Installed an aftermarket Kenwood in my '77 Regal over the weekend, and the only wires leading to the original delco, besides the front speaker connection, were yellow and grey. Looked at the wiring diagram and was the same, yellow and grey from the radio, so I felt it safe to say that those were the battery/ignition wires. WRONG!!! Hooked up the radio to them, and the only way the radio turns on is by turning on the running lights/headlights!!! Thought maybe I crossed the wires, nope. Same problem. Does anyone know which wires is should tap into??? Thanks! Scanlon
Scanlon, Are you sure there's not another connector that maybe fell out when you pulled the old radio? I would think it would have more wires than just the yellow and grey. Shouldn't there be a ign/power lead, a ground, display, power antennae (if you have one), etc.? BTW, it sounds to me like the wire that is supposed to light up the display is connected to the power wire on your radio. When you turn on your lights the display on the radio should come on. baking
Thats what I am thinking. I found a GM wiring harness for aftermarket installs. Shows a red wire too, can't find that one though.
Might want to get a $3 test light and start probing around, try to find a connection/wire that's hot when you turn the key on. There might also be a terminal on the fuse box labelled "ign" that you can use. Please note I am recalling this from a distant memory. If you fry your car please don't blame me. :laugh:
the regals grey wire used to go to the lightbulb in the factory radio. you probably dont need this wire unless your kenwood has positive an illumination wire. (one wire would be tagged "+ Ill.") the regals yellow wire should show 12 volts present with the key in the run and acc position. once you have confirmed that, it can be hooked to your kenwoods red wire. there will be a yellow wire from your kenwood that needs 12v constantly. you can run it to your fuse box and hook it to th "BAT" terminal. the original speakers in your car may have had one of their wires grounded to th car body and the other one running to the positive output of you factory radio. DO NOT HOOK YOUR SPEAKERS UP THIS WAY!. the kenwood will see that as a problem and shut down its internal amp and go into "protection" mode. your speakers will need a pair of wires run to each speaker from the kenwood. please keep us posted on your progress.
Thanks!!! I will keep you posted. I found a doc on www.installdr.com, which shows an orange wire that is the battery. If I don't find that, I will send it straight to the fuse box! Thanks again.
that is a good and informative site. i have used it in the past. the wire he is tailking about is probably the cig lighter wire and/or one of its appendages. i personally would run the kenwoods yellow wire straight from the fuse box (like you mentioned)... most newer radios get their main power to power their internal amplifiers and circuits from the yellow wire. a few years ago, the yellow wire was only used to keep radio stations and time from dying when the key was off. but these days radio makers are drawing all current to run th radio through the yellow wire and olny use the red wire only to trigger a transistor the allows the radio to turn on. you are on a good and solid track.
Orange it is!!! Looking at the wiring diagram again, and can not believe I overlooked it the first time. Just about everything is connected to the orange! Cig lighter, courtesy lights, etc. I did not run it from the fuse box, but did splice it from the main harness, not just off of say the cig lighter, so I think it should be fine, I hope :grin: So, now the Regal has a nice 45X4 Cassette Head unit, 6X9's in the rear, and a 10 Disc Changer. Working properly mind you! Just have to finish up the custom kick panels for the 5.25's in the front, with tweeters to boot!!! Nothing outlandish, not going to use an external amp, just something to bring it up the the 21st century. Thanks for everyone's help, I really appreciate it! Scanlon
Cool!!!!:TU: now comes the toughest question of all. lets say you and th buick are stranded on a desert island. the only cds you get to listen to are the 10 in the changer, no others. what 10 discs would it be?they cant be your own compilations, must be store bought.ou:
