stereo question

[paxton350]

ok quick question my stereo deck isnt turning on but is recieveing power becuase i removed the faceplate an the little red security light comes on. this is aiwaa deck w/ removable plate etc. now is there a way to jump some power wires to have the stereo turn on an stay on as long as the key is on my buddy told me to jump the red an yellow wires the red is constant hot and the yellow is switched or soemthin like that, some help would be great i havnt had tunes in my car since i bought it lol thanks!

-chris

[MN6WS6]

Sounds like it lost it's key wire (accessory). Check the fuse on the red wire behind the radio, check and see if there is a fuse on the back of the radio itself, check in the fuse box for the fuse marked "radio". If you have a test light or a meter, then you can just check the red wire at the plug going into the radio itself. If you have power, then the radio is bad. If you don't, then that's your real problem.

How do I know it's the red wire? Because the little red light only flashes when the yellow wire has power.

[paxton350]

ok

ok ill check that but why would the red hot wire to the stereo be fused twice? isnt it already fused at the fuse panel? il check it with a multimeter tommorow. where is this other fuse for the red power? before the harness about a foot? im going to see if i can find that other fuse thanks!

-chris

[MN6WS6]

You always fuse at both ends of a wire. All aftermarket radios come with their own fuses, either mounted into the radio itself or on the wires.

[Mike71]

just think of it as the fuse saving the wire...and the car if the wire burns so does the car

[MN6WS6]

It actually serves two purposes. #1, as was mentioned, it's a safety issue, to keep the wire from burning. #2 is to save your radio. Let's say you are running an aftermarket radio, and you cut the fuses off behind the radio. Well, if the wire gets grounded or shorted between the battery and the factory fuse box, then the fuse pops and you're fine. But, if the wire gets grounded between the fuse box and your radio, then the car is fine but your radio is seeing a ground on a wire that should be hot, so it could easily burn up the chips in the radio, or even worse, set the radio on fire. That's why it's there.

[fiftyfive]

--Okay. The "red wire" is your ignition wire. This wire serves the purpose of telling your head unit when to "turn on." The "yellow wire" is your constant power, and gives the head unit its memory functions. If you are getting the security light to blink or come on, chances are (as said above) you have constant power, but no accessory. I strongly advise you NOT to "jump" these wires together. The main reason for this accessory wire is so your stereo doesn't stay on and drain your battery when you're not in your vehicle. I would take it to a shop, or, if you feel comfortable, find out why your accessory power isn't there any more. I would start with the fuses under the dash, and work twords the unit itself. Since the draw from your deck is minimal it doesn't need to be fused at both ends of the wire. An inline fuse, however, is highly recommended! I've seen enough cars where "installers" took shortcuts and went through fenders, doors, or just didn't put a grommet in the hole in the firewall, and the thing burns to the ground from a short circuit and lack of in line fuse. Anywho, lemme know if you need any more stereo help....I used to install in WA before I moved to the desert.



mc

[MN6WS6]

While I agree that I have seen some "installers" run wires through fenderwells and non-grommetted holes, I have never seen anybody EVER run wires to the battery for just a radio. Talk about overkill!

[Mike71]

i wired up all my installs straight to the batt..no matter what

i dont want someone coming back to me saying i did something wrong becuase theres a fault in there fuse box

by wiring it straight to the batt all u rely on is your work

[fiftyfive]

While I agree that I have seen some "installers" run wires through fenderwells and non-grommetted holes, I have never seen anybody EVER run wires to the battery for just a radio. Talk about overkill!

Really? wow. It must have just been 'cause I was in redneck country. We had guys come in with soldiered wires, black taped, then for good measure duct taped. Now, soldiering is good, but not for stuff that's going to be movin' around! Anywho, worst one I had the "privelage " of seeing was a young man run 8 GA. power wire through his door frame in an '89 GTA. Beautiful car...before the fire. No fuse, nothing. Had the door shut on it right where the fender and door meet (sagging door problem) chopped it in half, burnt all the way back up to his battery, caught his hood liner on fire.... he was lucky to get out.

I don't recommend running to the battery simply because that's just more wires you've gotta put into an otherwise already complicated harness. All the wires are always there (unless it's an older car or someone's chopped it) and generally if there's a problem with the fuse box it's either a blown fuse or a simple grounding problem. Anyhow, that's just my .o2 Later all.

[MN6WS6]

I was implying just the actual radio itself, not amps or other "power hungry" parts.

I know that Circuit City ran their alarm power wire directly to the battery on every car they did. The reason? The customer can pop the hood and pull the fuse if it keeps going off. The problem? The car thief can pop the hood and pull the fuse if it goes off. Even the Circuit installers I know all agree that the policy is BS.

