ok, i removed the cd player from my camaro. i went to reinstall it buuuuttttt. the orange batt. i dont think thats the constant? but its not giving me power.(the orange wire that goes throughout the car into the dash and what not) i figured out that it was that wire because i hooked it up to a wire from the battery. has anybody had this problem? also. i have to hook up the 12+ (red?) and the constant (orange?) so i have a bundle of 4 wires hooked up to make my cd player work in my car. ive had the cd player in another 1 of my cars without any problems. but the cammy is arising questions that i just cant seem to answer. any help is appreciated!

Anthony

 

Just think, if you used a wiring harness, you wouldn't have these problems. It would be a plug & play installation.

But anyway... the factory wiring uses an orange wire for the +12 volt battery power. This is in a separate plug from the rest of the wiring harness, although if yours are already cut out, that doesn't help you. In any event, this is the one that will test hot all the time regardless of key position. This hooks to the yellow wire on your cd player. The +12 volt ignition wire is the yellow wire in the car. This one only tests hot with the key on. This hooks to the red wire on your cd player.

If the factory wiring doesn't have the proper voltage, you need to check your fuses.

 

ok, now that we're on the right track. lol.... nothing was cut, and a wire harness was used. i was hoping somebody could help me trace back into the factory car harness (the orange wire) and tell me where it goes so i can see why its not supplying the power it should be. thanks

 

please help! im tired of "hotwireing" my cd player. it gets hot, and besides. i can turn my fan on.lol

 

I don't have a schematic in front of me, and my car was one of the few thirdgens that came with an AM radio, so mine doesn't have that wire, but I would have to assume that the orange wire would run back to the fuse panel, where it's supplied by the ignition power.

If I get time tonight I'll look at my schematics and post the information.

 

please do. im sure im goin to start hurting something with the way i have it hooked up. i got a wire running from the battery to the orange wire on the cd player. but its not a good guage to run. its like 14g i think. so it gets really hot.

 

Actually, if you have a 92 then the power wire would still be orange but it would not be in a separate harness with the illumination wire. In between the 90/91 production years GM introduced a new stereo harness. If you're not getting constant 12V at the orange wire behind the stereo it is most likely due to a blown underdash fuse.

I'm not sure if you asked about other wire colors behind the stereo, but here they are just in case:

Constant 12V: Orange
Accessory 12V: Yellow
Ground: Black
LF Speaker +/-: Tan/Black
RF Speaker +/-: Lt. Green/Dk. Green
LR Speaker +/-: Brown/Yellow
RR Speaker +/-: Dk. Blue/Lt. Blue

You'll probably also have a pink, a gray, and a brown wire in addition to the wires listed above. The pink should be dimmer and the brown should be illumination. I can't remember what the gray wire is there for, sorry about that. When I test wires I always find the wires that carry voltage first and then test for speakers. This is especially important in your car so that you can isolate that second brown wire for illumination before testing speakers.

My preferred method of testing speakers is using a 9volt battery. Just tap the speaker leads to it and you should hear an audible pop come from the speaker. If the speaker cone "pops" out towards you then you have the correct polarity, meaning that the wire on the + of the battery is the + speaker wire, and vice versa. If the speaker cone "pops" in then the polarity is obviously reversed.

One last thing.. I'm sure you're aware of this, but if you're running a 12V power lead directly from the battery you absolutely must fuse it near the battery. I've seen way too many accidental fires in vehicles due to non-fused power leads.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I didn't cover any information that you requested. Good luck!

 

Oops, I missed that he had a 92.

An interesting tidbit about the new wiring harness is that GM phased it in over the course of a few years instead of all at once. Most cars got it in 89 I think, but my 89 Jimmy had the old style harness, and my 88 GTA has the new style.

 

all that info is helpful, but..... where exactly would the 12+ constant go to? everything checks out ok besides the cd player dont get power. the ground is fine. the acc. is ok. but the constant is messed up. i just need to know where i could go into to find the problem. ie. under the dash. in the steering column.... its not the fuse. but i should place a inline fuse near the battery. i'll do that tomarrow morning. also, my car is a 92 but it was built in 91. according to the door panal i mean.... well thanks again, any more help is appreciated

Anthony

 

The constant 12v wire for the stereo comes directly from the fuseblock under the driver's dash. However, it might share duties with another accessory such as the cigarette lighter. If you say that the radio fuse under the dash is fine then take it out and test each side of the fuse terminals with a multimeter or test light. One side should be getting 12v and the other side should have no voltage and test continuity with the constant 12v wire behind the stereo. If there's no voltage on either terminal then there may be a problem behind the fusebox where the wire meets the terminal. If there's no continuity between the other fuse terminal and the wire running to the stereo then there may be damage to that wire somewhere in its path. If this were the case though it would have more than likely touched chassis ground and blown the fuse. While you're at it, test continuity between both blades of the fuse you removed to make sure it really is okay.