re. 456 So the Stereo only gets power when the key is in Pos II. (seems like a Ferrari trait) But Pos-II means a lots of things are powered up, like the air idle pumps etc etc... I'd prefer the stereo powered up when the key was in Pos-I. Any suggestionon how to move the power for the HiFi over to Pos-I ?
I haven't been able to make any sense of the ignition wiring on the 546 or the 550. It is like the two positions are spliced together electrically (externally). Is there a clear mechanical detent at the I position on your car? If so, it may not be be electrically hooked up internally and have no function at all. One 550 owner told me that he couldn't feel a detent. Are there any signs of activity at your Pos I? On the F355, the ABS system activates the pump and, I recall, there is at least one dash light on. I see the 456M workshop manual only shows a 0 (off), II (run) and III (start). Unless we get a better idea of the ignition switch internals, I don't think we can go much further. Are you interested in disconnecting the plug on the ignition wiring and running some tests (I assume it's at the base of the steering column somewhere)? It's hard to find volunteers for this kind of thing It may be the case where Pos 1 only becomes active if you change the rear section of the ignition switch. And even if you did find that kind of ignition switch, you would have to do a fair amount of splicing and cutting of wires to get the radio to come alive in Pos I. It all depends on the results of the testing.
For the 456GT/GTA.... Pos I = all the lights on the dash light up / but no Stereo. So clearly there is something alive and kicking.
Good to know. Unfortunately, there may be a lot of components all over the car which need this POS I power (speakers, amplifiers, head unit, antenna amplifier, CD player, etc). Did you see Ratarossa's YouTube video about his 456GTA stereo fault? Since we have no wiring diagrams for the GTA, this may be one case where your local car stereo specialist would have a better chance of figuring out how to wire everything up.
Yes, watched the video. Observed that the CD Player always has power, you can eject the CD cartridge at any time.
So perhaps the two fuses shown in the video are specifically for battery power and ignition key pos II power. What are their ratings? Are they both high amperage? Are there any relays near the rear componentry? The ignition key pos II power may only be for the solenoids of relays at the front or rear of the car which provide battery power to the components.. I don't see an easy solution to this without wiring diagrams. Even if the ignition key power fuse wire were a unique colour, you would still have problems tracing the wiring all the way from from the rear of the car through connectors to splices or possibly relays at the front of the car. Perhaps if you remove the plug/s from the head unit and figure out which wire has ignition key power on it and trace that wire to, perhaps, a splice or relay which goes to the steering column. That splice/relay may also feed the components at the rear. This shorter section of wiring will probably be easier to trace. If you can confirm the splice/relay only feeds the stereo components, then it would only be a matter of supplying this splice/relay with Pos I power (via an additional wire to the steering column). Do you have a wire tracker? It may or may not help. Often the wiring harnesses are so thick, a wire tracker is essentially useless.