The bottom line is this. If you are putting in a car alarm, even one with remote start, every wire you need and all the power you need is right there in the ignition harness. This way, the thief HAS to get in the car to do anything; door opens, alarm goes off. They can't get to the brain without getting in the car.

And the wiring nightmares, I've got you beat. I've pulled radios out of dashes that had NO, NONE, NADA, ZIP covering the wires. Wires were twisted together with no tape, connector, anything, just "floating" in the dash. You pull the radio out, and it sounds like the 4th of July in the fusebox with everything blowing. I've pulled speakers out that had blue RTV as a "seal" protecting the wiring. Electrical tape, duct tape, masking tape, AC duct aluminum tape, bubble gum, silicon, you name it. I've pulled a 4 guage wire out of a car that had NO fuses on either end, and there was the regular battery under the hood and two in the trunk!! If that would have shorted, that would have made the Darwin awards

[HottestZ28]

While I agree that I have seen some "installers" run wires through fenderwells and non-grommetted holes, I have never seen anybody EVER run wires to the battery for just a radio. Talk about overkill!

My girlfriends "expert installer" cousin did lol

[fiftyfive]

I I've pulled radios out of dashes that had NO, NONE, NADA, ZIP covering the wires. Wires were twisted together with no tape, connector, anything, just "floating" in the dash. You pull the radio out, and it sounds like the 4th of July in the fusebox with everything blowing. I've pulled speakers out that had blue RTV as a "seal" protecting the wiring. Electrical tape, duct tape, masking tape, AC duct aluminum tape, bubble gum, silicon, you name it. I've pulled a 4 guage wire out of a car that had NO fuses on either end, and there was the regular battery under the hood and two in the trunk!! If that would have shorted, that would have made the Darwin awards

Sounds like another typical day in an install bay. We had a kid come in with an older scout. He wanted the deck and 4 put it. Trouble was, there were no holes. No biggie, Kelly started cutting everything out with his dye grinder while I prewired everything outside. I had just finished wiring the deck to the adapter harness, and laying out the lengths of speaker wire when I heard a "karaaCkkkABOOOOMMMM!." I was like WTF? I walked into the other bay (2 bay system for a small stereo shop, we dealt in TV's, microwaves, etc. small local owned store) and Kelly was just standing there with the grinder still winding down in one hand and this lost, unbelieving look on his face. The scout was in flames, and I grabbed a fire extinguisher and put it out. When he finally started talking, he told me this:

"I was grindin' the shit outta that dash man. It's like 3 plates thick...so I was pressin' really fuckin' hard. Sparks were everywhere, but it was cool 'cause I had everything covered and....fuck man"

At this point he pulls out this deformed, twisted, thick paper tube looking thing.

"I pulled this out after you put out the fire, when you were puttin' the extinguisher away."

It was some kind of firework.

The kid came in later, looked at his scout. Looked at this huge black spot on his carpet and seats, the deck and four were in BTW, and says." What the fuck. You guys find my stash or what?" Kelly was about ready to go off, I took the kid in front and had the owner (Ron) explain the situation. I heard something about Ron saying he's lucky that Kelly wasn't hurt (just a mild flash burn on one leg, he was wearing shorts) and next time, blahblahblahblahblah. Anywho, there's a million more stories, but I gotta go back to work.

Oh, yeah. The alarm thing. Man, I never run wires to the battery EVA. Too many complications, I totally agree about under the dash. Everything you need is right in front of you. I'll tell you guys about the stereo hooked to the ignition (literally) later. Normally on an alarm (not to get back on topic) when I put in the horn, I put it facing down and put it as close to the firewall as possible, this way the horn itself acts as a barrier for any would be thief cutting the horn wires. I also run a backup set, just in case.

[paxton350]

ok this is what imma do im going to test that red wire in the stereo harness with a multimeter see if its getting voltage, if im going to run a fused switch from the battery an feed it into the harness to turn the stereo on or off whenever.... wow why didnt i think of this b4

-chris

[Sinister TA]

Here's my advice, I work in a car audio shop, and the best thing you can do is rip that aiwa out of your car, run it over a few times, and then buy either a rockford, panasonic, or eclipse deck. Aiwa is notorious for building great sounding products, but for durability they are overall crap. I haven't known an Aiwa car or home audio reciever to last more than 6 months before it either won't read a disk or doesn't turn on properly. You can either try fixing it yourself, buy a new deck, or you can contact aiwa and send it to them for repare. But my advice is to invest in a new deck.