trying to get this deck to work, and the guy before me decided to take out ALL the stock wires. i was able to get it to function, but cant get any speaker sound. all the fuses are good, including the one on the deck. i'm not sure if the deck is bad, or if my wires are messing it up.

i have the power wire running to the positive terminal on the battery, ground wire grounded on a bolt right behind the deck, and the ignition wire going to the ignition slot in the fuse box.

the big fatty black cable the plugs into the top left corner of the back of the deck does not fit. but i have my cadillac hooked up without it also (did not fit on there either)

ok, so what's my malfunction?

 

How are the speaker wires ran?
What year // body is your 3rd gen? ( Camaro, Trans Am, FireBird? )

I have a Haynes for an 87 Camaro, so if the radio diagram will work, I can tell you wiring schematics. It was all correct for the Camaro.

Is an amp needed to drive the speakers? Is there a " mute " button of some sort? A volume cut-off tonprotect speakers?
Not having the antennae wire plugged in, I would think you should at least get static sound from the speakers??

I'm not an audio enthusiast by any means, but that's all I can think of. If a stock 87 Camaro scheme will help, I can give it to you.

 

i got the haynes for it, i'll have to check it out. are the speakers supposed to be grounded somewhere? ive never done any of this without stock wires. but ive put in a million cd players and speakers, well, maybe not a million. lets say, 50.

 

if all the wiring's been pulled, you'll need to run all new wiring the each speakers. speakers get their grounds straight from the deck; your harness from the new radio should have these labeled.

the big black cable's your antenna - you'll need to grab an adapter from your local stereo shop/walmart/auto part store. common issue with gm antennas.

 

does the big black one NEED to go in? not too worried about any antenna issues. all cd's with me. all day, every day.

 

it doesn't NEED to go in, but the adapter's usually only about $5; you'll kick yourself later for not doing it when the radio's out.....

 

haha, ok i'll go pick two up.

 

Here's a basic radio wiring diag for a 1992 - all would be the same: http://www.austinthirdgen.org/mkport...1992_radio.jpg

almost every wiring diag here: http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=19
save this link - great stuff here: http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=2

 

wiring colors haven't changed in years and years - most HU manufacturer's follow the same standard - so that wiring diag will help you translate wire colors on your new HU to speaker location.

 

Is this a powered deck? As in one with a built in amp? I had to explain to a friend yesterday about deadhead decks which are only used to control and not power.

 

oh, it might be. the guy before me had at least 2, maybe 3 amps in it. so it is very likely this is the case.

would it have any sort of code or marking on it that would tip off if it is a deadhead?

 

just search the model number online and that should tell you for sure.

 

Id try and get someone local to help you out with the wiring. wiring is not something easily explained over the internet, and easy to screw up. Right now you said you have the head unit hooked up directly to the battery, and thats a bad idea. For power on a head unit, you need 3 wires, a constant feed from the battery to keep the clock and presets. A switched power, which actually powers the head unit and is only on when the key is on. and a ground wire. You dont need to hook up the antenna, but its always a good idea. And it sounds like the PO ripped out the speaker wires, which means you gotta run new wires. Please whatever you do, use speaker wire for the speakers and electrical automotive wire for the head unit power. I dont know how many radios ive had to fix for friends and such where people were wiring power with speaker wire or speakers with electrical wire, or both. They make different kinds of wire for a reason...

 

yeah, that is how i have it now. battery, fuse box (ign slot i believe), and a ground. ran speaker wires all the way back, and nothin. also ran the stereo specs online, and found nothing on whether its a deadhead or not. i was going to pick up a cheapo deck at best buy tomorrow and see what happens.

 

\How do you have the wires connected? Just twisted and taped? Id pick up a pack of butt connectors if you havent used them already, much safer, and more reliable.

 

i have wire connectors crimped on. also when i came across the problem, i connected the wires a few inches behind the deck to a speaker from my other ride, and didnt even get a pop, or anything.

 

i just played around with it for a bit, and still nothing. the guy took almost everything out, and its a nice deck. i'll assume that he thought he would be nice and give me a free deck... free broken deck...

update tomorrow after new deck is purchased.

 

just put in the new deck. wired it exactly like old one, and all the speakers work now.

when i searched previous model (pioneer DE-something) a few results came up that it was a receiver, but also said it had a built in amp, so that would not make it a deadhead.

looks like previous owner tried to make himself look nice with the free deck. even though it was blown and ended up wasting hours of my time. boohyah.

 

Lol my PO took the deck altogether, (not that I give a crap) as well as the broom handle he used to prop the hood open. How's that for cheap?

