All the wiring should be colormatched behind the radio with the red 12V accessory wire going to a fuse in the passenger side fuse panel that is only hot when the ignition is on. If that is all good, it is time to take out the multimeter and start figuring out where you have power and where you dont.
Help installing aftermarket car stereo/deck
Hi y'all. Long time lurker, first time poster. Signed up specifically to get some help installing a car stereo. I'm a fairly technologically-inclined guy, so I figured replacing the stock stereo in my car wouldn't be much of a difficulty. WRONG.
I purchased this deck (thought not through Crutchfield) and figured it'd be an easy swap. I ripped apart the car to figure out I need an in-dash receiver kit, so I picked up this one. Then I go at it again, and find out I need a wiring harness to avoid chopping everything up, so I go out and get this one.
Now I've got everything I need to install this thing. I tried the other day, though, and couldn't get power to the unit. I'm 110% frustrated now and at a complete loss, so I need help. The harness kit came with a red 12V accessory wire (which I believe gives the unit its power) but I don't know how to hook it up or where. I read on various forums that it should go to the passenger side fuse box. The red wire came with a little fuse adapter thing so that you can plug it in with a fuse, so I stuck it in the radio fuse. No luck. I don't know if I hooked the wire up right at the harness, though, and it was cold as hell out, so I gave up, and now I'm here.
This process has totally sucked and any help would be amazing.
I've got a 2007 Pontiac G6. Sedan. Any other details I don't have right now, but can try and get later on.
I purchased this deck (thought not through Crutchfield) and figured it'd be an easy swap. I ripped apart the car to figure out I need an in-dash receiver kit, so I picked up this one. Then I go at it again, and find out I need a wiring harness to avoid chopping everything up, so I go out and get this one.
Now I've got everything I need to install this thing. I tried the other day, though, and couldn't get power to the unit. I'm 110% frustrated now and at a complete loss, so I need help. The harness kit came with a red 12V accessory wire (which I believe gives the unit its power) but I don't know how to hook it up or where. I read on various forums that it should go to the passenger side fuse box. The red wire came with a little fuse adapter thing so that you can plug it in with a fuse, so I stuck it in the radio fuse. No luck. I don't know if I hooked the wire up right at the harness, though, and it was cold as hell out, so I gave up, and now I'm here.
This process has totally sucked and any help would be amazing.
I've got a 2007 Pontiac G6. Sedan. Any other details I don't have right now, but can try and get later on.
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Thanks for the reply!
I matched all the wires between the harness I purchased and the wires that came with the deck, but there were a couple leftovers:
- a black wire from the deck
- an orange (non-striped) wire from the deck
I just left those as I was unsure of where they went.
Also, there was a red wire on both the deck wiring and the harness. This leaves me at a loss for where the 12V red wire goes that came with the harness. To I connect all three red wires (12V to fuse, from harness, from deck)?
There was also the black ground wire from the deck. Does this need to be grounded to something for the stereo to function? Or should I chop it and hook it up to the black wire that's open in the harness?
I matched all the wires between the harness I purchased and the wires that came with the deck, but there were a couple leftovers:
- a black wire from the deck
- an orange (non-striped) wire from the deck
I just left those as I was unsure of where they went.
Also, there was a red wire on both the deck wiring and the harness. This leaves me at a loss for where the 12V red wire goes that came with the harness. To I connect all three red wires (12V to fuse, from harness, from deck)?
There was also the black ground wire from the deck. Does this need to be grounded to something for the stereo to function? Or should I chop it and hook it up to the black wire that's open in the harness?
If there is a red wire on the deck and the harness, you can just connect them together and leave the other one alone. I dont know why they would give you an extra red wire if there was already one on the harness though. You must ground the stereo for it to function as it is the only way for the electricity to return to the battery. If there is a black wire on the harness you can just connect it to that wire. The orange wire is an illumination wire. You dont need to worry about it.
So you would recommend stripping the ground wire on the deck and connecting it to the harness one? That would make everything much simpler.
Alright, I'll give it a shot and report back. Probably won't have time to open 'er up until Wednesday. Thanks for the help!
Tried wiring everything straight, didn't work. When I connect the harness to the car, and then the harness to the deck itself, I can hear the CD eject noise. After that, though, nothing. No power to the unit. What should I do now?
Do you have a multimeter? If you do, take a voltage reading of the yellow 12V wire and the red 12V wire while the car is running. They should both be ~12V. My best guess would be that there is no power coming through the red wire on the harness, meaning you'll have to disconnect the red wire coming from the radio from the harness and connect it to the long red wire going to the fuse box. If you look at the diagram for the fuse box, you will want to tap into a fuse that says "ignition" below it.
I've got a manual multimeter. What am I testing? AC or DC? How do I test the wires? Will I be able to test the wires through the sheath, or should I go through the exposed ends through the harness.
You're testing DC voltage. Put your negative lead on the ground and the positive lead on the wire you want to test. I would test at the connection you made between the harness and the radio, or if you put heat shrink over that you can sometimes get a reading where the wire enters the connector for the radio.
Got it tested. Results:
Yellow: gave me about 13-14V
Red: nothing at all
What's the next step. Take the red wire coming out of the deck and hook it up to the red wire that came with the harness, which I will then connect (using the fuse tap that came with it) to the ignition fuse?
Yellow: gave me about 13-14V
Red: nothing at all
What's the next step. Take the red wire coming out of the deck and hook it up to the red wire that came with the harness, which I will then connect (using the fuse tap that came with it) to the ignition fuse?
2
If you look at the fuse box diagram that is on the back of the cover you pull off, under some fuses it will say "ignition" or something similar to that. Tap into any one of those fuses. They will only be hot when the car is on. That will give you power to the red wire which should let your radio turn on.
BTW, are you using one of these:
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or one of these:
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BTW, are you using one of these:
or one of these:
Good news: we now have power.
Bad news: we always have power. It stays on regardless of whether the key is in the ignition or not, whether the car is on or not, whether I'm sitting in the house or not. Also, no sound.
I tapped into "IGN SENSOR" on the fuse panel. Here's the fuse panel: http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j5/XGamesJ6/BOX.png
Bad news: we always have power. It stays on regardless of whether the key is in the ignition or not, whether the car is on or not, whether I'm sitting in the house or not. Also, no sound.
I tapped into "IGN SENSOR" on the fuse panel. Here's the fuse panel: http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j5/XGamesJ6/BOX.png
That must not be a switched circuit then. In the diagram you posted you will notice that "HVAC CTRL" says "(IGN)" after it. That is what you want to tap into. Those are the fuses you want to tap into. There should be more of them, but that diagram doesnt show them. The diagram on the cover for the fuse box shows them all.
Tapped into HVAC CTRL, now it starts and shuts off with the car.
However, no sound still. Any ideas?
However, no sound still. Any ideas?
As long as you hooked up everything correctly its hard to tell what the problem is without actually being there. Are you playing a radio station?
I'm pretty confident in my colour-matching skills, so I think I hooked everything up correctly. I tried an iPod, a CD, and the radio; nothing on each.
Interesting development: I left everything as-was last night, and when I got up to drive to work this morning, nothing on my dash was working. Speedometer, gas gauge, none of it showed any signs of life. I parked, turned the car off, pulled the 12V deck wire off the fuse tap and they came back to life when I started the car. Should I find a different fuse?
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