check ( and reset you speed volume if you had it set before ) to see if it is on.
If it is still on, are you in the open, sometimes RDS can be a bit picky. Prior to installing the Sirius, in chicago some times I would notice that RDS would stop in areas ( freeze up / go blank ) depending on where I was sitting at in traffic. Once I go moving, it would re-sync.

For a direct power, why not just tap the back of the cigar lighter or power port ?
A bit more wire length, but this is what you were using before, and is the best option for tapping into, rather then another circuit under the dash.

 

Well I did lose power to the radio and I lost all my pre-sets and RDS. Now I can't get my RDS to work again. There isn't a setting in the menu for RDS on mine.

As for the wire, I would love to you use the cigarette lighter, but where is it ran? How do i find one without tearing out my dash?

 

Anyone want to chime in and tell me how to find a cigarette plug wire without ripping out my dash?

 

Check the wires going to the brake pedal with a meter. If I'm not mistaken , there is an always hot wire going to it.
Can't say for sure about the cig lighter wire, other than tracing the wire back. That really shouldn't be too hard.

 

Did you follow the procedure in the owners manual on page 28 for activating RDS ?

It is press and hold the Menu button until RDS comes up, and use the up down arrows or the seek arrows to toggle RDS on & off.

The other thing you did not make note of, have you been in the truck moving with the FM radio on since this ?

Ripping / Tearing out the dash is a bit of an overstatement.
Do you have a console style, or bench type ? It is an easy process to get the center trim panel off, to get the cigar lighter / power port wiring.

 

Thanks alot for the heads up on the RDS! I feel like a noob for not referring to my owner's manual first! Yes I have been driving around in my truck since this. And I have the flow through console.

 

Ok, with you driving around, and not getting RDS ( confirmed with the fact that the presets are history ) I would say RDS defaulted to off. Try the procedure in the OM, and see if that does it.

Flow through console procedure :

Open the ash tray.

Grip the lower part of the center trim panel, and firmly pull towards you ( straight out ).
There are 4 spring clips on each side of the trip panel, that need to be released.

Careful if with the HVAC area, there are 1 or 2 wiring harnesses there, with some slack, cam over type connectors.

The cigar lighter will come out with the center trim panel, wires and all.

The Power port you can reach to the right hand side, and feel the connector if you want to go that route.

 

Thanks alot for the help. I usually dive right into that stuff, but I thought it would be best to ask you guys who have done it on this truck so I don't tear something up. Thanks for all the info!