SillyWabbit

I'm installing a Clarion CD head unit into my g/f's sister's '92 Jetta, and something is seriously screwed up. I bought the '87+ Jetta wiring harness adapter, as well as the antenna cable adapter. Those are the only parts I needed to get this thing off the ground. So I wired up the Clarion wiring harness to the adapter wires, all color coded and exactly to the specs of the wiring diagram provided by Clarion. All connections were made well, so there's not too much of a chance that something is loose.

When all the wiring was done, I plugged the harness and antenna into the Clarion deck with the key in the off position. I hear the speakers crackling sorta, even though they shouldn't have been getting power. Then the head unit started smoking out of the top. So I quickly unplugged it from the harness tried to cool it down. Looking at the wires, I can't see any physical damage. I see no place where a wire would be grounding out to the chassis. And while inspecting the wires, they felt normal temperature, and no insulation was melted off anywhere. The 15A fuse in the 12V memory lead (yellow wire) was normal temperature, and completely fine. So, I'm thinking that the problem lies not in the stereo wiring, but somehow, in the head unit. I have an appointment on Monday to see someone at a car stereo shop, but I was wondering what you guys thought of this. Any ideas??

Mike92RS

It sounds like either you have some wires connected incorrectly (as in connected to the wrong wire), or that your head unit is faulty. If it started smoking, that's not good...it could be damaged now.

- Mike

SillyWabbit

Yeah, I know smoking is definitely not good, especially in electronics. That's why I'm hoping the head unit is faulty for some reason, so that it can be replaced under warranty, or a product replacement plan. I triple checked the work I did against the schematics Clarion provided, as well as that of the stock setup, and from what I can see, everything is connected correctly. The + and - wires of the harness adapter line up with what should be the + and - wires of the stock wiring, and the + and - wires of the Clarion harness are spliced into the correct wires of the adapter. If I had misconnected something, I wouldn't be this confused. The stereo worked fine in her old Jetta, but once I try and put it in this one, all hell breaks loose.

harvtherabbit

if your getting smoke and it is wired corectly its the head unit i work in a retail electronics outfit and i see it happen from time to time aslo not a big clarion fan becuse of this reason

SillyWabbit

Hmmmmmm. That's interesting, cause the thing worked fine for months in her old Jetta, then all of a sudden after sitting in her closet for a few weeks it starts smoking when I try and install it in her new Jetta. I've never heard of Clarion stereos having that problem. I've had one in my Camaro, and now my Formula for almost a year now, and have never had any issues with it. Hopefully I can get some info from the stereo shop guy that will allow Best Buy to replace it for me if necessary.

SillyWabbit

Bingo, something I never considered. The owner of the car pointed out that the stereo has suffered through an accident and was about 2" into the dash when it was removed from the car, so it had to have sustained quite a jolt, that it obviously wasn't built to withstand. So that probably messed something up inside the stereo, which caused the meltdown. So they'll be considering that in their insurance claim as well.