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Technical => Audio & Other Aftermarket Electronics => Topic started by: matttherat on December 22, 2005, 08:38:05 AM

Title: Ignition Wire
Post by: matttherat on December 22, 2005, 08:38:05 AM
I am installing a new stereo and ran into a problem. 1st off, I could not find the right harness for my car, the speaker wires all run into one - wire and all have their own positive wire, and he power harnes was completely different and I geuss I have a factory amp I had to hook the remote wire to.

Well, I bought the noraml harness and moved pins around so i got it to work for me. The only problem I am runing into now is the wire I have hooked to for ignition works for ignition but when I turn the headlights on it goes out. I do have another wire that I assumed was used to turn  the extra lights on on the factory stereo when you turned the headlights on.

Im sure its something everyone here runs into but I cant find any information on it. Thanks
Title: Ignition Wire
Post by: nirvanagod on December 22, 2005, 09:08:51 AM
Can't remember the exact wire, but I think you have the ignition wire in the harness hooked up in the wrong place (prolly to the ground). That pretty much what happened with mine though, turn on the headlight, blow the fuse. The simple solution is to double check your wiring and run a new ground else where.
Title: Ignition Wire
Post by: matttherat on December 22, 2005, 10:46:31 AM
Well, I was just out their , and that problem seems to have disapeered.. , thats kind of scary.

But, I have discovered that i can not conenct any of the ground wires (my car has the singe ground wire setup) or the factory amp shuts off, thats ok beacause I have sound without them.

But, my new big problem is that I have to turn my radio on and off every once in a while beacause when I turn it on I have no sound, on and off a couple of times and my sound comes back. I have a feeling that this is another Amp problem beacause the head unit shows sound comming out on the screen.
Title: Ignition Wire
Post by: matttherat on December 22, 2005, 09:24:20 PM
looks like ive run into bigger troubles, now cant keep the stereo on, it goes on and off by itself.

Was working fine then i started my car.

Also messes with my dash lights, heh lots of work.
Title: Ignition Wire
Post by: ipsd on December 23, 2005, 01:07:05 AM
Sounds to me like you've got the radio display dimmer wire. When you turn on the lights I think it grounds the circut. Not sure on the newer ones but on the 84 I've got the main power wire is yellow where as the Constant is red.
Title: Ignition Wire
Post by: 87badbird2613 on December 23, 2005, 03:22:26 AM
Quote from: matttherat
I am installing a new stereo and ran into a problem. 1st off, I could not find the right harness for my car, the speaker wires all run into one - wire and all have their own positive wire, and he power harnes was completely different and I geuss I have a factory amp I had to hook the remote wire to.

Well, I bought the noraml harness and moved pins around so i got it to work for me. The only problem I am runing into now is the wire I have hooked to for ignition works for ignition but when I turn the headlights on it goes out. I do have another wire that I assumed was used to turn  the extra lights on on the factory stereo when you turned the headlights on.

Im sure its something everyone here runs into but I cant find any information on it. Thanks



so i know on tbirds with amplifiers ther are to radio and speaker harnesses in the car!!!!!  all you have to do is dig a little in the dash at the top of radio opening!!!  trust me on this one ive3 done it one three tbirds now!!!!!
Title: Ignition Wire
Post by: matttherat on December 23, 2005, 10:36:26 AM
I think we did use the radio dimmer wire.. but I dont think its as simple as moving over to the other wire (I tried it) I have a feeling I screwed something up by using it.

The head unit is fine, I tested it in my house with an inverter. But, when powered in my car, using battery as both my constant and my ignition wire the head unit turns on and off. Also, with the original stereo in, my lights are in reverse. When my headlights on, my radio and clock are dimm and my dash lights are all off. When my lights are off everything is on.

Also, I dug around over the summer and couldnt find my other speaker harness anywhere. but ill save that problem for another day.
Title: Ignition Wire
Post by: CougarSE on December 24, 2005, 10:40:15 PM
You need to ground the chassis of the radio to the metal of the dash.  I run a ground from my radio chassis to a good ground then splice into it with the ground for the radio going into the harness.  This eliminated all problems I was having.