Honda Prelude Forum - PreludeDriver.com

OK here is what I got. I installed a new radio in my lude last weekend (among other things). When i first finished the install I turned everything on you know to check and make sure everything was right. When I turned on my headlight switch the radio would stop working when I turned it off the radio would come back on. Pretty upsetting. I disconnected it, checked my wires, found no problems and reconnected the stereo. Everything worked even when I turned on the light switch.
Now when I got this car it had been in a minor accident and the front bumper was being held on one side by a cord. When i pulled the front bumper to begin repairs i had to remove the passenger side horn from the frame. I had my newly installed stereo playing( i know , i know bad idea should have disconnected the battery before working) and when i let the horn hang to the side of the frame the stereo stopped playing. I moved the wire bundle around and the stereo came back on so i figured i had a wire that might have been damaged in the accident and was causing the short. I have totally uncovered all the wiring coming out of the passenger fender and have found no signs of damage. I'm not very good with DC. How does the light switch affect the acc of the radio(since my stereo doesnt lose memory i know that is the wire affected) or is this a grounding problem? As always thanks in advance for your help!

The light switch should be on an independent circuit from the ACC, although I'm not positive about that. You'll have to check the wiring diagram.

Most likely, there is a short somewhere in the car, especially since it has been in an accident. The only thing you can do is start chasing related wires to find any breakage. Multi meters can help with this, but in the end, you'll just have to do a lot of work to check each related cable.

What might be happening is that there might be a positive current going into the body/chassis somewhere. This might explain why turning off your headlights is making your radio stop working, as the current to the radio might get reversed by the lights being on. Just a thought.

I knew there wasn't going to be an easy fix. Thanks again.

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but no, it won't be an easy fix.

Where things like this are concerned, I can't stress enough the importance of looking over the wiring diagrams. They can really help you make sense of how the power flows.

Since you do have an area that has been damaged, start there. The breakage was likely caused by the crash. That's the best advice I can give.