[vrrrm...psss]

Did you hard wire the cd player to the dash? If so, go buy a new harness to go between the cd player harness and the OEM radio harness. See if the wire colors match up to the diagram you are using. I no longer have my EVO, so I can't verify this for you, but it sounds to me like you have the factory illumination wire hooked up to either the red or yellow wire from your new cd player. If so, it would make perfect sense why it is blowing.