Hey guys,

While working at a shop, a friend of mine gave me a free pioneer unit (Not a new model, im thinking its a bit old) and wired it up for me. It's been buggy so far, but its better than having nothing at all. But there are a few things i want to fix.

The head unit needs to be turned on manually when I start the car. I found out tonight that the unit turns off when I have the headlights on. And lastly, the unit turns off when I put too much power into it. If I push the bass and other setting up and it crank it up to about 11 or 12, the screen flickers and eventually shuts off. My friend told me one of the speaker wires might be grounded and that I'd have to get to fix it. I believe he also said there was a problem with the direct current, and that's why I have to manually turn the unit on.

And lastly, my radio doesn't tune. I know this is going to be stupid, but where is the antenna located? I have a 91 camaro and it doesn't have an antenna on the outside. I dont know if the PO took it off or if it's concealed somewhere.

Thanks

 

Its kinda hard to tell without seeing it happen...but just some thoughts:

If the stereo turns on only if you turn it on manually you probably have your batt and acc cables reversed,

If your head unit goes off when the headlights are on, either theres something wrong with your electrical system,or the HU is bad.(try running a 10ga wire from the battery to the HU, see if that fixes it)

Lastly,if theres no visible antenna,you probably dont have one,I dont think it cant be concealed (unless u go for the "shark fin" mod) ur gonna have to make the hole and mount it yourself,it aint all thaat difficult, if you do a search on the forum you'll find some info.

P.s I have a cassete alpine that you can have for the price of shipping if you'd like.(say $20)
Its fully functional, it will need a wiring harness though (you can get it on ebay for around 6 bucks)

 

Give me a day and i can get a video or some pics up.

I wouldn't be suprised if something got reversed, the wires were all cut short and it was a friggin mess. I don't really mind turning the unit on whenever I want to listen to something, but I though I'd mention it in my post. And before installing the unit he hooked it up to a volt machine, and when given a current it turned on by itself.

Also, everytime I turn the unit on all the settings are reset. I set all my custom settings (bass, treb, fad, etc) and if I turn the car off for a while and back on, all the settings are reset. The clock always starts at 12:00 too.

I'd really like to get the unit to work with the lights on. Is it possible that two wires were mismatched? Im not too familiar with the wires, but after searching I read up on the ground wire (black). Could the ground be the problem?

Thanks for the attena info. I couldn't find where the original intenna would've been located either, theres no holes on the body. Where were the stock antennas anyway? On the passenger side?

Thanks for the offer on the Alpine, but I'm okay with the unit I have now

 

passenger side up front. That's odd there'd be no hole for it. Radio delete? Nah, you'da noticed the lack of...well anywhere to plug the new one in

 

your accessory and constant 12v are reversed most likely the constant is what saves the memory and clock settings

 

you very easily can run a "hidden" antenna, as far as mountin it, pretty much anywhere goes, if you can get it in there, and plugged in, it'll work. Most of them are powered so no worries on losing reception. Im not sure about camaros with the no factory radio, but i know my truck origionally had no radio, and there was still a factory mounting hole with a little plug sorta thing in it, im pretty sure that this is done to cut cost on making a fender without the hole. Now, if there is no mounting point, it could have been shaved off by the previous owner. If thats the case, odds are they put an antenna somewhere in the car, id play around behind the mounting plate for your head unit and see if you can find the connection for the antenna. If there is none, IMHO i'd put a hidden one in, people pay money to get rid of the factory antenna holes and such, so you got lucky in my book. Also, you could take the cheap route like i did in my truck, go to your local parts store, get an extension for the radio antenna, 25 feet if possible, and just sorta lay it back behind the head unit, mine works GREAT, has great reception, and was very cheap... but thats just my 2 cents.

 

Do you remember what colors they are? I might need to find a wiring diagram to figure out what's matched incorectly.

Regarding the radio, my car did come with a radio, but prior to me buying the car the previous owner tore it out and left that area open.

And thanks for the tips on the antenna. There's definitely no holes up front (I like the look too, but I do miss the radio at times). Could I mount an antenna behind the plastic pillar next to the windshield?

Thanks

 

This should help:

 

Exactly what I needed! Will print it out and check my wiring soon Thanks