Okay if that's the original wire, shouldn't be much work to re connect it unless they butchered it. I mean I can get running new wire if you're putting in a high power stereo or want to add a subwoofer but why the hell would they run such thin gauge speaker wire?

Anyway I have a multimeter and a tone generator so today's gonna be fun...

EDIT: Right, so after thinking about it I decided to go with the wires that were already hooked up to the speakers. Reason being is I believe they were run for a reason. They weren't run for a high power system that's for sure. That makes me wonder if there was a fault with the original wiring, because whoever ran the new wires went through a fair bit if trouble to do it, so it wasn't just for shits and giggles.

That said I've soldered in new Chrysler stereo connectors and labeled the wires so I know where they run to. At some point I'll run my own 12 gauge wire, but for now the setup is working and a lot tidier.
http://s23.postimg.org/lc8oftfon/stereowires2.jpg

The presumed old speaker wires, I folded the ends over and put heat shrink tubing on them. Solder and shrink tubing all around... now there is something else you might notice in this picture, near the lower right corner.

There's a switch there and it's wired to the two wires that I believe were for the ashtray light or something like that. Someone rigged up a switch and there's a long red wire that goes through the firewall to I don't know where yet. What could this possibly be for?

Also that white piece of extension cord? Yeah that's the 12 volt constant power for the stereo. Where does it go? Right to the positive terminal on my battery! Not fused or anything. Should probably look into that, but my stereo has a built in fuse so I'm probably safe.

The stereo may be safe, but an unfused tap from the battery might burn the whole truck to the ground...

any wire coming off the battery should have a fuse, fairly close to the battery, if the wire rubs though somewhere and shorts...a car battery can put out a lot of current! i had a positive battery cable rub against the suspension once, melted the chassis grounds, vaporized the throttle cable, and set one of the rear suspension bushings on fire as we towed the car home.. and also pitted the rear axle bearings causing them to fail 5000 miles later on a long trip...the current went through the bearings since the car body was positive due to the short, and the drive train was still negative grounded through the negative cable for the starter motor.

Never underestimate the power of a battery, no matter what size.
Look what happened to the man carrying the E cigarette in his pocket. :D

Yeah maybe I'll put a fuse inline. Or get daring and try to find out why the hell they ran a wire for the stereo! Only guess is they had some bass heavy system that kept popping the stereo fuse.

Nah, it's usually that whomever is installing the stereo has no meter or test light to figure out the existing wiring, and they just run their own.

Resurrecting this thread as electrical issues continue to hound me.

The truck's hazard lights never worked to begin with, but today the turn signal also quit working. Simple solution right? It has to be either the flasher cans in the fuse panel, a bad fuse, or at worst the turn signal switch has gone bad.

The flasher cans tested successfully. The fuse is not blown, and I just replaced the turn signal stalk with a brand new one. Still no turn signals or hazard lights.

I'm at a loss now

I know on a Ford, the hazard switch failing will kill the turn signals too. You might try the switch (try turning on the turn signal and exercising hazard switch in and out too, they might start working). That happens on the 80s Ford products that I own sometimes.

I replaced the entire turn signal assembly with a new unit. This includes the hazard switch.

The connector is fine. Nothing is burnt or corroded. Tested every thing I can think to test

Okay got a new development: Depressed the hazard button and now my turn signals work. Still no hazards though, and yes both flashers are good.

Glad that much worked anyway. I would just find a schematic for the hazards, they can't be too complicated.

Today the problem fixed itself. I did something supposedly unrelated, and now the blower shuts off again.

I replaced the buzzer module in the fuse block with a chime module from a 94-96 Dodge RAM because I was getting sick of that ear grating buzz. I put the chime in and now the blower shuts off properly.

Does anybody have any idea what's going on with this?

The saga continues...

Remember when I said somebody had run an unfused wire to the battery to power the stereo?

Now I know why they did that.

There's a 5 amp fuse in the engine fuse block, labeled Ignition off draw, or something like that. Far as I can tell it only powers the interior dome lamp, a few bulbs that light up the heater controls/ashtray, and apparently the stereo, or it acts as a switch for the 12 volt line to the stereo.

That circuit worked fine for over a month and now it keeps gobbling fuses. Even put in a 10 amp fuse, gobbles that one just as fast. When probing the contacts with a multi meter, it drew about half an amp, slightly higher with the stereo going.

So I decided, like the previous owner did, to leave the fuse blown and just run a wire to bring power to the stereo, but with one important change. I added a 10 amp in line fuse right before the battery terminal. So in the unlikely event the wire frays and makes contact with ground, that fuse will pop before anything else does.

I guess I could trace the wires, pull the dash, and hunt down where it's shorting, but the circuit does almost nothing of importance, and I don't have the time or patience to go through the trouble.

The Ignition Off Draw fuse powers the constant 12V input on the radio. This retains the station presets and the clock when you shut the ignition off. Also feeds the ECU, the keyless entry module/security system, and any other electronic loads that need constant power for backup.

It sounds like something on that line is drawing way too much current. It only carries a few milliamps of load under normal conditions.

Well I can tell you the ECU is not run off that circuit. Truck runs fine regardless of that fuse being popped.

Oh by the way I believe the engine stuttering issue is finally resolved once and for all. After fixing that wire, it would behave 90% of the time, acting up occasionally until one day it died and just wouldn't start. Long story, and a trip to the mechanic later, it was the ignition coil! That got replaced and the engine has run smoothly ever since.