new headunit

[napkinthief]

i just installed a pioneer headunit by cutting the factory harness and twisting/electrical tape the wires to the pioneer harness. everything work fine but theres 2 small problems i cant seem to fix

first when i turn it loud (20+) the blue backlight fades when the bass hits

and seconds i cant save anything, if i turn the car off more than 15 minutes it resets the clock and stations, had the same problem with the stock headunit, changing didn;t fix it

 

[TooFastTooG]

Well as for the first question, Your new aftermarket headunit is drawing alot more power then your stock headunit was, you need a capacitor to fix this.

As for the second problem, check your ground for the radio, this could be causing you to lose your stations and time.

 

[timm98gst]

next time get the wire harness - makes things much easier - you should have two power wires - one for constant, one for switched - sounds like your constant power wire isn't hooked up right

 

[DGajre777]

next time get the wire harness - makes things much easier - you should have two power wires - one for constant, one for switched - sounds like your constant power wire isn't hooked up right

I agree with timm98gst.

Getting a capacitor won't do anything. They are for amplifiers that take anywhere from 40-100 amps. A headunit probably takes no more than 15amps, which the battery can handle very easily. Check your wiring - make sure your constant, switched and ground are all hooked up correctly. The ground has to make contact with bare metal, NOT paint.

 

[napkinthief]

the unit has a 10 amp fuse so i dont think im going to use a capacitor

for the ground, i used an extra wire that i got from an old harness and extended it down to a U-Brace thing just under the radio bracket, then put an new nut ontop of the old one and the wire inbetween

ill see if i can get some pics up

 

[silvercoupe97]

i just installed a pioneer headunit by cutting the factory harness and twisting/electrical tape the wires to the pioneer harness. everything work fine but theres 2 small problems i cant seem to fix

first when i turn it loud (20+) the blue backlight fades when the bass hits

and seconds i cant save anything, if i turn the car off more than 15 minutes it resets the clock and stations, had the same problem with the stock headunit, changing didn;t fix it

Answer to your last concern...
on the headunit itself are two wires, a red and a yellow, since you hacked your harness you will have to meter for a switched 12 volts and meter for a constant 12v (as timm98gst said earlier). That is the reason your radio doesn't have last preset memory. Chances are that you have the two factory wires connected to the wrong power wire, try to reverse them and see what that gives you.

To your first concern...
Do you have the car running while doing the check or is the key only turned to the ACC? That is a common occurance when the key is only turned to the ACC. If it's happening with the car running, turn off a/c, if it's still doing it, charge your battery, the last suggestion is to get a higher amperage alternator...

Hope that helped


Oh yeah, you don't need a cap installed with just a headunit.

 

[Defiant]

i just installed a pioneer headunit by cutting the factory harness and twisting/electrical tape the wires to the pioneer harness.

Good god. At least use wire nuts or crimp terminals. The right way is to get a harness adapter and solder it to the radio's harness.

everything work fine but

They don't.

theres 2 small problems i cant seem to fix

first when i turn it loud (20+) the blue backlight fades when the bass hits

and seconds i cant save anything, if i turn the car off more than 15 minutes it resets the clock and stations, had the same problem with the stock headunit, changing didn;t fix it

As above, you're wired wrong. Take it out, start over and do it right.
DSM factory head units ground through the chassis of the radio to the frame, with no ground wire. Most aftermarket radios have a ground wire, which you'll need to run.

 

[DGajre777]

the unit has a 10 amp fuse so i dont think im going to use a capacitor

for the ground, i used an extra wire that i got from an old harness and extended it down to a U-Brace thing just under the radio bracket, then put an new nut ontop of the old one and the wire inbetween

ill see if i can get some pics up

Is this U-Brace you are talking about welded to the chasis? Or it is just a piece of metal with plastic around it?? Try using another ground, something that is part of the chasis. If it has paint on it scrape the paint and hook up the ground on bare metal.

 

[silvercoupe97]

Is this U-Brace you are talking about welded to the chasis? Or it is just a piece of metal with plastic around it?? Try using another ground, something that is part of the chasis. If it has paint on it scrape the paint and hook up the ground on bare metal.

If it was anything like mine, it was just a flat braided ground strap. To make it easier on you...just make a "new" ground wire. Take the black wire on the aftermarkets harness and add about....mmm...6" or so (total should not be more than 3ft!) and ground it on the console support bracket (you know that piece of metal around the HVAC/radio) with a good non-coated screw and sand the hole a bit just to make sure it's a good ground.

John