Hey guys,

I am finishing up rewiring my Bird with a Painless Wiring Harness. the only thing I have left is the stereo installation. I tried hooking it up from memory, but that didn't work. Anyway, the stereo is an old JVC unit, and I don't have any info on it (came with the car). The back of the stereo has a metal post coming out of it, and the main harness plug. The plug has the 4 speaker wires coming in, 1 thin black wire, and 1 thicker red wire.

I figured that the metal post was for Switched Power, the black wire was for Ground, and the red was for Constant power. That wasn't right because that blew my Radio fuse. I don't want to guess & check anymore, so can somebody with some experience help me please. I'm really stumped.

Here's a picture of the back of the stereo, don't really know how to post it, so here's the URL: http://warbaby.this-weapon.com/fzrpics/DSCF0013.JPG

Thanks,
-Max

 

 

that metal post is for a back strap, not wiring email jvc to see if they have a wiring schematic for that deck. but please, leave the post alone...

 

If it's an older JVC deck, then you can just hook the red wire to ignition (on when the car is on), and your black is ground. You can use a battery to test which speaker wire is which channel, and you should be all set.

 

Thanks for the help Ragnarok,
You other guys don't have to rip on me about using the post. I've never hooked up a stereo in my life. It looked like it was used for power to me, just a bad guess on my part.
Anyway you say red is power (ignition switched) and black is ground. So where would constant power hook up to, because I don't want to lose my settings every time I turn off the car.

Thanks,
-Max

 

Usually, red is ignition, and yellow is constant 12V. If you have presets, though, and only the single power wire, hook that to a constant 12V source.

 

sorry, just busting your chops. but seriously, you have to be careful with cars and electronics. one thing i've learned is to not touch anything unless i'm sure of what i'm touching. so, sorry to sound mean, just trying to tell you that its a very good idea to know what you're getting into before you do it

 

I don't recall ripping on you.

That's why I used the smilie before the picture.

 

There should be a yellow wire right next to the red one on that harness. What is the model number? Is there an open space on the harness, next to the red wire, should be on the left side looking from the back of the radio with the harness plugged in. Give me the model number and I'll see if I can pull a manual.