Help with wiring

[Hopeless]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if you could please give an idiot some advice.

Years ago I bought a Kenwood car stereo. I don't know much about stereos, but it plays without any problems and can play my MP3 CDs in random order, so it has kept me happy on many a long journey. Every time I have bought a new car, I have taken the original stereo out, and installed my trusty Kenwood instead.

Today I traded in my 2003 Astra and bought a 2009 Passat, and immediately proceeded to swap over the stereos. I bought a conversion kit that contained all the connecting wires, and I connected the main block of wires and the antenna using these. The stereo works fine (though, as always, the steering wheel controls don't work, which is fine).

The curious thing is that the stereo does not switch off when I take out the key. In all my previous cars, once I turned off the ignition and took out the key, the stereo would switch off, and continue playing where it cut out when I re-started the engine. Now, however, it just keeps playing. The Passat has a fob instead of a key, but otherwise the set-up is the same, and I have not changed any settings or wiring on the stereo.

I presume there is wire connected that takes power directly from the battery whether the key is in or not, but I haven't a clue where to look for it, how to change it and where to plug it in, and can't seem to find the answer online either. Could anybody give me any idea what to do, in idiot-proof terms please?

Thanks very much.

Hopeless

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[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

You have the remote on a constant hot

 

[Hopeless]

Thanks very much. I fear have not the faintest idea what a 'remote' or a 'constant hot' is, let alone how to go about fixing it. Would you be able to point me in the right direction please?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Thanks very much. I fear have not the faintest idea what a 'remote' or a 'constant hot' is, let alone how to go about fixing it. Would you be able to point me in the right direction please?

It should be labeled on the harness

 

[Hopeless]

And where would I find the 'harness' please, and what do I do once I have located and identified it, the 'remote' and the 'constant hot'?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

And where would I find the 'harness' please, and what do I do once I have located and identified it, the 'remote' and the 'constant hot'?

Google

 

[Hopeless]

Aye, well, I tried Google, and it didn't have any sensible answers, which is why I came here.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Aye, well, I tried Google, and it didn't have any sensible answers, which is why I came here.

You might want to check the VW forums. Most of the time it's better off leaving the factory HU alone on newer cars.

 

[Hopeless]

You're most helpful.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

You're most helpful.

Not really. Sorry. You just have to find a wiring diagram somewhere. That's where I'd ask around.

 

[Hopeless]

Have located a wiring diagram, and came across something interesting.

The red switched ignition wire was connected to the yellow constant battery power wire. I remembered years ago in one of my cars we had to swap them around because the radio never remembered its settings every time I turned off the ignition. I never adjusted them since then, and the radio has worked in a further three cars.

As an experiment, I reconnected them the correct way round (red to red, yellow to yellow), but the situation remains the same. The stereo works fine, but the power is still not linked to the ignition. So I am guessing both the red and yellow wire are connected to a permanent power source.

 

[poolman966554]

in my experience, usually pin 1 is red, and is constant hot( means goes to battery via wiring harness) yellow is usually the ignition wire.

 

[poolman966554]

you can verify this with a cheap digital meter. connect the harness adapter you purchased, and test red wire with meter to ground. should see 12v.

Then test yellow wire with key off. you should see nothing. key on, should then show 12v

FYI, i could have the colors reversed.. very simple to check though.

 

[Hopeless]

That is good to know.

Though in this case, considering the result of swapping them around,they appear to be the same.

 

[poolman966554]

so what your saying, is that the cars harness does not have an ignition powered wire?