Some "magic smoke" escaped

[124JOE]

theres a plug at the bottom of the ing wires
try unpluging that to see if the light gose out

[124ADDHE]

No problem before radio install so I would do as suggested and pull the radio or take it back in to your installer, its best to start with the most likely and simple before you start chasing your tail with other possibilities, hopefully you immediately see something obvious visually; Start at A and goto B. The cigar power circuit is a good possibility, especially if it shorted prior to the fuse.

Let us know what you find, electrical problems can be a pain.

[JFreeman]

I'll be the contrarian here and say do not to take it back to the installer. My guess is that they'll deny any role, but they'll also pull things apart and will likely destroy any evidence of exactly what happened. On top of that they're apt to use 'shop rules/policy' to keep you from getting back there to see it yourself.

My suggestion is the pull the upper console and take a peek yourself. Pulling the upper console will grant you access to everything. Be prepared though, because even on a mostly stock car there is a mess of wires in there and the upper console wiring harness is fairly short, so the console won't come out very far before you have to start pulling wires loose. If you are careful, you can pretty much piece together what goes where.

I recently installed a new Alpine head unit and got a fresh look at things. My guess is that one of your power feeds (most likely that cigar lighter wire) got caught between the radio chassis and the car chassis resulting in a 'wire pinch'. A few miles of vibration/bouncing/heat and you got the prelude to 'magic smoke'. You were probably borderline on loosing insulation until you replaced the faceplace and with that there was probaly just enough flexing of the console/radio chassis to cut through to the wire. On the later cars there is a small 'C-shaped' bracket (with sharp edges) attached to the front dash support. Its purpose was to grip and hold the back of the stock radio, but newer head units mount in such a way that it is often unncessary. You can elect to leave it in place and won't cause any problems provided you keep the wiring clear of it. The good thing is that you can easily remove this bracket by taking out a couple of sheet metal screws. The bad thing is that you can easily miss it and unless your installer sees what it is then chances are they will miss it. With the console removed, you have very clear access to the all of this and can trace the wires until you find the problem.

While we're on the subject, you might want to consider putting a relay on the key chime wiring and running the radio off of that. That key chime circuit was never intended to carry much amperage and with a properly fused relay in place you put your worries behind you.

[majicwrench]

Hard for the light to be "stuck". The light turns "on" when current runs from the ign switch, thru the light, to the alternator. Then when the engine starts, and the alternator produces current, the light now has system voltage on both sides of it, so it goes out. ( I'm being generic here) It is probably possible for the ignition switch to cause the light to stay "on" with engine off, but not likely. More likely would be some wires fused together.
Sniff test is good way to find the right area. Wires stink when burnt, as you know

[124JOE]

im thinking the power for the cig lighter is still in contact with the radio case
causing the short and feeding the light back thru the ground

you need to get in there

[MrWampus]

Mystery solved! Joe wins the prize. When I had the radio installer to change the power connection to from it's original switched power lead to the power lead from the door chime, he managed to pinch an old power lead between the radio case and the original radio bracket in the back. There was about a foot of fried wire back in there and it was shorting creating the feedback loop that lit the battery charge indicator light in the dash. The old lead was apparently the only thing fried so he clipped it off and taped it. The radio still works, the light is now off. I also asked the installer to give me the radio removal tools so I can get back in there when I need to.

Thanks for the hints, your insight led me right to the source.

On a side note to James who suggested pulling the center console so I could get access to the wiring, how do I do that? I can't see any obvious way it's fastened. I have noticed that my interior must be an upgrade because all of my console pieces are upholstered (lower console and center riser the upper dash is not covered, but it is dark brown, not black). It all looks original, I don't think it was done aftermarket, but I suppose it could be. All the more reason for me to be careful with the interior. It even has a tan leather wrap on the knee roll (bottom roll of the upper dash). I'll post some pictures when I have time to review the "how to post pictures" post and actually take a few good ones.

[124JOE]

the upper console screws to the lower console with 4 screws near the bottom on each side 2 screws
slide it straight out and unplug the hazzard switch and the interrior light has 3 plugs
witch should leave you with the cig lighter power wires"i usally dont touch it.as mines long it sits on the driverside floor

[MrWampus]

the upper console screws to the lower console with 4 screws near the bottom on each side 2 screws
slide it straight out and unplug the hazzard switch and the interrior light has 3 plugs
witch should leave you with the cig lighter power wires"i usally dont touch it.as mines long it sits on the driverside floor

So you get to those 4 screws through the radio opening? I didn't look very closely when I pulled out the radio. I was astonished at the amount of wiring in there? What is all of that for? Nevermind, I don't want to know. For now, I don't need to get in there, but it will be nice to know for future reference. Thanks.

[124JOE]

the screws go in from the outside one just infront of the gas and one down from you knee
and two on the otherside"pasinger side"

[MrWampus]

the screws go in from the outside one just infront of the gas and one down from you knee
and two on the otherside"pasinger side"

Hmmm, well that's why I mentioned that my consoles are upholstered. I don't have any visible screws on the outside of the upper console. I can't imagine that the screws were covered over. The two pieces (upper and lower) were covered individually so they must have been assembled after they were covered. I'll take a closer look on Sunday. In the mean time, I'm headed to the NC mountains for some scenic driving and some golf.

(I just took a closer look at some photos of other Spider interiors and I see the console screws very clearly on those. Mine are not visible. Must be attached from the inside somehow.)

[MrWampus]

Here are some pics of the interior. (The little white pieces of velcro are to hold my XM reciever.)

[124JOE]

i see
you have a nice interior.if you feel around the back at the seam youll find a post of some sort.
im thinking they used a plastic push keeper.
if its done right you should be able to pull or pry it out.
then move around to the rest.