Radio wiring

[Ginsu]

I bought a Panasonic HU for my wife's 93 T-Bird. The reason i'm posting this at all is i know some of you guys do this for a living and could probably help me out. I've searched the whole Internet and even the Haynes manual can't help me out. The only wiring chart i found is on www.tccoa.com and the color of wires doesn't match the ones in my car. I have the HU hooked up and running, but everytime you turn the car off it resets the memory (lose your programmed stations, time, etc...). Obviously the 12v (yellow) wire isn't hooked up. Currently the T-bird factory wires are in this order (left to right) Black/Lt Blue, Red/black, blue/red, yellow/black, Black, Lt Blue/purple. From the HU i have the red hooked up to the red/black, the black to black, and yellow to yellow/black. I've tried switching the yellow and red wires with the same result. Another hint, when i turn off the headlights, the HU turns off then back on right away by itself. I've tried alot of different combinations and i'm running out of fuses and patience...LOL. Please, any help is appreciated and if anyone has a wiring chart of some type. Thanx in advance.

[Mike75]

are you using a wiring harness, or are you just splicing them all?

If the factory harness is still in the car, and you're tapping into the wires before the harness, you really need to go to the nearest car audio store and buy a harness for your year make and model. They only cost about 12 bucks.

[Ginsu]

I had bought a harness, and when i hooked everything up, half the wires didn't match the location of the oem harness and nothing worked. Yes it was for the right year and factory style (not premium sound). Thats' when i decided to start hacking into the wires.

[Mike75]

So the harness that you bought actually fit into the one that was already on the car? I mean it actually plugged into it, it just didn't work right?

If so, are you absolutely sure that you made all of the right connections from the head unit to the harness that you bought at the store, before you plugged it in?

I'm sorry if I'm sounding repetitive - I just want to cover all bases.

[Ginsu]

Yes, the harness actually connected to the factory harness, and i am sure that the harness was connected to the stereo correctly. Nothing worked, that's when i decided to start hacking into the actual wires...LOL.

[Mike75]

Sounds like you might have blown something, then. Panasonic has not ever been the best at car audio. I'd return it (if possible) and get a good Pioneer, instead. Don't let a car audio dealer tell you anything bad about Pioneer. They made the first car tape player/cd player, plasma screen etc. Car audio specialists just stopped carrying Pioneer when Pioneer started selling through Wal-Mart. The snobbish stores did not want to be associated with anything "Wal-Mart", so they stopped carrying them. But the fact remains (in my opinion) that Pioneer is one of the best electronics companies in the world, and what's even better is their pricing. You can't get more bang for your buck than with Pioneer.

I'm not too big on their subs, but their regular speakers are awesome as hell, too.

Anyhow, I may be wrong about your panasonic, but I don't think so. Try to see if you can take it back, then go to Wal-Mart and you can get a good Pioneer CD + mp3 player for around $150. I think that you can get the XM ready version at that price, too.

And no, I don't work for Pioneer. I just like to help out great companies that are more about innovation and service than just money.

Good luck, and I'm sorry that I couldn't help you with the other stuff. I tried very hard to find a wiring diagram for you last night, but couldn't do it. But if you're sure that you hooked up the harness correctly to your head unit, then it is probably a faulty HU.

[Ginsu]

LOL...Funny enough, i have a pioneer HU sitting around. I'll hook it up and see if i have the same problem...If so, then i know its the HU, if not, back to square 1. I'll post an update.

[thunderbird muscle]

Sorry but I had a Panasonic HU in my 92 and then moved it to my 95 it worked in both.

If I do say so my self it is kinda special t me it is and mp3 player and a satalite radio besides being a cd player and regular radio

I think it is your harness.

Not trying to start any problems just saying

[Mike75]

I didn't mean to imply that Panasonic is crap, just that there are better head units out there. If it works for you, then that is great. I just can't figure out what the problem is with his situation, if he's sure that the HU is wired correctly, and that it fits perfectly into the existing jack. I've just never heard of, nor considered, a bad harness. I guess it could happen, tho.

Once again, I didn't mean to knock panasonic. I'm just trying to figure out the problem.

*edit*

Sorry about the language before, everyone! Had too much to drink last night.

[Ginsu]

Figured out the problem finally...I went and bought a voltometer and tested each wire. I wasn't hooked up to the illumination wire, but i don't know what that wire (red/black) does...LOL. It does get 12v of power with the ignition on. The battery wire (yellow/black) was actually the main 12v wire. The Black/light blue was the ground, and lt blue/purple is the battery wire. The actual problem, besides the wiring, was in the fuse box by the battery, there is a little 5amp fuse labeled "memory" that was blown. Replaced that fuse and tested the lt blue/purple wire and bingo, problem solved. From there is was just a matter of putting everything back together again. I wanted to thank everyone for their imput and making me get off my lazy a$$ to get a voltometer...LOL.