Head Unit Wiring Question for 05 Cavalier

[KOVER420]

When I went to buy a wiring harness for my head unit, the guy said that there would be problem, that in 05 cavaliers, the "wire harness" that comes from the car doesnt have the red wire so when I plug in the wire harness the head unit wont turn on, and that Ill have to wire the red wire somewhere else....The bastard wouldnt tell me how to do it, but said he would do it for me....for 150 dollars.....so I just bought it and thought I would try it myself/find someone to do it....So if anyone could tell me where else I would wire the red wire and how I would do it that would be well appreciated cuz its been mad frustration since I got all the stuff for my system and I get down to the final piece and theres of course another problem....I just wanna get it done....

[ridr4lif]

The red wire is the all time power i believe?

If so, you could just run a fused wire straight from the battery.

Or you could buy a test light and try to find a hot wire under the dash somewhere.

TEDD

[Ryan from Ohio]

Ok,

Look at what wire this hooks into on the actual headunit you will be using. Tell us what wire it is. Chances are high its a switched 12V. If it is just run a wire to the fuse box and into the "stereo/radio" fuse. This fue only has power when the car is on or accesory position.

Double check what wire it is and get back to us.

$150 to run one wire? I would take back EVERYTHING you bought from that guy/store and repurchase soemwhere else. Tell him if he thinks he can rip you off you will take your business elsewhere.... :words

[KOVER420]

Yes, it is a 12 volt....

It wasnt 150 for just the one wire, but I figured if he installed the wire he may as well do the whole deck but he wanted 150 for all that....He did want 17 for just wiring that one wire though, still too much....

Thanks for takin the time to reply to my question, odds are Ill have more...

[GlassWolf]

fuse box.
easy to do.
red should be the switched ignition wire.

[smoker]

a couple of things first before you do this....dont get under the dash with a test light unless you are damn sure you wont blow an air bag....secondly this may be obvious but noone mentiioned it. if you go to the fuse box make sure you go to the dead side of the fuse or you will continue to have power even if th fuse blows.........

[KOVER420]

Alright well if anyone can just explain exactly how to do that that would be great....Ive already got the dash out ready to do this shit but I just wanna make sure I know what Im doin....Ive never hooked anything up to the fuse box so if anyone can state some specific instructions Id appreciate it...If you dont wanna waiste your time explaining I understand....

[Ryan from Ohio]

As mentioned before your last thread, get the dead side of the fuse.

Find stereo fuse on fuse block. Remove fuse.

Take test light try booth sides, find the side without power. Put wire up there and push fuse in.

Wire to radio- done :)

[smoker]

actually you can get fuse taps at most auto stores like auto zone that slip around one of the legs on the fuse and give you a .25" male disconnect on the other end....if you just shove the wire in stray wires can cause other problems just watch the chevys i have seen them where the fuses fit so tight that fuse taps or even wrapping the wire can cause problems with the fuse making good connection but not to worry you can also buy fuses with a pigtail on them for just such an application.

[GlassWolf]

I'll do the job for $100! that's a 33% discount from the "other guys!!"

bring your car here, to cheap bastards car audio!

[KOVER420]

Alright head units wired up got a fuse tap and it was real easy thanks for helping me with that...

Of course another problem, the head units working, I dont have the antenna plugged into the back yet but the static is there......Im trying to hook my amp up it seemed to be all going well but when I tried to put the cd in to listen to it the amp shuts off....Everything seems to be wired correctly could anyone tell me the problem??

[William from NOLA]

Did you plug the remote wire into the power antenna jack? If so, then whenever you have the radio on, the amp will be on; switching to cd will turn the amp off, so make sure it is on the remote wire output on the HU.

[KOVER420]

No the remote wire is wired to the blue wire.....isnt that right?

[William from NOLA]

Well, color isn't standard in anything, so I wouldn't go by color. What head unit do you have? It's outputs should be labled.

or are you using the factory unit?

[KOVER420]

yeah there labeled.....but isnt it blue stripe/blue to blue stripe/blue??? and solid blue to solid blue?

Im pretty sure its all wired correctly, could the ground wire have somethin to do with it????

But not a factory head unit I bought a different one

[William from NOLA]

I meant from car to car, car to head unit, and head unit to head unit, color codes are different, I was a little unclear.

Pretty sure doesn't sound like 100% :) I would check again; You may have just mixed up the two connections (Power antenna and Remote wire).

Ground might be a possibility, but is unlikely if the amp works when the stereo is on the radio and shuts off when going to cd. Make sure that the place on the car chassis where the ground is connected is bare metal (sand it down if not) for best contact.

