AE86 Car Audio wiring, re: Head unit plug

[DigitalPho3nix]

Hey everyone,

I am fixing up an AE86 to sell, and I have arrived at a problem.

I was speaking to a guy at my local JB Hi-Fi and he says I'll have to try and wire the head unit up myself manually. Another member on these forums said the same thing as well.

I suck at wiring, and will almost certainly stuff it up. I want to sell this car soon so I don't want to break it.

I'll post a pic of the Head Unit plug that's in there at the moment. I don't really want to cut any wires, and want a 'plug in' jobbie.

Can anyone help me find the correct plug? Or advise a course of action. I am trying to keep costs down, so DIY is best.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...araudio003.jpg

[wraith]

Looks like its been hacked up already... not a factory head unit? They really aren't that hard to wire, just check everything with your multimeter (which you paid $3 for at Dick Smith)- you don't have to cut anything, just scrape back the insulation and solder your new plug in. If you tell us what the head unit that was in there was, mayhap we can find a diagram & conceive a "solder that wire there" approach for you. I find it unlikely that you'll do anything worse than blow a fuse though!

cheers

Ash

EDIT- take a photo of the back of the plug you've got there. The cluster of wires. Probly can work it out from that...

[DigitalPho3nix]

The previous owner said he had a clarion loom in there, but there was a JVC unit in... He was a douche; I don't trust him.

[DigitalPho3nix]

I'll try and pull all the loose wires out, lay them out and take a picture. I'll do it tomorrow coz its like 2deg outside (not really but I am quite warm inside right now )

[wraith]

Your odds on getting a plug & pray adapter are slightly better than a stock head unit, but not by much. Do you have a model code for the JVC unit? The wire pairs (green, green with black stripe, purple, purple with black stripe etc) are your speaker wires. If you've got 4 pairs & 4 speakers, no worries, pop the speakers out and check polarity (whether the black stripe goes to ground or power side of speaker). There will be 3 other wires- 1 will have power all the time, 1 will go to ground and the other will have power when the ignition is at accessories. Check the power wires against the ground (it'll be the black one bolted in the picture, most like) to find out which one is switched. Your new head unit will have a wiring diagram & harness. Install 1 stereo & you'll be pro! A tip with soldering (which you may be good at, and if you are, I apologize) heat the wire & paint the solder onto the wire, not the iron!

Good luck! Keep us posted!

Ash

[DigitalPho3nix]

Yeah I am good at soldering. A bit out of practice though...

Thanks for the advice! I will still take a few pics of all wires tomorrow morning just in case I fuck it up and need to reset it.

[EldarO]

also, to find which wires run which speakers, grab a 1.5V AA battery, hook each speaker wire (positive and negative) to each side of the battery and the speaker will buzz.

Elmo.

[MR04AG]

also, to find which wires run which speakers, grab a 1.5V AA battery, hook each speaker wire (positive and negative) to each side of the battery and the speaker will buzz.

Elmo.

I didn't know that! thatnks for the tip

[roadsailing]

the easiest install is one with aftermarket speakers, because then you just have to run permanant power, ground and ignition switched power.

when i was messing around with shitty standard wires i used an old walkman with a hacked up headhhones cord, that way you hear music through the speakers.

check out this site

www.bcae1.com

excellent info!

buy a test ight or multimeter too, and be careful as some car systems use common earth on the speakers, which can mess with your head unit (nissans do, pretty sure toyotas dont)

dont bother with an adapter, just wire it all up from scratch.

[Dale]

Really you only need 2 wires to hook up a new head unit.

constant +12v and an accessory feed, ground is easy since it just goes to the chassis. That will get the head unit running then you just need to sort out the speakers, and for them, just run new cable for each speaker, will be easier since you leave no room for confusion and will be better than the 20+ year old factory wiring

[WiLo]

looking at the loom you have already the colours look like the normal colour coding methods ive seen so get the loom for the HU you want to install and see if all the colours match up

[wraith]

Really you only need 7 or 11 wires to hook up a new head unit.

constant +12v and an accessory feed, ground is easy since it just goes to the chassis. That will get the head unit running then you just need to sort out the speakers, and for them, just run new cable for each speaker, will be easier since you leave no room for confusion and will be better than the 20+ year old factory wiring

The wiring just spirals out of control! j/k

[Dale]

I'm talking about wires you actually need to find

[rob1]

by the looks of the thing like wilo said it should be straight forward. on the existing plug yellow is constant, red is acc and the speakers are there already.

[DigitalPho3nix]

I am going to JB's tomorrow to pick up a cheap Pioneer H/U they have on sale. Should be more than adequate. I need to swing by DSE and get a new multimeter too, as my kit one is a bit fucked.