Stereo Replacement Problem

[PuntaGordaHoopty]

I bought an old 91 cavalier for 500 after the hurricane for cheap, and decided to replace the old Craig cassete player in it with a pioneer cd deck , i removed the craig radio which was working, and put in the pioneer, connecting all the speaker wires, than ground, than finally the red wire for power. When i turned on the car the cd player didnt power up, so i calmly turned off the car, reinstalled the tape player, and now it wont power up (it did before, but wont now) it worked fine before, now it seems im getting no power from the red wire? I checked radio 1 and 2 fuses and replaced them, still no power. How do i fix this or run a new line? 91 cavalier coupe 2.2 4banger

[Classicrocjunkie]

Did you buy the wire harness? lol..

[PuntaGordaHoopty]

I looked on Crutchfields site and it looks like it has a harness from them but someone spliced and diced and connected it to teh craig, had old electric tape over the wires, really jimmy rigged. the cd player i got was used from a friend, i know it works but it doesnt have a harness, it was spliced in too to his stereo. should i test the red wire connection where the harness connects after disconnecting it? if theres no power there what do i do next?

[PuntaGordaHoopty]

Im just wondering if there is no power running to the red wire, after ignition should i run a new wire, or what?

[01Cavy]

You pulling out the factory cassete? If its factory then you will need to buy an aftermarket harness to hook up your new cd player. If its not factory then use the same harness (I recommend you solder then tape the wires together). Only thing I can think of is you aren't getting a good ground since you checked the fuses and they are fine. I don't see how running a new power wire will help. If the wire thats already there isn't getting power something may be disconnected some where and you need to reconnect it. I honestly doubt its the power wire though. I'd try the aftermarket harness first.

[PuntaGordaHoopty]

Yea its an aftermarket radio that i am replacing not the factory one, and yea it has a harness, it seems they bought a crutchfield harness, and spliced the Craig in, albeit sloppily. If thats a word. It did work, and power up, played fine but was weak and i wanted CD. Like i said i have a wiring harness, it just seems im gettin no live power from any of the wires on it, the speakers however hook up fine through the harness, im stumped. i tested that atleast. The original factory wire harness that plugs into the aftermarket one looks good as is wrapped up well, the wires look in good shape, the wiring harness looks a lil shabby.

[01Cavy]

Ok check the power wire on the harness where it connects to the factory harness. If the guy that did the shitty job the first time had to strip the wire, maybe he took too much off and got too much of the cooper. That may cause it to be weak. Also, make sure you have the connections covered well. Don't let the wires touch or that will cause power loss also.

[PuntaGordaHoopty]

Thank you kindly sir, it was infact the grounding, I found that the main ground wire wasnt connected properly and also wasnt grounding the front left and rear left speakers correctly ;P, thanks for the advice, they are all grounded perfectly now and the car booms Thanks again

[evansdad]

did you plug the antenna in? radio wont come on unless its plugged in.

[PuntaGordaHoopty]

No, the problem with the sound of my speakers was two grounds didnt work right, front left and rear left, I fixed that. The other problem was an inline fuse on the switched power cable (the red one) it was blown, i removed it, hooked it all up, grounded it, and it sounds great.

[PuntaGordaHoopty]

I also took your advice and soldered and electrical taped all the connections so i dont have to fiddle around until i get my amp

[Classicrocjunkie]

figured it out i take it?

[01Cavy]

Originally Posted by PuntaGordaHoopty

Thank you kindly sir, it was infact the grounding, I found that the main ground wire wasnt connected properly and also wasnt grounding the front left and rear left speakers correctly ;P, thanks for the advice, they are all grounded perfectly now and the car booms Thanks again

No problem. Glad you got it workin!