[KOVER420]

I cant figure it out the only way the green light on the amp will even come on is the way I got it now....(blue on blue) (blue/white stripe on blue/white stripe)......everything else is where its supposed to be Ive already gone over it.....any other suggestions?

[William from NOLA]

The remote wire is a single strand of wire. What are you connecting to the two wires?

[KOVER420]

Okay Ill try to make this as clear as I can, and understandable...

From the head unit there is a solid blue wire, and a blue wire with a white stripe....Im connecting the solid blue to the remote wire that goes to the amp, and the blue/stripe with the blue/stripe from the wiring harness...

Im pretty sure thats right Ive went over it many times and cant see where I went wrong.....the headunit works fine through the factory speakers, but when the cd goes in it shuts the amp off.....I actually dont have the stereo antenna hooked into the head unit yet, (dont listen to the radio, not worried about it), but when its just the static the amp stays on, still cant hear it through my subs though...but the cd mode makes the amp shut off.....

[William from NOLA]

What head unit do you have?

[KOVER420]

its a panasonic not sure what model I could look if you want me too but right off hand I dont know...

[ridr4lif]

Ok...switch the 2 wires. The one w/ the white stripe should be the remote turn on lead and the one thats solid blue should be for the antenna. It shouldnt really matter since i kno of some ppl who use the power antenna as their remote turn on...but switch them and see what happens?

TEDD

[KOVER420]

I pretty sure I already tried that and it didnt work.....Im gonna try again in tomorrow and Ill let you know what happens.......Odds are it wont work cuz thats my luck but well find out....If you know any other problems that could be causin it just leave it here and Ill check back tomorrow....

[Scarrell]

get us some pics?

[KOVER420]

I actually dont have a digital camera or I would......I guess Im gonna waiste another day tryin to figure out what the hells wrong if you guys think of anything just leave it here and Ill check up from time to time

[Jszar]

i had the same problem with my first deck. the power lead seemed to turn on an off on me for some reason. make sure you check all your major ground point to make sure nothing is loose. i cant remember what i did, but i remember it just started working, and i never had another problem.

btw, the Remote lead should be labeled.

[KOVER420]

Okay Im gonna sand down a new grounding spot and make the grounding better just to be sure, I have a paper that came with the head unit that says the blue/striped wire is the amp remote wire, so I switched that....Im gonna hook the amp back up and see how it goes..

[KOVER420]

ok now everythings hooked up again.....still have that problem tho....I plugged the antenna into the head unit so the radio would work and I turned it on, it didnt shut the amp off, but it also wouldnt come through the subs......I have no idea HHHHHEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPP im so damn aggravated...

[ridr4lif]

I kno this might be a silly question...but do you have your RCA's hooked up from the Head Unit to the Amp?

TEDD

[KOVER420]

yah I do....to be honest with ya I dont think I have any of the wiring wrong.....The way it is seems right and when I switch the wires the amp doesnt come on at all......ready to go crazy on this shit.....

[KOVER420]

Could it be that I dont have a strong enough fuse somewhere? on the fuse tap I put a ten amp fuse in I would think that thats enough......

[daykareboards]

i would try this just to make sure your amp is alright. buy a cheap little toggle switch and run a wire from you batt to it and then another wire from the toggle to the amp. put the cd in and turn the toggle switch to the on position. if everything works and your amp turns on and plays music then you know its something your doing w/ the cd player... if the amp still isnt working then its the amp.. that sound right guys?

[ridr4lif]

That sounds like a good idea.

But would it be too much current for a remote turn on tho? Just a thought...

TEDD

[William from NOLA]

Nope, the remote lead takes as much power as it needs (and can get); it only sees that there is power coming through is all it needs, how much doesn't matter. You won't need to put a switch on it as long as it is temporary (as in no longer than you testing it).

[Jszar]

current is a result of electrical pressure (voltage) divided by the resistance of the wire it travels through and the circut. its science, i dont know any way of changing it. the only way you could make more current flow through that wire would be to have more electrical pressure (volts), or less resistance (ohms) in the circut. this is why power is regulated, and the amp is protected by shutting off if the voltage gets too high or too low. sending too much voltage through the remote lead would probably fry that little circut though, i doubt its protected.

a lot of people purposly wire a switch from the battery to the amps, so they have direct control of them....and just hide the switch under the dash or seat.


.....i basically said what will said, just in a few more words. i felt like being technical.

[daykareboards]

yeah thats wat i did w/ my car in a sense, i didnt run the remote from the batt to a switch but the remote lead from the reciever to a switch then to the amp. i like it cauae i hate having my stereo up in the morning or when i have a headache... but i could just get a receiver w/ and amp on/off button.