new stereo wiring

i have a 1986 300zx and i toook out the stock radio and i just bought a new one, i dont want to pay a few to have someone install it for me, the only trouble i have with it now is the wiring, what wires go to which?

i dont wana buy a harness for it, plus the wires are already cut so i need to know what stock color wires go with my new pioneer deck wires

You need to test each individual wire to figure out what they are yourself, or you're going to have to buy a Haynes/FSM manual for your car.

any other ideas?

installdlr.com or something like that

i tried installdr, it wasnt correct, damn this is harder then i expected it to be

go but a cheap multimeter and follow these steps:

materials needed:

multimeter
electrical tape
masking tape
marker/ ink pen
shrink wrap
butane cigarette lighter
wire strippers


optional:
solder
soldering iron
or
solderless wire terminals
crimping pliars


1. ignition off, meter set to 50vdc
attach the negative lead to a good chassis ground and test all of the wires for 12 volts. here you are looking for a wire that has power all of the time. when you find it mark (with masking tape and pen) as bat+ and insulate with a fold of electrical tape (you'll need it later unless you plan to install a larger power wire). if you do not find a lead that has consant power, or if the lead is very small you may wish to pull a power lead directly from the battery. use 14 awg - 10 awg depending on availability and preference (smaller that 14 awg is too small; larger that 10 awg is mad overkill.) be sure to use a fuse near the power source (battery) and insulate the end of the stock power wire if discarded (perhaps the best way is to cut the end flush and double it over. then apply shrink wrap and shrink.). if you install a new power wire use a preexisting gromet in the firewall or drill a hole and use a dedicated gromet. do not just pass the wire through a bare hole.

2. turn the ignition on and test the remaining wires for 12v. you are looking for the ignition swiched lead here. mark as "ign" and insulate with a fold of electrical tape.

3. turn the interior lights on and make the dash lights as bright as possible. test the remaining wires for 12v (the reading may be somewhat less). you are looking for the lead that controled the stock head unit's backlight. it is possible that you will not find a wire on this circuit, but if you do insulate it well as it will nolonger have a purpose other than make the dash lamp fuse blow on occasion.

4. now that all of the power leads are taken care of you need to set the meter to measure continuity or resistance (depends on you meter's features). test all remaining wires (NOT power wires) for continuity to ground. mark this wire as ground. you may wish to install a larger ground wire also. see step 1 for wire size.

5. hook your meter's negative lead to one of the remaining wires and test all of the remaining wires for continuity. here you are looking for the speaker leads. when you find the pair you will see the needle move and hear a small popping noise due to the meter's 1.5 volt power supply. when you find a pair of speaker leads mark them depending on the location (FL, FR, RL RR). once you find one pair move the negative lead to another of the unused wires and repeat the procedure untill you have located all four of your speakers (unless your car is only equiped with two speakers).

6. now we determine the speaker's polarity. get a single AA battery and a battery holder (not nessecary, but it simplifies the task. an alligator clip is useful too. and maybe 2' of small gauge wire. think radio shack or some place similar.) cut the wire so you have two 1 ft. sections and attach them to the leads coming from the battery holder. insulate the connections and attach the alligator clip to one of the wires. remove the speaker covers and get a helper to observe the movement of the speakers. attach the alligator clip to one of the predetermined speaker leads and touch the other wire to the other speaker lead (make the connection briefly then disconnect. the speaker movement will be small, but hopefully noticable). if the speaker moves out then mark the speaker lead polarity as the battery is hooked up (battery positive = positive; battery negative = negative) if the speaker moves in then reverse the leads and apply the same test. repeat on all speaker lead pairs. note: if you have tweeters do not perform this test because square waves blow tweeters. if you have speakers with tweeters it is safer to remove the whole speaker and note the colors of the wires attached to the terminals on the speaker and mark the wires at the head unit the same. if your stereo uses high-wattage speakers without tweeters you may use a 9v battery (one of the small square ones with both terminals on top).

7. once all of the car's wires are marked consult the instalation manual for your new head unit and hook up the wires as directed. don't forge to remove the positive battery terminal connection. how you do this is up to you, you may use crip connectors with or without shrink wrap (the shrink wrap helps make a better mechanical connection and helps prevent corrosion) or solder them and insulate with shrink wrap. if you solder them use a western union splice (look it up with your browser, you should be able to find a picture tutorial) and the solder of your preference (i like silver solder) and insulate with shrink wrap. if you plan to solder the leads i advise that you practice on some scrap wire, and practice heating the shrink wrap too because the cheap shrink wrap (it is a shiny black, the better stuff has a matte look (not reflective)) will develop holes if heated too strongly. this usually happens if it catches on fire or if there is a very sharp point of solder. use sand paper to smoothe any sharp protrusions.

8. turn the head unit on and test all of the speakers by using the fade and ballance to play each one individually.

9. mount the head unit it the dash brackets (a mounting kit may be required).

10. enjoy your tunes.

you may thank me when you are done.

this procedure works on nearly any stereo system. moderators may make this post stickey in the most aplicable area if desired. gramar/ spelling editing is allowed.

thank you so very much, i went to some stereo places to see how much it would cost for them to do it and they were like, at least $100 because of the stock bose stereo, i was like hell no, i already have the supplies so i should begin this tomorrow, hopefully all goes well

i ran into a bit of trouble, i found the bat wire, but i cant find the ign wire, so whats up with that?

dig around under the dash a bit more. i doubt the stock stereo was wired such that you had to power down the radio after turning the ignition off. remember that the ign. wire should only get power when the ignition is on. was a radio installed when you got the car? if not the previous owner may have done something like pulled the radio fuse, or maybe the fuse blew from a short circuit (i am going on the idea that there was no radio installed for a while). the radio fuse will be locaed on the fuse panel. hope this helps.

i will check the fuse, the stereo was removed resently and the wire is there somewhere, is there something that i have to do to the new stereo?

well, with an aftermarket stereo the ignition wire is the same as the amp signal lead; it does not carry the main power for the unit, it just makes the componet turn on. if you can't find the ignition wire you could always wire the head unit's battery lead and ignition lead to the always hot wire, but then it would not turn off when you switch the ignition to the off position (this is quit a pain in the ass). as far as what you have to do to the head unit -- just follow the instalation instructions; they will tell you what to do. if you have a specific concern then it helps to ask specific questions.

well my car is sorta broke right now im gonna have to wait a bit so i can test it out, thanks for the info tho