New radio install tutorial plus radio and speaker wire colors
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New radio install tutorial plus radio and speaker wire colors
Ordered this Retro Manufacturing 1980-1985 Mercedes-Benz 300 Grand Prix DIN Radio with Motor 2A (AM/FM, Bluetooth 5.0, 2 x 3.5mm inputs, USB port, RCA line outs). Colors are fully customizable (I chose Amber on the lowest brightness setting). It's not the cheapest out there but it has all the functionality I was looking for without destroying the look of the dash.
Getting the old radio (1992 Sony XR4400) out wasn't easy without the keys but I was able to use a zip tie and a small screwdriver to depress the lock tabs. I looked online but every wiring diagram I found had the wrong colors for some of the speaker wires. I pulled up a copy of the manual for my old radio and was able to use the color codes on the harness to trace back and determine which wire in the car's harness went to which speaker.
Old wire harness. Four pairs on the left are speaker wires. Solid color is positive, black stripe is negative. Wires on the right are power: Constant, Switched, and Ground. Power antenna wires were disregarded.
To be safe, I took notes of the colors of the wires on the old aftermarket harness and which color wires they spliced to. I then cut and stripped the speaker wires one at a time and connected them to the wires on the new harness which were pre-labeled. Then I disconnected the negative battery terminal (you should do this before doing anything else but it was very cold out and I wanted the heat) and did the same process for the three power cables. Reconnected the negative terminal, said a small prayer, and turned the car on.
Old radio. 1992 Sony XR4400
Wired up and working great
Installed
Since I couldn't find the correct wire colors online, I made this chart which will hopefully help someone in the future. These are just speakers and radio power; I left out the power antenna colors.
The links I’ve found online show Left Rear Positive as Gray/White which is Green/White in my Jeep. FSM also says Green/White.
However, FSM shows Front Left Negative as Black/White when mine is Black/Yellow.
Getting the old radio (1992 Sony XR4400) out wasn't easy without the keys but I was able to use a zip tie and a small screwdriver to depress the lock tabs. I looked online but every wiring diagram I found had the wrong colors for some of the speaker wires. I pulled up a copy of the manual for my old radio and was able to use the color codes on the harness to trace back and determine which wire in the car's harness went to which speaker.
Old wire harness. Four pairs on the left are speaker wires. Solid color is positive, black stripe is negative. Wires on the right are power: Constant, Switched, and Ground. Power antenna wires were disregarded.
To be safe, I took notes of the colors of the wires on the old aftermarket harness and which color wires they spliced to. I then cut and stripped the speaker wires one at a time and connected them to the wires on the new harness which were pre-labeled. Then I disconnected the negative battery terminal (you should do this before doing anything else but it was very cold out and I wanted the heat) and did the same process for the three power cables. Reconnected the negative terminal, said a small prayer, and turned the car on.
Old radio. 1992 Sony XR4400
Wired up and working great
Installed
Since I couldn't find the correct wire colors online, I made this chart which will hopefully help someone in the future. These are just speakers and radio power; I left out the power antenna colors.
The links I’ve found online show Left Rear Positive as Gray/White which is Green/White in my Jeep. FSM also says Green/White.
However, FSM shows Front Left Negative as Black/White when mine is Black/Yellow.
Last edited by arpunk; 02-05-2023 at 10:37 AM.
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DavCut (02-26-2023)
#3
I accidentally hooked the jumper cables the wrong way in the dark and afterwards the radio turns on but no sound from the speakers. I hear a faint pop from the rear drivers side door speakers but that’s it. I checked the radio and radio amp fuse and they’re fine. Any ideas?
thanks
thanks
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