stereo help please

[Shadowsk8er08]

ok so i took out the stock radio in my 93 tracker...like a dumbass i cut the wires from the wiring harness and i dont have that anymore. so how do i wire up an aftermarket cd player...someone said something like all i need is the hotwire and the groundwire. i dunno so please give suggestions.

[daveygunn]

You need to find a wire that is hot all the time. Use this for your "memory" lead to keep the clock and station settings. This can be a thin wire as little current passes though it.

Then you will need to use a test light to find a wire that is hot when the ignition is in the on/accessory position and off when the ignition is in the off position. This is your main power wire and should be a little thicker as current draw is more than just the constant lead mentioned above.

Next find a good stable chassis ground. (easy)

Then you will have your 8 speaker wires. 4 positive and 4 negative. You can look at each speaker itself to see the color of what goes to each speaker.

Once you have that figured out you need to know what wire is positive and what is negative. I usually use a digital voltmeter set to 20VAC.
Example: Touch the 2 wires for the front left speakers. If it shows a positive voltage--then you are correct and look at the meter wires to see POS and NEG. If it shows a negative voltage then you just need them reversed. This is while the radio is powered on and turned up some. Also do not let the speaker wires touch each other as you can blow up the internal amplifier.

Repeat that for each speaker.

After that you should be good unelss I am forgetting to mention something.

Or you could just solder the plug back on and pay the $6 for a adapter plug at walmart like I did.

Take care,
DG