Hi,I'm installing a cd player and speakers I got from a friend so I dont exactly have instructions but was able to find a wire chart thing that told what color did what on the factory harness,and the cd player has a handy chart that shows which wires do which so it seems pretty simple and straight forward. When installing all the speakers I would wire it up to the cd harness to make sure I had them correct and didnt forget colors later on so I know those are correct.
Whats getting me is the Orange wire(mine has a black stripe) is the constant power wire right? Its yellow on the cd harness (said to battery),had a fuse (still good) and crimped em together. The red wire on the cd harness said to starter (fuse still good),so I hooked it to the yellow which said it was for switched 12v.... I got the ground grounded,antenna hooked up and dim wires together. Used the fancy wire crimp things so the connections are good and look nice but the damn thing doesnt work!
whoever owned the car previously must have had a setup in before selling it. The wires have some crappy black tape conections,no screws holding the tape player in or the console trim holding them in for that matter. All speakers had only one or two screws holding them in. A bit of a hack job IMO but (most of it) worked,sounded horrible. Anyways I'm trying to do this the correct way (digging up info to do it right).
Also, In the back I can see another orange wire and black wire,wired in a clip that looks like it might have been connected to the radio,they were tapped completely seperate from all the other colored audio wires so I dont get that part. Were those for something else? Dont have the cable that goes from my cam to pc or I'd post a pic.

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

I am working on the same thing and I have the same problem. Any help would be appreciated.

To answer one question though, the orange and black wire by themselves go to the cigarette lighter, I believe...

 

I just did a head unit install. If your using the original wires, the best best is ether drop $15 on a Haynes manual which has a complete diagram or see if any has one you can borrow or a picture of the diagram. They say what each wire is hooked up to and where it goes. Also What I know (I had the same problems) That factory wiring could be shorted somewhere, and in some radios they have a safety cut off if they detect a short. If you say the wiring from the last guy is kinda fudgey, you may what to consider running new speaker wire. Hope this helps.

 

Just finished installing a new HU in the T/A using the Scosche wire harness connector I got from Wal-Mart (also includes the antenna adapter - model GMDAF) for GM 88 and up.The orange wire is for illumination/dimmer, at least that's what it states on the install guide.
Again it's for GM's 88 and up.
The new system sounds awesome (all pioneer - 4x6 plates,6x9's and the HU is a DEH-P3900MP).
Make sure to crimp the wires using butt connectors (red worked fine for mine......good luck !!

 

The first thing I would check is the radio's fuse. Make sure it's good. Next, take a voltmeter and make sure you're ground is good. If it is, use it to test the +12v from the battery and the +12v switched. Make sure you are getting 12v from the battery always, and 12v from the switched source ONLY when the key is in the ACC, Start, and On positions. I can't remember for sure, but that separate clip with the orange and black has a constant(orange) and a ground(black) and connects to the radio. The orange in the main harness is switched I think, but double check with the voltmeter.

If you don't have a voltmeter, you should pick one up as they are indispensable when troubleshooting wiring issues. Even a cheap test light will work for this though and they can be had for a couple dollars.

My other suggestion would be to pick up one of the Scosche wiring kits. They are cheap and eliminate a lot of the hassle of radio installs.

Dumb question - the cd player your installing DOES work, right? You didn't mention if it was new or used, so I have to consider that possibility too.

 

Sounds like you have a blown fuse, either on the back of the aftermarket radio or in your fuse box. Best way to check the wiring is to use a multi-meter to check voltage, but I know that everyone doesn't own one.

Both your ignition and constant wire have to be 'good' for the radio to work, if one of those wires works and the other doesn't... radio won't turn on. Your ground wire could also be bad. I could tell you about 13 different ways to 'ghetto' check to see if your wiring is okay, but then something won't be done right and you'll start causing more problems . Small possibility that you will have to run an all new constant, or ignition, or ground wire, or maybe all three of them. OR the radio your putting in may not even work.

Here's the factory wiring diagram to our cars.(I have a lot of audio information posted on Z28.com)

Constant 12V+ - Orange
Switched 12V+ - Yellow
Ground - Black
Illumination - Gray
Dimmer - Brown
Antenna Trigger - Pink
Antenna Right - Rear
Dash Speakers - 4x6
Left Front (+) - Tan
Left Front (-) - Gray
Right Front (+) - Light Green
Right Front (-) - Dark Green
Rear Speakers 6x9 Side Panels
Left Rear (+) - Brown
Left Rear (-) - Yellow
Right Rear (+) - Dark Blue
Right Rear (-) - Light Blue

 

quick update on my situation, which may end up helping steven23. I didn't know this(everybody else might) but there is a second fuse box under the dash. It is right behind the OBD port. There is a fuse in there that is labeled ACC Radio. You might look there if you haven't already. I had checked my fuses on the main block and they were good but we still weren't getting any power to the constant(orange)wire. Found that second fuse block and that's where the bad fuse was. Hope this helps!

 

Thanks for the help everyone . Everythings good to go now! My bro and I got it figured out... Then we re-did the F&R brakes (p.s. I hate drum brakes lol... ).

 

what he said.

 

+2

 

I did my search and found what I was looking for. Thanks Cam-aro!