Head Unit hook up help

[KaeZoo 10+ year member]

well every thing in my fuse box is labled and the radio fuse is replace and i will look at the rest of the fuses later on today. Also the clock in my car not in the HU is aslo not storing memory. Could this be some thing wrong with the battery or wire or some thing?

NO. It's a problem with a BLOWN FUSE. Yes, THAT fuse. FIND that fuse. REPLACE that fuse. It will seem like a MIRACLE. ALL will be WELL.

 

[albarran9 10+ year member]

well i checked all the fuses and changed them and still nothing. I even checked the fuse thing and the little light on the current indicator did not light up and on other fuses it did. I that supposed to happen or not?

 

[Ace_TX 10+ year member]

u don't have a DMM?

 

[albarran9 10+ year member]

Dmm?

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

digital multi-meter. tell me what kind of car you have and the year and i'll get you the right wires. Or go here and find your vehicle http://www.installdr.com/QuickWiring.html they should be able to tell what color wire is which for your vehicle.

 

[albarran9 10+ year member]

ok. I checked the the wires for a current. there is a current when the car key is turned but the ignition is not on (on the yellow wire). so it should work yellow to yellow and red to red right? well for some reason id dosent. It olnly turns on when the red and yellow wires (all 4) are hooked up together. bonesninja i have a 95 honda civic

 

[KaeZoo 10+ year member]

ok. I checked the the wires for a current. there is a current when the car key is turned but the ignition is not on (on the yellow wire). so it should work yellow to yellow and red to red right? well for some reason id dosent. It olnly turns on when the red and yellow wires (all 4) are hooked up together. bonesninja i have a 95 honda civic

You're supposed to be getting key-switched power on the red wire and constant power on the yellow wire.

First of all, you don't need all four wires hooked together to make your system work. Get rid of that crap right now. You can get it to work exactly the same as it is now by connecting the red and yellow wires from the head unit to just the red wire from the vehicle harness. You won't solve your problem as long as you have the yellow wire from the vehicle harness tied in with the red wire.

Now, the most likely problem with the yellow wire is a blown fuse. Since you've also said that your vehicle clock isn't working, that makes the blown fuse scenario all but certain. Have you looked for the fuse labelled "clock"? Chances are, replace that and you'll fix the head unit problem too.

If you can't find the fuse, then connect the head unit's yellow wire to a different constant source. You can find a constant power wire at the key switch harness, or run a wire directly to the battery (making sure you put a fuse on the wire at the battery).

Whatever you do, DO NOT keep the red and yellow wires from the vehicle harness connected together. By doing this, you're mixing the two vehicle circuits. Everything in the car that's supposed to be powered from the constant circuit is now being powered by the switched circuit. If you ever do find and replace that blown fuse, then all your key-switched accessories will suddenly stay on all the time. Screwing up the wiring behind the head unit can affect the entire vehicle electrical system, not just the radio.

 

[albarran9 10+ year member]

I already found that fuse labled radio/clock and replaced it. I still dosent work. I tryed wireing it up like you said and it will not turn on. it will only turn on whith all four red and yellow wires together. as for the other fuses they are for the windows and stuff and they all work fine. I had the same problem with my stock radio when i bought it, which is why i replaced it with this new head unit which i thought might fix the problem thinking it was my stock head unit that was broken

 

[KaeZoo 10+ year member]

I already found that fuse labled radio/clock and replaced it. I still dosent work. I tryed wireing it up like you said and it will not turn on. it will only turn on whith all four red and yellow wires together. as for the other fuses they are for the windows and stuff and they all work fine. I had the same problem with my stock radio when i bought it, which is why i replaced it with this new head unit which i thought might fix the problem thinking it was my stock head unit that was broken

That makes no sense at all.

Somewhere you're getting voltage when the key is on. Either the yellow wire has voltage with the key, or the red wire has voltage with the key.

There is no possible scenario where both wires are dead individually, but produce a voltage when they are hooked up together.

It's probably time you took it to a pro.

 

[jsloan10 10+ year member]

Alright listen up.

You need 2 power sources, one is a constant power wire that is on at all times, the other is a switched ignition wire that is only on when the key is turned.

You can use a simple curcuit tester to find these (the needle with the light in it and a ground lead) Ground the tester first, touch the tip to the suspected constant power lead, when you find the wire that has power when the cars shut off the tester will light up, you've found the constant power.

Now touch the tip to the next suspected power wire and turn the ignition on and off, if the test light turns on and off with the ignition you have found the switched ignition wire.

The switched ignition wire provides the main power for the HU and all its funtions.

The constant power wire maintains the HU's memory when the car is shut off.

They both need to be connected in order for the HU to work.

If this is confusing to you then you need to talk to somone in the real world to help you do it in person, and Google'ing up some info to teach you the basics of wiring prolly wouldn't hurt.

 

[albarran9 10+ year member]

I already did that. I spliced into the cigarette lighter, which i tested and it has a constant power. it will turn on, but when the car is shutt off the memory will not store. As for google, I already googled it up and seems like other people have had this problem with other HU and cars but no answers posted. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif . //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif

 

[jsloan10 10+ year member]

AARRGG

*ahem*

You have hooked the constant power supply to the switched power lead and the switched power supply to the constant power lead on the deck, switch them around and try it.