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.
1 - 16 of 50 Posts
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.
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.
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.
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:
2
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.
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?
It should come with several fuses of different values. Radio Shack might have them. I cant remember where I got mine. Might have been Canadian tire or Rona.
I gotta agree with CasanovaFly. Lets try to keep topics seperate.
Sorry for not replying sooner, I've had a load of school work to do.
First, the dash issue. If you remove the fuse tap and just put the original fuse back in, does that solve the issue or is it still there? If its still there, try putting the OEM radio back in and see if that fixes the issue. If it does, I would bet the harness is causing the issue.
As for the sound issue. Thats a tough call. I'd make sure all the settings in your radio are correct. If they are, my next test would be to check the voltage on the speaker wires behind the radio. You should have 2 green, 2 purple, 2 grey and 2 white wires coming out of the radio. Each set will have 1 wire with a black tracer on it. The one with the tracer is your negative, while the solid one is your positive. Turn your volume up about half way and measure the AC voltage across the wires. If there is nothing there, the issue is with the radio. If there is something there, I would bet the issue is with the harness.
Sorry for not replying sooner, I've had a load of school work to do.
First, the dash issue. If you remove the fuse tap and just put the original fuse back in, does that solve the issue or is it still there? If its still there, try putting the OEM radio back in and see if that fixes the issue. If it does, I would bet the harness is causing the issue.
As for the sound issue. Thats a tough call. I'd make sure all the settings in your radio are correct. If they are, my next test would be to check the voltage on the speaker wires behind the radio. You should have 2 green, 2 purple, 2 grey and 2 white wires coming out of the radio. Each set will have 1 wire with a black tracer on it. The one with the tracer is your negative, while the solid one is your positive. Turn your volume up about half way and measure the AC voltage across the wires. If there is nothing there, the issue is with the radio. If there is something there, I would bet the issue is with the harness.
The radio should be fine with the 10A fuse. I would start by trying a different fuse to tap into and see if that fixes it.
For the sound, you only use the RCAs if you have an amp attached to the radio. Otherwise the sound needs to go out the regular wires (your green, white, grey and purple). When checking the voltage, you are not looking for any specific value as that is volume dependant. You just want to know that it is there.
I would advise not hardwiring to the car harness. Not only will it be worse than this experience, but it could cause even more problems.
For the sound, you only use the RCAs if you have an amp attached to the radio. Otherwise the sound needs to go out the regular wires (your green, white, grey and purple). When checking the voltage, you are not looking for any specific value as that is volume dependant. You just want to know that it is there.
I would advise not hardwiring to the car harness. Not only will it be worse than this experience, but it could cause even more problems.
0-1.8A or 0-1.8V?It would appear that there is something coming out of the speakers. I just uncovered the green wires and tested them, and it shot anywhere from 0 to 1.8A, averaging around 0.3A. This was before the harness connection, though. I'm not sure how I would test whether or not there is any signal getting past the harness without stripping wires.
You could try taking measurements at the speakers. They should be more or less the same as at the harness.
You could do that. I would just test the back ones. They are easily accessible from the trunk.
If you didn't want to take it somewhere, I would be talking to Metra or PAC to see what they say about which harness to use.
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