no power, no red lights when turn ignition

need help. trying to fix an initial wiring short problem on my friends 1990 patrol that caused some smoke and then all instrument lights to stop working. Found melted wiring behind radio, which i replaced, but lights still not functional. cannot find any blown fuses in fuse area. radio fuse blows when re installing harness and screwing console back to dash. replaced fuse but now auto aerial does not extend on radio power on as usual. pull on wiring harness to old manual aerial switch, and find aerial goes up, but then goes back down again. decided to stop fault finding for the day. i thought i turned off ignition properly, but my friend informs me his ignition switch is faulty and allows the keys to come out at any position. hence i left the ignition in the ON position overnight. on my return in the morning i realized my mistake but battery was fully flat, down to 2.5 volts. recharged battery but still unable to get REDS when turn on ignition. unable to locate any main fuses that may be blown. can anyone tell me what i am missing. by the way i have an electronics background and have worked on various car electrical systems all my life but this Nissan has stumped me. please help. stan

Welcome mate. We ask all New members just to stick up an intro. No harm done but just something we ask.
Hopefully one of the more electrical Savoy boys will be abled to help soon
Cheers

thanks, sorry didn't realise about intro forum but have now posted an intro. thanks again

Check the fusable links near the battery.

What model patrol & what motor?

The automatic aerial needs power from the deck, if its aftermarket it's the blue wire, the one with the stripe can be used, but if you have another plain blue wire coming from the deck, use that one because it only gives power to that wire when the radio is actually on, the blue/white wire is for the amp, And is powered on all the time when the stereo is on,,,Also you can check the wiring behind the stereo, The illumination wire from the car will ACT AS A NEGITAVE WIRE UNTL you turn the lights on then it will turn to positive wire, In my years I have seen that mistake done plenty of times including myself,, If in doubt just run the black wire "earth" from the deck to the frame of the car" or metal behind the dash"! Hope this helps.. :)

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Originally Posted by stanm

need help. trying to fix an initial wiring short problem on my friends 1990 patrol that caused some smoke and then all instrument lights to stop working. Found melted wiring behind radio, which i replaced, but lights still not functional. cannot find any blown fuses in fuse area. radio fuse blows when re installing harness and screwing console back to dash. replaced fuse but now auto aerial does not extend on radio power on as usual. pull on wiring harness to old manual aerial switch, and find aerial goes up, but then goes back down again. decided to stop fault finding for the day. i thought i turned off ignition properly, but my friend informs me his ignition switch is faulty and allows the keys to come out at any position. hence i left the ignition in the ON position overnight. on my return in the morning i realized my mistake but battery was fully flat, down to 2.5 volts. recharged battery but still unable to get REDS when turn on ignition. unable to locate any main fuses that may be blown. can anyone tell me what i am missing. by the way i have an electronics background and have worked on various car electrical systems all my life but this Nissan has stumped me. please help. stan

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If the fusible link is ok, it could be a faulty ignition relay.

The ignition relay is the bottom relay mounted beside the fusebox inside the vehicle. Try swapping this relay with the top relay (interior fan).