Radio frying

Hello all, just wanted to share my experiences with putting the radio back together. I had my entire dash apart on my 02 limited because i did the heater core. In the process of doing the heater core, i had to move the amp and the wire harness its on out of the way, which also meant unplugging the antenna relay. Well, in my infinite wisdom, i thought the plug that went to the antenna relay, went into the back of the radio…. Since it does have two plug ports on the back of it. The plug is keyed for the antenna relay BUT IT WILL fit in the back of the radio! It takes up partially the second port and locks in. As soon as i keyed the accessory on my ignition, it started smoking. I figured out after looking at the relay it was unplugged and it clicked in my brain thats what that plug was for. I dont know what i fried in there, but the radio does work as far as i can tell. Would be interesting if someone could shed some light on what that second port possibly powers and what damage i may have done. Its not of consequence to me, as i was going to put in an aftermarket head unit for sirius xm anyway, but i would like a working radio in the meantime until i do that.

 

If you let the magic smoke out, something is gone bad on ya. Everyone KNOWS electronics works on the magic smoke.
I was a professional electronics (Rasar) tech for my entire working career, including site electronics supervisor for an Air Force Aerostat site, and this I know: Smoke=bad.

You need to pull the antenna lead, from the plug out to whatever it was powering, and see if the wires melted, the motor smoked, whatever. I would check all the wiring harnesses in the area, looking for where the smoke came from. SOMETHING smoke-checked. Trick is to find out what.
You may well have burnt one or more fuses open too. Check all of them. Pull them out, and use a multimeter to see if they're still a nice short. Fuses are supposed to be a short, after all. OUT of the circuit. IN circuit, you can get odd readings, especially if the fuse has burnt open.

The radio may SEEM to work OK, but I wouldn't bet all it's functions are any good. That socket on the back should be labeled as to what it is. Notice the use of the word "should". If you have any literature that came with the radio, it may have the information.
You may well need to replace the antenna relay, too. Pull it out of the circuit and ohm it out carefully. Or, if it's not too expensive, just replace it. Justin Case. Everyone knows Justin.

Not a heck of a lot of help, but the best I can do from here, I fear...
Pat☺

 

Thanks for the reply! I did check everything out after i let the magic smoke out of the box lol. None of the wiring harnesses appear to be have been harmed at all. Nothing was melted. The antenna relay is ok since it wasnt plugged in! Once i plugged that plug into the antenna relay, it is making the antenna go up and down as it should be and reception does not appear to be degraded. I think the damage was limited only to the radio box. Thats where the smoke came from. It came from the side of the radio i had the antenna relay plug plugged in to. If i stick my face by the radio where i saw the smoke from, it smells like the classic magic burnt electronics smell. No burnt smell from anywhere else. Fuses should all be good, since nothing powered down and wouldnt restart after that. I think whatever side of the box that particular plug powers just got overvolted, and no other harm done thankfully! If youve seen my other post on here, im trying to mechanically restore my runner, so i kind of had a mini heart attack when i let the smoke out lol. Once i get an aftermarket head unit for satellite radio, ill ohm everything out in the wiring and check it out before i begin the install.