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bass4carl

New Member
The 87 90 I bought had what was described as a stereo that didn't work, and numerous "****e" speakers dotted about the cab. I've stripped the whole lot out and left what I thought was the loom with the adapter plug thing stuck to the end. Now I've dabbled in installing sound systems in the past and it's always been straight forward. Plug in the adapter to the factory wiring and hey presto the stereo works.

That is until I look at where the 12v and Negative were coming from - spliced to the +ive and -ive of my cigarette lighter! I can vouch that the ciggy lighter works so presumably there is power leading to those wires, however I'm not one for really wanting random bodging to power up my stereo for the risk of fuses blowing and potential fires!

So starting from absolute scratch, does anyone know the best way of getting some correct and safe wiring to the general dash area so I can chop block them to the adapter I have, and hopefully get some music in my old girl?
 
personally i would not worry about it being spliced into the cigarette lighter and is quite a common way of doing it. the +ve to the stereo should have an in line fuse in it though imo rated to what ever the stereo company recommend. to a stero you need 2 lives. constant and switched. the cig lighter will be constant i believe. the switched is purely so when you turn the ignition off the stereo turns off too. but is not essential. having it wired into the cig lighter is NOT dangerous and the wires which currently supply it are man enough to take a stereo also. having said that i would check the joins are solid and won't fail.

if you want to be really fussy. and imo a bit unnecessary, then take wires back to the fuse board and run its own fuse. but this would not be necessary at all.
 
Cheers - so if I've got the consant +ive and -ive, how do I go about the switched one? The adapter that I have has a red (+ive) black (-ive) blue (presumably a remote wire for turning an amp on) and yellow - the previous owner had wired an orange lead with an inline fuse but this wasn't attached to anything.

Any thoughts?
 
Normally The Red and Yellow are the two lives, Red is switched and yellow permanent... Connect both together if you don't want a switched feed, just remember to turn off the radio when you get out!
 
Right - I've just tried the red and yellow combined to the red (+ive) from the ciggy lighter with an inline fuse, and black to black. I've got no power to that head unit what so ever, presumably the wiring is alright and I've check both fuses in the head unit and the inline fuse, both of which haven't blown. I've come to the conclusion that possibly the chap who sold me the landy wasn't lying when he said the stereo "didn't work"!!

i guess next phase is buying a new head unit and seeing whether that works with this cobbled together wiring, and if it does happy days...
 
bugger! just wrote a reply and lost it.
orange. ignore. it makes the display dim slightly when headlights are turned on.
red to switched live
yellow to constant live
black to earth
blue to amp if you have one

to find switched live use a multimeter and head towards the ignition barrel
 
Just had a thought, my stereo may not be dead. The blue with white stripe wire which I believe to be the remote wire I've not attached, and from checking other "wiring from scratch" threads on t'internet they've all said the remote wire needs to be attached to the ignition or something else that needs the ignition to work it. Any ideas where's best to join this to?

if that doesn't work, I'll definitely know the head unit's knackered, but at least a new one should plug straight in!
 
do you have a multimeter to test there is a live? if not a 12v light bulb will work but try not to kill yourself! just touch to live and negative. if it lights up. you have a live. be careful with the live wire also. remove the fuse if you are doing anything to it

the yellow has to go to a live. the red is purely the 'memory' of the radio which stores your settings and fav radio stations.

stereos do die, but not that common really.
 
Just seen your reply Steve - looks like I've give that a go, if I someone can steer me in the right direction of where to attach the switched live (i don't have a multimeter!)

Thanks
 
steve bain said:
no no no . don't connect the blue wire to anything!! it gives out a 12v switched live to amps, aerials etc.
Click to expand...

I thought that was the case - I've previously had amps wired up and from memory the blue one was always the remote for that. Cheers for clarifying.:)

Now fingers crossed for a response on where to attach the switched +ive and I'll be away!
 
bass4carl said:
Just had a thought, my stereo may not be dead. The blue with white stripe wire which I believe to be the remote wire I've not attached, and from checking other "wiring from scratch" threads on t'internet they've all said the remote wire needs to be attached to the ignition or something else that needs the ignition to work it. Any ideas where's best to join this to?

if that doesn't work, I'll definitely know the head unit's knackered, but at least a new one should plug straight in!
Click to expand...

As Steve Said, the blue does NOT need to be connected to anything, it is purly a 12v output for an amp or aerial.

As for the switched live, its going to be difficult and potentially dangerous to go cutting wires and testing with a bulb to find a switched live.

probably be worth grabbing yourself a cheap multimeter for less than £10, as im sure you will need it in the future!

http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=37279

BearDy
 
Yup - have to agree with getting a multimeter. Trying to determine which wires are which and when they're live is going to be next to impossible without one. A cheap one will do the job and I guarantee you'll find more uses for it in the future.
 
the bulb idea was to check the two wires you have now work! not find a switched live. multimeters are worth every penny. if you look up about 3 posts, i told you which switched live is :rolleyes: :D

i think i paid £3 for my m/m and it does everything i could ever need.

edit: thick white. go half way down the link i posted and bustersbus has put some pics up
 
steve bain said:
edit: thick white. go half way down the link i posted and bustersbus has put some pics up
Click to expand...

what's the worst that could happen if I disconnect the +ive on the battery, chop into the thick white wire as quoted with my stereo one, and then reattach the battery.

Fuse's going pop, or worse?
 
probably. its fairly harmless to a certain extent. just make sure its fused otherwise it could cause a fire if wrong.
this is not 'best practice' by any stretch of the imagination mind! :rolleyes: so don't make a habit out of it!!
 
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