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help installing stereo

4K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  shu2kill 
#1 ·
hey. i just finished installing my stereo, or so i thought.... i bought the special base (im installing a single din), and the adapter harness....

the mechanical part was pretty easy, i installed the base and secured the stereo without a problem...

now, for the electrical part, i bought a harness that enters in the original harness, and the wires connect to the new harness of the new stereo... well, i wired all of them following the colors, and hooked one end to the stereo and the other one to the original harness.... the stereo turns On as it should, i can change the music stations, it will search and find them... however, it doesnt sounds!! i stripped the insulation off the white and white/strip cables, and with the multimeter i saw i was getting .07 volts... is that enough?? those wires go to the left front speaker...

what else can i check?? i have the dash stripped right now...

thank you!!
 
#3 ·
I jsut did mine a couple weeks ago into a kenwood DD. Not all the colors are going to match up specifically (other than the speaker wire colors, those are easy). My guess would be that you didn't hook up something else... like an amplifier wire or something. While you were putting it together did you compare your new HU wire schematic with that of the conversion harness?

If everything is hooked up right i might almost say you have a dud HU, but I'm not a stereo expert
 
#4 ·
well, i did left some wires without a match.... on the stereo harness, the blue wire i didnt hook, and on the 70-7550 harness, i left the blue and some orange wires loose.... maybe i should have wired blue with blue?? i didnt wire htem because it said it was the amplifier i believe, and i dont have one, i assumed it was only for an amp.... should i wire blue with blue?? because the 707550 harness has 2 blue wires and the stere harness has only one....
 
#5 ·
So your deck is powering the speakers directly right ( i.e. no aftermarket amps)? If so, seems like the deck is doing what it should- it turns on and appears to function as you press buttons, scans radio stations. I'd lean toward issue with speaker leads on the car's end of things.

Did your X have the factory amp in it? You can tell it has a shiny aluminum heatsink and was installed below the factor deck in front of the shifter there is a white sticker on it that says fosgate or something if i recall. If you have this amp, you will need to find the plug(s) where the speaker leads run into that amp to bypass the amp. You might also consider tossing that harness aside and tapping directly into the speaker leads once you confirm them.

One trick is to use a AA battery to test for each pair of speaker leads. Narrow down the speaker lead as best you can (i.e. eliminate the power wires from the group) touch "+" of the battery to one lead and the "-" side to the other suspected lead. When you have a matched pair you will hear the speaker make a pop sound (the cone moves forward or backward). Thats one set connect them to deck. Just be sure to get all speakers in phase(i.e., if the front left moves outward, consider the lead on the "+" yur positive. Then make sure when you do the front right the battery test has the same result, again that wire connected to "+" will be front right positive.

Hope that helps some.
 
#6 ·
thank you. it does helps, but i still dont have it too clear what i shoud do, i thought it was pretty straight forward, just install the adapter harness and plug one end to the car and the other one to the stereo...

yes, i dont have an aftermarket amp... the truck was stock, and everything worked perfectly.

this part i dont understand: If you have this amp, you will need to find the plug(s) where the speaker leads run into that amp to bypass the amp

i shoudl bypass the factory amp?? isnt there a way to connect the stereo to it?? i assume if its there is for a reason, or not??
 
#7 ·
well,i just wired the blue/white from the stereo harness to the blue/white from the adapter harness, and that fixed the problem... i hadnt done that originally because the stereo had that cable labeled as REM OUT and the adapter harness said Amp Turn On, im not sure what REM OUT means but that solved the problem and now my stereo is working perfectly.

now, is there a way to make the steering wheel controls to work on aftermarket stereos??

thank you!!
 
#8 ·
Ahh. that would be it. "REM OUT" is remote out, as in "REMote Turnon OUTput", which is used to turn on cascading systems such as amps (and other stuff like CD changers, active crossovers, and equalizers) after the head unit (a.k.a. "deck") is powered up (wire is usually blue or blue with white stripe). By letting the head unit power up first then send the signal to turn on everything else's turn on leads via the REM OUT wire, the system powers up in order from head unit onward, avoiding a harsh "thump" from speakers such as if the amp were turned on first with no signal followed by the head unit. it sounds like your wiring harness is using the existing factory amp which is actually powering the speakers, whereas the head unit is simply sending the audio signal (and turn on signal) to the existing amp.

For your other question about making steering wheel controls useable with aftermarket stereos, there is a module you can use.
Good job! Learning about your X is what it is all about!
 
#9 ·
Ahh. that would be it. "REM OUT" is remote out, as in "REMote Turnon OUTput", which is used to turn on cascading systems such as amps (and other stuff like CD changers, active crossovers, and equalizers) after the head unit (a.k.a. "deck") is powered up (wire is usually blue or blue with white stripe). By letting the head unit power up first then send the signal to turn on everything else's turn on leads via the REM OUT wire, the system powers up in order from head unit onward, avoiding a harsh "thump" from speakers such as if the amp were turned on first with no signal followed by the head unit. it sounds like your wiring harness is using the existing factory amp which is actually powering the speakers, whereas the head unit is simply sending the audio signal (and turn on signal) to the existing amp.

For your other question about making steering wheel controls useable with aftermarket stereos, there is a module you can use.
Good job! Learning about your X is what it is all about!
thank you!! yes, apparently the wiring harness is using the factory amp.... i dont understand why Best Buy charges so mucho for this installation, once you know how to do it, its really simple, almost plug and play.... unfortunately the first time it can be a little confusing.....

and regarding the steering wheel controls, thanx for the link!! but i think i will just reach the stereo, a $70 adapter for a $100 stereo, i dont think its worth it...
 
#10 ·
but i think i will just reach the stereo, a $70 adapter for a $100 stereo, i dont think its worth it...
You are right it's way too much for what it does.
 
#11 · (Edited)
hey. i just finished installing my stereo, or so i thought.... i bought the special base (im installing a single din), and the adapter harness....

the mechanical part was pretty easy, i installed the base and secured the stereo without a problem...

now, for the electrical part, i bought a harness that enters in the original harness, and the wires connect to the new harness of the new stereo... well, i wired all of them following the colors, and hooked one end to the stereo and the other one to the original harness.... the stereo turns On as it should, i can change the music stations, it will search and find them... however, it doesnt sounds!! i stripped the insulation off the white and white/strip cables, and with the multimeter i saw i was getting .07 volts... is that enough?? those wires go to the left front cheap speakers...

what else can i check?? i have the dash stripped right now...

thank you!!
Hello it seems you have good experience of stereo installation. I am planing to install new front end speakers of my ford car. I don't have any knowledge or previous experience. So guide me please and tell where to start from
 
#12 ·
Hello it seems you have good experience of stereo installation. I am planing to install new front end speakers of my ford car. I don't have any knowledge or previous experience. So guide me please and tell where to start from
well, i have never replaced speakers but i guess its pretty straight forward, unscrew the old ones, unhook them, hook the new ones, and then screw them in place... they should have 2 wires, and the old ones also, so its just a matter of splicing them and wiring them... thats my guess since i have never done it, maybe someone can provide a better explanation...
 
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