What is going on with this [car stereo thread]

Captain Vash

So I got this sweet car stereo.

an alpine w404 touch screen dealio.

I got me a wiring harness, intended for hondas year 98+ (the website said it would match up to my 2004 honda element, and the connector did fit, though who knows if the wires were right).

I was left with two wires on each side, one the radio power antennae and remote were left dead in the water, and on the wiring harness a wire that was marked "illumination" was left, and the guide said there should have been a blue wire for power antennae but I didn't have that though I did have an orange wire that was no defined.

So being the google learner I am I set off in search of knowledge, I figured "illumination" was going to power my car's factory amp and an element owner's forum I found said that power antennae would turn the amp on or off, so I figured the mystery cable was just the wrong color and would be the power antennae cable I needed to tell my amp to turn on or off.

No sound.

connect back the factory stereo, still works, didn't break anything.

I'm very frustrated and I've spent almost 4 hours fiddling with this damn thing now.

Any advice? I'm near the point of just taking the head unit to car toys and letting them sort it out for $150.. just thought I would save myself the cash if it was just a quick splice and plug job like it was in my last car.

KryptykSol

Illumination is usually the wire that allows the stereo to dim when you dim your dash lights, I _think_ power antenna would be for if you have a power antenna (one that goes up and down on its own, dont quote me on that, I've never used this wire), and "remote" is the wire that tells your amp to turn on.

Maybe that will get you started, stereo wiring is sometimes rather annoying. I just finished figuring out why my speaker amp (Kicker 4 channel 120watts RMS/channel woo!) was cutting out and generally being annoying, it was the ground. Basically just try different things until it works. Unfortunately since your cars amp is stock, it probably doesnt have a light on it to tell you its on, which is super handy when troubleshooting.

Captain Vash

The illumination light must be related to dash lights because while I was fiddling the lights were pulsating oddly if I configured the wires a certain way, and this morning they don't come on at all.. I probably either burnt out the bulbs or hopefully just the fuse in there...

I'm thinking the harness I bought just assumed I would have the more standard 4 speaker arrangement instead instead of the 6.1 factory option my car has. The only reason I decided to give it a go anyways was because of what the alternate forum said about the amp power, and the fact that I found another diagram that shows that the tweets are wired in line with the left/right front speakers...

I know where the amp is located, and from what I've heard when using an aftermarket stereo it may be work it to just bypass the amp altogether, or possibly grab an
After market amp and use the pre-outs instead of trying to wire the powered lines into a weaker amp.


T

eternalbl

Probably there's a harness that works for your premium system that'll connect to the low level RCA outputs on the deck to get a signal to your amp. I guess I can't really say for sure, but thats how it worked with my Toyota that had a similar sounding setup. It was a pain to find that harness because everything said I'd need the harness that was for the non-premium system.

Captain Vash

... and now to add to the confusion I may have been using wire connectors of the wrong gauge... jeeeez.

You know? I was planning on selling my car in the near future and may just hang on to the head unit until I get a new car. >_<


fooey on this.