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Car Stereo Help
Sentry
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, for Christmas I got a new radio for my car to replace my old one. Yay! So I yanked out my old one and the back of it looks like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72951301@N03/6583280797/
However, the back of the NEW one looks like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72951301@N03/6583280843/
Am I screwed here or can I get an adapter to make this thing function?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72951301@N03/6583280797/
However, the back of the NEW one looks like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72951301@N03/6583280843/
Am I screwed here or can I get an adapter to make this thing function?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
Sentry on
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They're like $5-10 usually, so not too bad. Any place that sells car stereos should have the correct adapters.
Some cars you will have to wire the pre-existing harness that's in the car up to the one you're provided that attaches to the back of the stereo. In others, you just get the adapter, plug the one adapter to the existing stuff in the car, and plug the other end into the stereo, and you're good to go, with no wiring or anything.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0067MGQ4Y/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
It's 25 dollars at Fry's...
The new head unit should have come with a harness that connects to the back of it, and it should have a bunch of wires coming out of it. You'll need to take the new adapter harness that you purchase and connect it to the head unit's harness. After that it's just plugging things together and shoving the head unit in place. If you find that the head unit doesn't really fit into the old hole, they sell adapter kits (usually these nasty plastic monstrosities that have a million pieces and seem hellbent on cutting your hands up) that you'll need to finish the install.
It's best to solder the two harnesses together, then use electrical tape to wrap the connections, however you can also use butt connectors and crimp them, or worst case, just twist them together well and wrap them with electrical tape.
The head unit manufacturer probably recommends that you run the ground directly to the body as well, and the black lead from the head unit harness will sometimes be longer than the other leads to make it a little easier to do this. If you can find a bolt that is clearly in the body, then I would advise you ground to this. However, you will probably be perfectly fine just connecting black to black on the harness.
Also, in most cases, the coloring used between the adapter harness and the head unit harness are the same, but that's not always true. If you can't tell where one wire should go, you probably need to look up the pinout for the factory radio and compare it to the pinout for the new head unit and line them up that way.
Good luck, and make sure to block out longer than you think it will take to install the bugger, because it's usually a pain in the ass. =]
There's 8 wires for speakers, those colours always match up, though in different shades occasionally. Get the polarity right (grey to grey, grey w/ stripe to grey w/ stripe, repeat for all speakers).
Red is switched power (comes on when the key is on) and goes to red, yellow is constant power (on all the time) and goes to yellow. don't get those backwards. If there's a black wire on both ends, hook those up together, they're the ground. (More on that if one is missing in a sec)
There's going to likely be some orange wires there, too. One orange, one orange white (one or both may be missing from either end) IF you can match up and orange to orange, or orange white to orange white, go ahead and connect them. Do not hook an orange to an orange w/ white stripe, they're reversed and you'll blow a fuse. If you are missing one or both from either end, disregard them they aren't important. The orange wires are for dimmer control, and are 100% optional.
You may also find a blue or blue with white stripe on either or both ends. if you find blue and blue, or blue white and blue white, match them up. If you are missing either or both, you can likely safely disregard, unless you have a power antenna or an amplifier elsewhere in the car (unlikely, if its not a luxury car, or you installed one). The blue wires are for accessory turn on, and signal power retractable antennas or amps to turn on.
If you are missing a black wire on the car end, its likely not an issue. The antenna plug (the big round plug with the sticky outy bit) will ground a stereo suitably, given decent condition (its not ideal, and true audiophiles will crucify me, but really, it's a big thick ground coax that goes to chassis. its fine). If you have ground issues, you can always run a wire from the black wire on the JVC end to any screw or bolt that goes into metal.
If you have any further questions feel free to message me. I installed car stereos professionally for years.