radio install help...got all the diagrams but still confoozed...

[khartley]

I searched and searched and searched...I have 4 tuners pages open right now with diagrams...but I'm still not too sure what I'm doing...

I had a pioneer stereo in my 95 eclipse, but someone broke in and jacked it, but they made a huge mess of my harness....so I'm wondering if a wire is broken off down where I can't even see it....

I have all the speaker wires seperated....all that is left is a thick blue wire, a skinny red wire, a black/yellow one, and a white/green one. It says on all the diagrams that the power wires are the blue and red/black wires...so is the one red wire I see a power wire or not? And what all has to be hooked up before the stereo will even power on... I have the ground wire from the new Kenwood in place, and I hooked the blue wire to the yellow one on the kenwood, and the red wire to the red one on the kenwood...no power....I think the ground is good, but does anyone know????

Also, they cut my antenna wire, so my antenna can't be hooked up at all, that won't affect whether it turns on or not, will it?

Thanks guys

 

[grnchevyz]

pulling out my diags...gimme 5 minutes I'll have this sorted out for ya.

 

[Dorifto]

Skinny red wire is your "accessory" lead, which allows the stereo to turn on only when the key is in ACC or RUN. Definitely a good idea to have that connected if you want your ish to work.

The antenna lead doesn't need to be hooked up, but without the antenna extended, you'll get crap radio reception, unless you're only going MP3s/CDs, then in which case you wouldn't have to worry about it.

--Dave-O

 

[grnchevyz]

Here is what you need:

RED/BLACK from car goes to YELLOW of aftermarket radio
BLUE from car goes to RED of aftermarket radio
BLACK/YELLOW from car goes to DIMMER (usually orange) of aftermarket radio
GREEN/WHITE from car goes to ILLUMINATION (usually orange/white) of aftermarket radio
WHITE/BLACK from car goes to BLUE of aftermarket radio

Here is what they are from the car:

RED/BLACK = +12V
BLUE = ACCESSORY
BLACK/YELLOW = DIMMER
GREEN/WHITE = ILLUMINATION
WHITE/BLACK = POWER ANTENNA

Here is the aftermarket radio equivalent:

+12V = YELLOW
ACCESORY = RED
DIMMER = ORANGE
ILLUMINATION = ORANGE/WHITE
POWER ANTENNA = BLUE

I see you have the speakers ok. Let me know if you need those too.

Enjoy

P.S.: Sorry it took 9 minutes instead of 5 like I said

 

[Defiant]

DSM factory stereos ground through the radio case, most after-market radios will need a ground wire run from the radio to the car frame.

 

[khartley]

Ok, with all the help, I got everything to work, but the only way I could get it to power on was to take the blue wire from the car, and hook it to both the yellow AND red from the aftermarket stereo....so everything works, but when I turn it off, and on again, my memory settings are reset. Sooo....I'm wondering if I have a short somewhere from the thiefs yanking the old stereo out....cause the skinny little red wire from the harness, I didn't end up using, I just taped it up, cause it didn't make anything work. But I know there is power to that wire, because when I touched it and the blue wire together, all my interior lights came on.

I'm almost there guys!!!!! Thanks for the help so far.

 

[grnchevyz]

hmmm, by using the BLUE wire for both the radio is only powering up when ACC is on. That means that there is no constant +12v going to the radio which is why you lose your settings. Look for that RED/BLACK wire under there that's the one you want to hook up to the YELLOW of the radio. Otherwise, just run a wire from the fuse panel under the driver dash where there is constant 12v with the key on and off and hook that up to the YELLOW wire and you'll be good to go.

EDIT: You need to hook up that red wire to the YELLOW wire to make it work.

 

[khartley]

See I understand thats what I need to do....but....as soon as I unhook the yellow stereo wire from the blue factory harness wire...the radio won't power on anymore. Even if I have the red/yellow and the blue/red hooked up, there is no power.

Thus the problem. Is it possible that I am missing a wire somewhere, or there is a short somewhere to cause this?

 

[grnchevyz]

Solve your problem by running a wire directly from the fuse panel under the driver dash that shows 12v all the time. Hook that one up to your YELLOW and voila...problem solved. I'll check my diags and see what that little red wire is..I'll repost in a couple minutes.

 

[grnchevyz]

Here's the diag. Highlighted are the (R) RED wire that shows you +12v all the time. Notice it also becomes RED/BLACK as it should. Also you see the 2L BLUE Wire that goes to IGNITION ACC. There probably is a break in the RED line or a blown fuse. Check under the dash for the RADIO fuse and also under the hood for the same fuse. If either are blown, replace.

If nothing does it, refer to my previous post and run a wire from from a good 12v source. You could go from the fuse box or the ignition switch.

 

[khartley]

Well, I'll check for fuses, but pretty sure it's not a fuse, cause then I wouldn't think the stereo would turn on at all...but I'll check, and if not I'll do as you said and run my own wire. Which would be easier and look cleaner...going from the fuse panel, or the ignition switch?

 

[grnchevyz]

Ignition switch will be cleaner and ensure a good +12v

 

[redeclipse7782]

I bet you are wishing you spent the extra $6. for the plug in harness now aren't ya?

 

[xXaTaXx]

I bet you are wishing you spent the extra $6. for the plug in harness now aren't ya?

Lol, I've installed the same head unit on 3 diff cars, each time doing it myself and just this last time did I actually buy the harness, it shaved an hour off wiring time.

Anyways, The small wires in the harness are only accessory/illumi/etc wires. The constant +12V that you need for your stereo is the thick (8-12ga?) wire with a weird looking tip (almost like a headphone jack). I used to think that it was my antenna but nope, it's the power ;p If need be, I can snap a pic of it whenever.

EDIT: On the JVC that I have, the power connector goes on the unit's left side away from the wiring harness

Just my leftover pennies.

Chris