 

there is a thread here somewhere where it talks about owners taking out the floor mats haha. i told him i didnt need any of the audio eqpt. he took everything else, amps, and left the front speakers (which do not remotely fit) and the rears. got a free mix cd out of the old deck though. haha. its no good though.

just put in the metra kit. those things are worse than 1,000 piece puzzles. none of the peices fit at all, so i did some ninja like moves with the razor blade, and BOOM! nice flush deck.

saw a pretty sweet one today at best buy, it was an ipod only deck. no cd. marked way down. too bad the handyman at work spilled a butt ton of water on my ipod yesterday and fried it. yay handyman!

 

if it was me id just running some aftermarket speakers(infinity kappas) on a nice 4 channel amp

 

yeah, i was going to get some solid front speakers here soon. i'm not a bass and amp kind of guy. i have a lil 8'' sub with built in amp in my cadillac that i've had for what seems forever. i had it in the back of my Fit when i had it, and sounded great in a hatch setup. then i had it in my LTD, behing psngr seat and it was pretty solid in there. i cant even hear it in the caddy, so it's totally going in the trans on my day off.

and dont worry, didnt have the fit for more than 6 months haha.

 

Whats the metra kit? Sorry if that's a dumb question. I'm trying to figure out what's going on with my wiring and also trying to find a deck/ deck install kit that'll actually fit right.

 

i believe this is the one i got http://www.metraonline.com/part/99-4501

i have gotten a few of these before, and they are a pain, and never fit right. usually its like puttting together a puzzle with these things. this is what they sell at best buy and autozone. i was able to get it in with some good box cutter skills and its in pretty firm and flush. i am sure you can find a better kit online somewhere, but i just got this because i hate ordering.

i know your berlinetta is different than my trans, but if you get the metra, i need to pull mine back out to work on some other wiring for my CB in that area, and i'll take pics of how i modded mine to fit.

edit: just saw you are semilocal, are you coming to the cruise on sat?? thread is in SW region here.

 

I'm good with knives but I'm not too confident on my 'trimming' abilities lol. I know ill have to buy a different lil plastic piece that the radio goes in because the one I have is stock and no the last two head units I tried to put in just didn't work lol. I'm kind of use to messing with newer cars and it being idiot proof "take the old out and pop the new in". Turns out I'm the idiot they made it like that for haha.

 

it was more "shaving" the plastic more than trimming if memory serves. the plastic isnt too sturdy, so you just have to find a nice table you want to risk nicking up. or if you live on the edge like me, you just wear a pair of pants you dont want to ruin, and move your *ahem* out of the way.

i remember the main piece i had to trim up had some fatter parts to it, and i had to just shave it to make it more straight and level. and i think i had to cut some nipples from it or something like that. it was easy, just figuring out the puzzle was tricky.

 

Well considering I lack an *ahem* I guess I'll be ok lol. I'm more worried about getting something like that and doing it wrong. I'm trying really hard to find one that will just fit lol. Are there any sites that show that kind of stuff? Like a site that says this kit is for this year model so it'll fit an aftermarket head unit?

 

every kit i have ever gotten has always been a "direct fit", and they never are a direct fit. i always end up modding it in some way or another to get it in. i just stopped buying them haha, but i kind of had to in my trans, since they trashed the innards on that part of the console.
i'm sure you can snoop around on here and find where people got their kits. another option is to get a 1.5 din deck, and not have to worry about a kit at all. thats what i wanted to do, but i had gotten the car a few weeks prior, and needed some tunes right away for during times of working on it. so i just got a cheapo 1 din from best buy.

do you have all the stock brackets in your berlinetta? it might even be more economical to just spend a few extra dollars on a nicer 1.5 din deck, and not having to worry about ordering a install kit that MIGHT be a direct fit.

thats just my experience with these things.

EDIT: actually, someone verify if the 82 would have a 1.5 din, or double din....

 

I believe all the brackets are there lol not %100 sure. The reason decks aren't fitting right is the din is really wide and not very deep. When I line up the radio to the bracket inside (the one that the bold slides in) the radio sticks out a little to far and it doesnt fill it from side to side. Not to mention the wiring has me all kinds of confused. I posted a thread on here for it and posted pics to get some help.

 

i ignored your first question in my response. oops. all the kits will say they "Fit all 1986-1992 GM" or "1996-2002 FORD" and stuff like that. and it has a little booklet that has the guide for more specific installation. so there would be a page for like "1989-1991 Firebird" and the next page would be for "1992-1993 Firebird, with those instructions.

i made up those years for examples, but thats the layout of all the ones i have ever gotten.

so basically, it comes with a big frame, an inner, and outer plate for support, and those would go on ALL of the installations. and the outer parts that holds it into the console are the problems usually. usually you only need 2 or 3 of these pieces, but it comes with 20-30, so you will always end up throwing a ton in the trash.