Hey guys, I recently got my new audio system in. I Was looking a the wiring harness adapter Sound Electronix sent me, which has left me scratching my head.



The first one is a pic of the original radio. I believe it is supposed to be a 21 pin connector, with only 3 of the sockets being used,and 1 not used.



The adapter I was sent connects to a different socket, which looks like there are supposed to be three of, and there is only one.



This is the pigtail that fits into the adapter.



So my question is, am I supposed to be using this adapter and I just have to change the other pigtails to match the adapter, or do I have to get an adapter like this?
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fa3YvT5...s.html?tp=2977

Thanks guys, peace.

 

You need that Metra harness that you linked in crutchfields site, its standard gm, your harness may look wrong when you get it but 3 of the 4 partitions on the adapter will fit right in. While you were at it did you buy the antenna adapter? 40GM10? Kind of necessary for the antenna to work properly

 

No I didn't get an adapter, but the antenna wire fits in perfectly. Do I still need one?

There was some adapter on the factory antenna wire which made it larger, with a 'made in china' label. If I take that off, it fits onto my new radio.

 

i wonder what the difference is. i have a 87 that had the "perf sound" and the adapter pictured is what i have in my car. your stock radio is definitely different though. i wonder if the trans ams had a different one as mine is a base model.

 

Ok then you don't need it. The gm antennas are undersized because...well its just a gm thing. All aftermarket stereos use the same size antenna, so most, not all vehicles need an adapter when you replace the radio. The gm one will be shorter and smaller in size, people say they fit. Physically yes however you won't recieve reception very well if at all

 

So how will getting an adapter help the connection if the stock cable already fits?

Would I just get an extension?

 

The gm factory antenna size will not work. Look up the 40gm10 on metras website. That is the piece you need. The gm antenna is not the aftermarket standard, it does not fit or work. You would have better luck using a wire hanger and tin foil if you don't use the standard adapter.

 

Refer to the first part of post #26, don't pay attention to the y adapter part that doesn't pertain to ushttp://www.mr2.com/forums/mk-2-mr2-sw20/Toyota-MR2-55421-windshield-antenna-reception-2.html

 

Ok, well I went and got the radio adapter and the power antenna adapter. Still though, hat is that pigtail for, when it does fit into anything?

I'll let you guys know how everything goes once it's all installed.

 

First, IMO, a lot of places, over the phone and the internet, can't seem to figure out when GM stopped using the 12-pin radio harness (the one with 3 connectors and big chunky connectors) and began using the common 21-pin that is in most of our cars. They're forever sending the wrong ones. When I got the CD player (which was stolen a year after I got it) from the local stereo place, they gave me the 12-pin. Kind of makes me wonder how many installs they have done on late-80s and 90s GM cars if they can't even get the connector right...

Second, as for the antenna... I bought a brand new GM non-power antenna back in 06-07 or somewhere in there, from my local dealer. It has the larger plug on it that is common on 95% of headunits out there (except stock GM, of course). It requires the big-to-small GM adapter to go into the GM headunits. Don't know why GM did that, but they did. As for the power antennas, I would guess that the other, small-to-big, adapter is required for an aftermarket H/U, since the one I had in another car had the extension wire have a small plug on the radio end (but a big one on the antenna end, IIRC... Go figure).

 

Each car is different. The older the vehicle the more chance of someone messing with it, it sounds odd but when I was installing I could call out part numbers from memory and every once in abwhile you get the oddball car that had some special option from some specific dealer that had the random harness. Gm has always used their micro antenna, its just their thing...they always tried to revolutionize something and some things were big hits....obd2....fuel injection....anti theft....the micro antenna was not one of them however.

Metra goes off model and submodel with options to filter the results, older cars normally get n/a for the sound option because it was too unregulated compared to say a 2010 camaro, on their site it will break it down by engine size and audio package, older vehicles don't have the options available on their system.

If you have the wrong harness get the other, go to a local shop and have it in hand. Worst case scenario, cut it off and wire from there its really not hard

 

I agree 100%. I've never really liked using those plug adapters. Most times I have a hard time fitting all that extra wire and plastic back into that space along with the radio itself. I'd say 99% of my cars already had the plugs chopped off by previous owners, so Im going with bare wire anyway.

As far as the antenna wire size. I have had a couple of freak GM cars that had a large wire in them and didnt require an adapter. My current 83 Z28 is one of them. No idea if it was ever replaced, but I bought the car with an old Jensen cassette deck in it and replaced it with a Pioneer unit. Was pleasantly surprised when I pulled the Jensen and found I didnt need an antenna adapter.

 

Thanks guys. I got all my harnesses/adapters today and wired some of it up. I got the head and front speakers working!

I have a set of coaxial speakers and I'm trying to figure out where to mount the crossovers.Where did you guys mount your crossovers? (if you have). Or should I just skip out on the tweeters and crossovers?

Thanks and let me know whatcha think

 

I assume you are asking about where in the rear to mount them? My car had quite a bit of space in the speaker housing in the sail panel so I put them down inside there. My tweeters are face mounted at angles on the sail panel covers facing towards the front. Using both the mid and the tweeter with the crossover will be much better than just the mid alone. One big reason is impedance. The entire package should measure out to about 4ohms. Just having one component would most likely be at a much higher (or possibly lower) impedance and could cause damage to something.