radio hooked into running lights

[mode_x]

Bare with me I am a newbie and this is my first post. I have a 94 F-body Camaro Hatchback. I took out the factory radio. I do not have a bose system on my doors, but I do have a speaker in the back behind the rear seat and I believe it has a small pre-amp with it. I hooked up a JVC deck to it, and it only works when the running lights are on. I believe this has something to do with your radio shutting off when you open your doors. I bought a wiring kit and hooked it to the JVC wires. All color coordinating (blue to blue, red to red, etc.). I checked the Haynes and the wiring color differs from conventional radio wiring. On the car side, the orange wire (hot/battery) is not even being used. When I jump the orange wire to the radio wire the lights come on and your dummy bell starts dinging'. This is with the car turned off. I know I can bypass all wires from the stock wiring and wire my radio through other means, but I rather take advantage of the car's stereo wiring harness, it is alot easier to work with. And I don't like to have the running lights switch on just to listen to the radio. The radio goes crazy when you try to work with the settings, I am not sure if that is a faceplate problem, or if it is related to having it's power going to headlights. Anyone have a similar problem? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!

[justlearning]

well i think your problem here is that the remote or the power wire one is hooked up to the wrong thing
your power wire or 12volt should be running to the red or what ever the battery wire is...then u should have an ignition wire for your cd player also...this should be running to a wire that gets power when the key is turned to the start position...im not sure what color it is off the top of my head...see if that works or pm me for a better explanation

[mode_x]

Yeah I checked the wires with a meter. I know the basics, the battery wire, the accessory, ground, remote for amps, etc. So I figured I would check the Haynes manual again. All the wires are there, but the Haynes has it in a different order then what is on the car. I cut the light switch wire on the harness, so my lights don't come on when I jump the hot lead. It seems it will be easier to run the wires elsewhere. I just have to hop around the car with the meter and find the wires that seem the best choice. Maybe I will use my cigarette lighter wires to run hot, and tie the accessory with it. So I always have memory and it's always on, I will just turn the radio off at the faceplate. I hate to do it like that, but what choice do I have? The wiring harness for my car looks so whacked! And everyone's cars are different. So it's hard to fix the problem without being there. Thanks for your suggestions!!

[chevy_chic20041]

Originally Posted by mode_x

Yeah I checked the wires with a meter. I know the basics, the battery wire, the accessory, ground, remote for amps, etc. So I figured I would check the Haynes manual again. All the wires are there, but the Haynes has it in a different order then what is on the car. I cut the light switch wire on the harness, so my lights don't come on when I jump the hot lead. It seems it will be easier to run the wires elsewhere. I just have to hop around the car with the meter and find the wires that seem the best choice. Maybe I will use my cigarette lighter wires to run hot, and tie the accessory with it. So I always have memory and it's always on, I will just turn the radio off at the faceplate. I hate to do it like that, but what choice do I have? The wiring harness for my car looks so whacked! And everyone's cars are different. So it's hard to fix the problem without being there. Thanks for your suggestions!!

you definitely have wires crossed, the power will usually be red or yellow....you can just turn the key on and take the power wire from the radio and start touching it to the red or yellow and see if the radio comes on if it doesn't try other wires u need something with constant power...make sure u have it grounded when your trying this...cause if u hook it up half ass u risk screwing your head unit...its process trying to find the right wires if u don't know which ones are which but its better to have it hooked up right

[mode_x]

This wiring thing got really out of hand, so I took it to Circuit City to see what was going on. He said the GMC wiring harness was the correct one for camaros, but because I have a bose wiring system, the wiring is different and would not work on conventional GMC wiring harness. I pray others will not have the same problem, but in case you do I found a site that hosts the bose wiring system. This should be for camaros and firebirds F-bodies 94-03 I believe. But yours could be different! So please be careful!!
http://shbox.com/1/bose_wiring.jpg