so i havent driven my car in a while and im trying to fix all the kinks in it before i make it my daily driver. a problem i came up with when i did use to drive the camaro alot, was that the stereo would cut in and out, by that i mean, it would turn off and then on and then off, and then when i wiggled the center console, it would turn back on, do i figured it had to be the stereo or some loose connection.

so i went to circuit city and returned the stereo since it had a warrantee on it they fixed it for free, or so they said. well i plugged it back in, and nothing. same problem as before. but i did find some wires that had dead ends and just dont connect to anything, if anyone can fill me in, what do these wires do?



thats the connector to the back of the stereo, and that seems fine, what i dont know is what that gray twisted wire is doing and where it goes.

heres a close up


both of these dont go anywhere, but the one to the right with the purple connector doesnt go anywhere either, im sure its supposed to go somewhere.

now this one is the power supply to the stereo, i think?


this one is fine, but the only problem is if it is the power then how come my stereo wont turn on?


any info on these unknown wires would be great.

 

THE ONE YOU THINK SUPPLIES POWER IS THE ANTENNA. I THINK THE OTHER WIRES ARE SPEAKER WIRES. SOME STEREOS ARE GROUNDED THROUGH THE ANTENNA. THAT COULD CAUSE YOUR PROBLEM, IF THE ANTENNA ISN'T SECURELY PLUGGED IN.

 

is it possible that the wire with the purple connector connected to the power? or should i check the yellow wires, since i heard yellow means power. also if i did want to check the wires for power, how would i do this with a multimeter? by that i mean where do i put the positive probe and the negative? is it negative to good ground and then just probe the suspect wires?

 

 

YES. BLACK TO A GOOD GROUND AND THEN PROBE EACH WIRE THAT YOU NEED TO WITH THE RED. BE SURE YOUR MULTIMETER IS SET ON THE RIGHT VOLTAGE AND SETTING. YELLOW IS INDEED POWER, MOST OF THE TIME. THE WIRING LOOKS FACTORY, SO YOU SHOULD BE GOOD TO GO. FOR $10 OR SO, YOU CAN GO TO WALMART AND GET A STEREO ADAPTER HARNESS FOR YOUR YEAR CAR AND IT WILL LIST WHAT EACH WIRE IS FOR, BY COLOR.

 

i think your making a mistake about pic #3. Thats not your power. the black wire with the metal end is your ANTENNA. it should plug into the back of the deck.

Just Curious ?????? if you bought this deck at Circuit City im assuming it was new!! get the decks manual out & spend a few mins reading it.

And if C.C. fixed it under the purchase warranty, didnt they install it to?
You should have a wiring harness to connect your car wiring to your decks wiring.
attach 1 end of harness to the car stereo plug & the other end of the harness to the wires that plug into the deck. make sure you have a fuse in the deck and the ground is connected.

almost 100% positive you will have diff colors from one set of wires to the next to the final set. its ok. the function of the wire is what you match from one harness to the next. the function is usually stamped onto the wire itself.

lQQk closely... wires are labeled with ACC/PWR/RR/LR/etc...
hope it helps... i hated not having tunes


READING... it's amazing! (fat free and cheap too)
~kimberley~

 

Red Yellow and Black are ignition, constant power (batt +) and ground (-)

Purple and purple w/black stripe is your positive and negative rear pass (IIRC) speaker wires

Gray and white w/corresponding black stripe are your positive and negative front speaker wires. White is driver side and gray is passenger side. (Kinda fuzzy but I think thats correct)

Also I dont know what color it is on your harness, but there should be a green or teal green wire w/a corresponding black stripe that will be your other rear speaker output.

The blue wire w/a white stripe is going to be either the power antenna (which you dont need) or a remote wire to turn your amp on if you have one. If you don't have one then you don't need it either obviously.

The one in the second picture w/what appears to be a purple crimp cap may or may not be the illumination wire for the stereo. I usually connect them to the ignition wire (red) when I install.


Depending on HU make and model number its possible that it rec's an antenna signal and if the antenna wire isn't secure if it wiggles it will cause an intermittent (sic?) signal. Meaning that it will shut the radio off and on.

Easiest way to tell if thats the problem I know of is to answer this question:
When your radio would shut off and on would it still remember the time and stations?

If yes, then I'd highly suspect the antenna wire being either loose in the reciever in back of radio, or is bare and possibly grounding somewhere along the line, or has a bad connection @ the antenna it self.

If no, then Check to see if there are any bare sections of the power wires (red/yellow) and check the grounds connection. (black)

 

no it wouldnt completely reset. but what im wondering is that after another inspection, it seemed that the small purple connector in the second picture had a piece of yellow wire in it, but i cant seem to find the rest of the yellow wire so i can hook it up again.

also thanks for the replies, but yes it was installed and the harness is in, but it seems like they had to cut and splice into the existing wires.

 

just tape off that gray wire with electrical tape it probably hits something and shorts your unit on and off and plug that silver big antenna wire that u think is the supply in the radio shouldnt work without it

 

if i find that i dont get any power from the antenna ground is it possible i could just run the wire straight to any ground? or should i try to get the antenna in properly

also the purple connector in pic 2 had a piece of yellow wire in it that i guess came loose and ripped. but where does the yellow wire come from?

 

Too lazy to read, the Gray wire with the butt connector is factory Illumination, if its an aftermarket deck, it is likely not needed.

The thick black one is antenna, as someone said, some radios are grounded through the antenna, this HAS to be plugged in.

Another thing, I used to work at an audio shop, and we had a ton of people come in that had units installed from circuit city, with the WORST jobs ever, loose **** everywhere, wires left unplugged/cut or broken, wrong wires plugged into wrong places. I really don't think they have a car audio technician hired for this, the employees just do it best they can.

Yellow is 12v Constant from batter, used for clock, and memory.
Red is 12v Ignition for when the key is turned, this supplies the operating power for the radio.
Black would be ground.
Blue solid is power antenna or amplifier remote, forgot which, blue/white striped is also the other one of the two.
others are for speakers.

 

first and foremost if your checking a ground wire for power you need to put the multi-meter down and go back to basics and learn what does what lol. A ground wire merely completes the overall electrical circut. Likewise the antenna wire does NOT provide any type of power. It is merely a safety feature built into some radios. In order for the radio to work properly (or at all in some) the antenna wire completes the circut for the radio to work.

savvy?

You check what we told you to check, re-connect the wires appropriately with the proper connectors, make sure EVERY THING IS TIGHT and CORRECTLY CONNECTED, plug the antenna wire in and make sure its secure and you should be good to go if there are no problems in the radio itself.