I think they all came out, but I'll certainly rip off the cover this weekend and take a peek before I put that new battery in!

Adam: You might get lucky jumping aroung here and there and find the problem. More than likely unfortunately, it will boil down to a circuit by circuit search. Do you have a wiring diagram for your car? If not, I suggest you get one pronto.

Hey Adam, after re-reading your post it seems that you have an aftermarket stereo in her. I would pull the console side pieces out and check the wiring at the radio. Some tape might have pulled off, or a wire wiggled loose. That could also be where you are grounding out.

You're quite the detective!!

It is an aftermarket radio.

I will pull those panels this weekend and check it out.

Thanks for the tip!

Adam,
It almost has to be something you were recently working on. You had the engine and trans out and drove all the way to NCM and back with no problem. If a problem was created during the engine swap, I would think it would have showed up on the drive.
It does almost sound like something dropped into the column when you were working on the horn.

|UPDATED|7/28/2002 8:32:21 PM|/UPDATED|

This past weekend, I pulled the horn button apart and did not find any offending broken parts lying around in there.

Also, I pulled the side panels off of the center console and saw (and remembered) that when I installed the new radio, I used (don't laugh) electrical tape to hold bind wires together.

Some of them were a bit easy to remove, which I'm guessing means some of the wires did not have a good connection, and possibly were exposed to the innards of the console.

I removed all the tape and replaced it all with wire nuts.

I also replaced the battery. One of the benefits of that I've already seen much higher power going to the starter!

At any rate, I've driven it a few times since this work was done, and the fuse hasn't blown (knock on wood! (or fiberglass ))

Thanks for all the advice!

Hey Adam, good job!!!
Might want to secure those radio wires with small plastic wire nuts, and then wrap them in electrical tape

|UPDATED|7/31/2002 12:48:16 PM|/UPDATED|

Adam,

Looks like you found the problem, but I would suggest making a change....wire nuts and stranded wires will vibrate loose (even when taped). I suggest you get a few butt connectors and a crimping tool and use the but connectors to connect the wires....just be sure to use the correct size connector for the wire.

The kits (pliers and different size connectors) are available for any good parts store.

|QUOTE|Martin72 said: .... I suggest making a change.... I suggest you get a few butt connectors and a crimping tool and use the but connectors to connect the wires....just be sure to use the correct size connector for the wire.|/QUOTE|

That's a good idea. Unfortuately I'm too damn busy, so I'll add it to my list, but as far as I'm concerned, if it's working now, leave it alone.