i just bought my first bird as of friday, and would like to put a new stereo in it.
I got this alpine 3 disk changer from a friend for free, but dont know if it will hook up, so id like some advice. thanks...

 

that is a nice unit... I dunno if u are aware of it but those are rare and still go for some decent bux on ebay...and it also looks like thats the Jap version...which makes it a little more desirable

this should help u out on ur install....

http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/GM-Wiring.pdf

if not...u can come back and we'll walk u through it

 

thanks for the reply... i decided to go another way and bought a new unit, so i can have it match the gauges... now, i went to install it and discovered that the previous owner had a diff radio in it then there should have been, and therefor the plug did not match. now im gonna have to cut the wires and match em up with the stereo i bought. is there anything i should know about before attempting this?

 

Any good car audio shop should have an adapter that fits between your car's harness and the new head unit. Don't go and hack up the harness, the previous owners of both of my cars did and it makes for a difficult install besides being outright messy.

If it's already been hacked, then you may not have much choice. I found an original harness end for my 89 at a junk yard and spliced it in.

 

unfortunantly i dont listen... the previous owner already hacked the origional harness and crimped a bunch of crap, so the whole right side had no sound... im wanting to start over and do it right, but i cant figure some of the wires out... i dont have a yellow wire to the battery for example.

 

If thats the case it looks like your only option is gonna run your own wiring...dont worry is not as bad as it sounds.....The panels on 3rd gens arent hard to take off

 

i was afraid youd say that... i spent till 2am trying to figure out how to get the radio to at least power on, with no success...
The delco radio that was previously in there, had two plugs going to the back of it. One with a whole bunch of wires, and one small plug with an orange and a black/blue wire going to it. im just too retarded to figure this **** out...

 

That Alpine was a pretty good unit at the time (mid-late 90's).
It was one of their top of the line models back then.

As for the wiring, how bad is it hacked?
If the harness has just been cutoff, that's not a big deal at all.

 

missed this reply.

Do you have a multimeter?
If so, check to see what wires have 12v constant, and which wires have 12v switched with the key.

 

or put em together and if u get a spark.... u are good lol jk

 

You can figure out what wires go to what speakers by touching the two simular color wires to a 9volt battery (just a tap will do). this will make a pop sound from the speaker. If you buy a wire harness kit (should range from 10 -15.99,Walmart/target or higher dollar stereo shop will carry) The new harness should have the designation printed on the wire or labeled with a sticker.

 

so... today i dropped my car of out back at work to have a maintenance guy look at it for me... we found out that i blew the radio fuse... now, we replaced the fuse and he took a meter to it and found the ignition wire, but there is no wire that is seems to be hot all the time. can i just run my own wire?

 

mine was like that. there was a wire but it had no current. i was never able to find the fuse for it, so i just ended up running my own( 12 gauge in case i ever wanted to hook up any accessories) and put a fuse in line, just for safety

 

now... where exactly would i hook up the wire if i ran a new one? would it litterally go to the battery post? lol

 

yes( simple as that lol) just crimp a claw/fork crimp(whatever they are called) to the wire and attach it, be sure to also put a fuse in the line( for safety) its no diffrent than hooking up an amp

 

thats right....a 10 gauge wire will do....

 

alright... thanks for the reply's. Ill try that today and hopefully ill be able to take a pic of my new and functional headunit... lol

 

finally... got rid of the old delco unit and in with my new jvc...

Couldn't have gotten it completed without all of your help, so thank you...

 

wut happened to the alpine?

 

i decided to save it... or perhaps sell it, not sure.

 

I had that same alpine unit in my 87 t/a(back in 98).I loved it other than the action between cd`s bit for the right price i would take it off your hands