help with digital multimeter?

[dcrider 10+ year member]

ok upon advice from a member here, i went and got a digital multimeter from home depot. Now how can i test wires to find speaker wires with this? im not a newbie to wiring just meters.

You can see what im trying to accomplish here http://www.caraudio.com/vb/showthread.php?t=82911

Thanks for all help in advance, working on this beast now. I will check back often for replies.

Click to read more...

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

you want to wire a 2ch LOC?

Can you access your rear speakers?

 

[dcrider 10+ year member]

yes i want to wire a 2ch loc.....but you can get a signal from the back of this radio even though it has the bose amped system----i have done it before in a tahoe---just dont remember which wires to use----what and how do i find these wires?----im already ahting this meter--lol---i cant even get it to read voltage---im playing with it now

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

the meter is absolutly a great tool to have.

-but-

You can find the proper wire in about 2.78 minutes online.

http://www.InstallDoctor.com

http://www.12volt.com

http://www.google.com

 

[dcrider 10+ year member]

ok i tried all the links and as i said im not a newbie i have searched for days on this----the only thing you get in the searches are the high dollar plug in loc's.

the install site is still stuck in the year 2000 lol

the 12 volt site didnt show anything at all for this application.

thanks for your help!

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

A Left Front Spkr (-) Light Gray B Left Front Spkr (+) Tan

C Right Front Spkr (-) Light Green

D Right Front Spkr (+) Dark Green

K Right Rear Spkr (-) Light Blue

L Right Rear Spkr (+) Dark Blue

M Left Rear Spkr (-) Yellow

N Left Rear Spkr (+) Brown

GM hasn't changed the speaker coding in alooong time. This schematic works on my '02 Trailblazer. It also matches up with my Haynes Manual, and my Car Audio / Alarm / Remote start wiring database (good through 2003).

-Nick

 

[dcrider 10+ year member]

that might be correct im not sure but those wires would be at the factory amp----if i remember correctly there is one signal source on the back of the head unit that can be tapped into for the loc. and that's what im looking for. thanks for the quick replies.

 

[Slody4Futbol 10+ year member]

i wouldn't go tapping wires in with a regular LOC on the bose system... i heard you couldn't tap in a regular LOC on the newer bose systems... you have to use either a vehicle specific one... or one that is FOR factory amplified systems... a guy at work used a LOC and it knocked out the bose amp for the left side of an escalade... $1400... ouch...

 

[Vestax 10+ year member]

You test speaker leads with A/C voltage while the radio's on but there's an easier way:

Make sure your radio's off.

First you test for continuity. There's a symbol that shows something like a sound wave. If you put the test leads together, it will make a beep sound.

Now if you stick those test leads on a speaker, you're basically going to have continuity through the voice coil. You'll hear a beep sound when you found the right pair. So you go through each wire and pair them up.

Once you find a pair, test for ohms. You should get 4 ohms.

When you find all 4 speakers, and you want to find which one is rear or front, you can use a 9 volt battery to pop them. Or fade it to the rears and test for A/C.

You can basically hook up a LOC while the speaker is still plugged in.

This is how installers do it in a shop.

However if you have a factory amp, that's a different story. Let me know if you do.

 

[dcrider 10+ year member]

ok guys i have the install completed now.

It is possible to use a regular cheap loc on a bose, xm, onstar Chevrolet. I have the wiring colors wrote down for future reference. I had to completely remove the factory center console and dismantle it to get to the factory sub.

Vestax-------thats great information and thanks for letting me in on that. I did use a test speaker to make sure i had the right wires. The install went very smooth, although the amp has wayyyyyyyy too much power for the subs. Anyone want to buy a set of the new Earthquake thin sub's?

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

ok guys i have the install completed now.
It is possible to use a regular cheap loc on a bose, xm, onstar Chevrolet. I have the wiring colors wrote down for future reference. I had to completely remove the factory center console and dismantle it to get to the factory sub.

Vestax-------thats great information and thanks for letting me in on that. I did use a test speaker to make sure i had the right wires. The install went very smooth, although the amp has wayyyyyyyy too much power for the subs. Anyone want to buy a set of the new Earthquake thin sub's?

what were the colors?

 

[dcrider 10+ year member]

they were red,white/red----green/white/green---the wires for the loc

the colors that u mentioned which with my experience have always been the same colors in chevy did seem to be the same old colors----i didnt pay alot of attention to them---thanks for your help!---------

do you think anyone would be interested in buying the subs from me?

 

[i3abyjay25 10+ year member]

what part of GA r u from?