SCereal

iTrader: (4)

Great write up but I found some issues while doing mine. I only used bits and pieces of it because i'm replacing everything with aftermarket but the power, dimmer, acc, etc connections were different for my car. I have a 97 non-nak with changer stock and the pinouts and colors were totally different. Crutchfield's pinouts however were correct for me so I think there's a difference between 97+ vs prior years.

Also, I found these "soldergrip" things at home depot. Basically heat shrink tubing with a band of solder in it. Splice your wires together, slide it over and hit with a heat gun. Instant soldered/heat shrunk connection.

adawg

my stock radio plug doesn't match anything in the picture u posted rainne. I just followed the color coded posted by you and seem to be right (at least for the power 12v wires).
anyway
so i extended all the speakers wires from my after market unit and ran all the way back to trunk, but then, ....the main amp only has ONE plug and not TWO like you described. Tried to look up the colors on that one plug that i have, the colors don't match. so i took out the rear speakers/sub cover out, and don't see any amp either, as well as no PLUG like you described to make the sub work with ALL SOURCES. so now i'm stuck, don't know where to connect my extended speakers wire to.
BTW, seems like the previous owner install an aftermarket CD changer with all the weird "antenna-like" cable running directly to the antenna.

my question is, should I just run my extended speakers wire to each individual speaker and just leave THAT ONE plug on the OEM amp? and what about my sub.?

snowfox444

What if you are hooking up separate aftermarket amp and subs in a box and NOT using the stock amp or stock subs? (the stock amp was disconnected when aftermarket alpine 6 1/5 inch rear speakers were installed.

raine

iTrader: (7)

Those sound pretty cool compared to trying not to burn yourself with a soldering iron inside the car

Was your car bone stock audio-wise before you even touched it? You are rocking the Pioneer system, right? I can't really help you if it's a different setup without even seeing what it is causing the problem/dilemma.

BTW I've come across some Pioneer head units that aren't exactly like the one I have, thus I put in the "The factory Pioneer setup has a 2.5-DIN radio/cassette up front, 12-disc CD changer in the right side of the trunk, the main amplifier (“main amp”) below the CD changer and the subwoofer amplifier (sub amp) on the rear deck between the sub and the right rear speaker. If your factory head unit does not look like the one shown, I can't guarantee that you can use this thread, but it should be close." part in the first post.

Then you'd install the aftermarket amp/subs just like any other aftermarket amp/subs connected to an aftermarket head unit.

cino21

anyone have an answer on how to get the sub working for the alpine unit....

koolcat

iTrader: (1)

After you guys do this, does it sounds better than the oem cd player? Is the sounds worse or is it better than oem pioneer deck?

LEXXIUM

iTrader: (1)

Hey Rainey, I got a questions for you, my stock hu is working fine but my amp is fried, I already removed the amp and the cd player, and everything is disconnected, there are 4 plugs, 3 to the amp and 1 to the cd player. Now is it possible to just bridge the speaker wires that go to the amp from hu, (amp input) with the speaker wires that go out of the amp(output to speakers)I am not talking about the sub. Basicly what I am trying to do is to keep the stock hu pushing the the stock 4 speakers first, and then add an amp for a new sub only.
Is it possible to do it this way

Thanks

Garen

trackball

I have a similar problem. My power antenna goes up each time I turn the car on, no matter which input I am using on my new head unit (Pioneer X920BT). My car is a 1997 SC400.

I connected the two wires as outlined on this article to the blue "antenna" wire on this head unit's cable harness. I am guessing this has something to do with it. Looking at the Pioneer manual, I found the following note :

"Be sure not to use this lead as the power supply lead for the auto-antenna or antenna booster. Such a connection could cause excessive current drain and malfunction."

My question is, how should the wires be connected from the head unit to the factory harnesses so that the Pioneer head unit only raises the antenna when the AM or FM tuners are in use?

The head unit's blue wire doesn't sound like it is sending a signal when the radio (AM or FM) is being used, but rather sending a signal to tell amps to turn on or off whenever the head unit is powered up.

Also, my stock Pioneer head unit had TWO antenna wires connected to it, but the second one was smaller than your normal size car antenna lead. I am guessing this is for the rear window antenna. Is there any way to connect this alongside or instead of the normal-sized connector? I am wondering about having it instead of the stock power antenna in case I need to go that route.

mkorsu

After reading the Pioneer manual, the blue/white wire is for both external amps AND the power antenna control. It seems that the output will occur as soon as power is activated on the head unit. Use a 30A relay and activate both together. I dont see an alternative right now to allow the antenna to activate only when the radio is turned on with this head unit.

LEXXIUM

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for a great writeup Raine, I used a metra wiring kit
but didn't use the rca's from the kit (it was impossible to bridge the wires in the trunk)
I ran all the speaker wires to the back and tapped them to the plug in the trunk and thanks to you I'm rocking my new alpine cd 105 and a matching alpine amp :thumbsup:

trackball

Can anyone provide some more information about how to remove the package shelf in the back window? My car is a 1997 SC400.

Here is what I have done so far --

- Removed back seats
- Removed two "fir-tree" fasteners holding package shelf to vehicle
- Removed both plastic seatbelt retraction covers

At this point in the disassembly, I'm not clear where to go next. Raine's tutorial mentions removing what sounds like the subwoofer grille, but even if I were to do that, I don't see how the package shelf will clear the plastic coverings on the walls of the back seat area.

Any advice or assistance would be appreciated!

bequa

I have a 1999 Soarer

I'm tryin to install aftermarket head unit with oem speakers and amp.

I think I connected speakers, rem. ant, everythin I should, but the problem is

VERY LOW VOLUME, the oem volume **** does not do anything.

Any one got an idea?

expansive

Hopefully someone can answer some of the posts above and i have a question as well.

But how do you know if the amp is working? My front speakers sounds fine but only the driver side rear speaker is working in my car. The sub and passenger side speaker is obsolete lol

So how do i know if its just those that are blown or if my amp has some sort of malfunction?

trackball

Are they obsolete, or not working? I'm not clear on what kind of problems you're having.

My advice would be to remove the rear driver's-side speaker from its location, and connect it to the rear passenger's-side wiring. This will tell you whether the passenger side wiring or passenger side speaker are the problem.

expansive

Yea i meant that they werent working. But thats a very good idea about switching the speakers around. i have nothing to lose anyway. Thanks trackball and awesome name by the way