Wiring '98 HU into '96 harness

[Joe Dirt]

I wasn't sure if the connections had changed...

How about a boom box on the passenger seat?

 

[617ricky]

Some pics may help, but then again maybe not, it's tough to say.. I can see why this is such a pain now, since you have to do all the work literally INSIDE the dash, and not having the ability to comfortably make your connections somewhere else.. But if you had normal music coming from the left speakers, you definitely had most of the wiring right, including for the amp.. So it's tough for me to guess why you were having problems on the right side, ya kno? I mean, I wanna say it was a bad connection somewhere, but that doesn't say much.

 

[Brooksie1]

Some pics may help, but then again maybe not, it's tough to say.. I can see why this is such a pain now, since you have to do all the work literally INSIDE the dash, and not having the ability to comfortably make your connections somewhere else.. But if you had normal music coming from the left speakers, you definitely had most of the wiring right, including for the amp.. So it's tough for me to guess why you were having problems on the right side, ya kno? I mean, I wanna say it was a bad connection somewhere, but that doesn't say much.

I just found that the wires in the dash harness that I thought ran to the speakers actually run to the amplifier and then wires go from the amplifier to the speakers. I then found cut wires under the rear seat and the remains of subwoofer cables. Then I find an antenna cable in behind the LR 1/4 panel but the antenna in the dash goes out to the RF fender. I wonder what other marvels of ingenuity the p/o carried out. I'm scared to ask...

 

[617ricky]

I just found that the wires in the dash harness that I thought ran to the speakers actually run to the amplifier and then wires go from the amplifier to the speakers.

Exactly! That's why it's such a pain with these X's compared to other cars.. No matter what, the wiring is going to that amp, whether you bypass it or not.. I mean, you could skip ALL this by simply running NEW wiring to all your speakers right from the 98 harness - but if you want it done neatly and properly that's even a BIGGER hassle.. I tried taking off 1 of my door panels before just to see, and I felt like I was gonna break something..

I would go back literally one by one and make sure you have every single wire connected tightly in the right spot before anything though.

 

[Brooksie1]

Exactly! That's why it's such a pain with these X's compared to other cars.. No matter what, the wiring is going to that amp, whether you bypass it or not.. I mean, you could skip ALL this by simply running NEW wiring to all your speakers right from the 98 harness - but if you want it done neatly and properly that's even a BIGGER hassle.. I tried taking off 1 of my door panels before just to see, and I felt like I was gonna break something..

I would go back literally one by one and make sure you have every single wire connected tightly in the right spot before anything though.

Today is supposed to be warmer here in Calgary so rewiring from the 98 HU to 4 speakers doesn't seem such a daunting task... I've had the door panels off before and yeah, it usually involves buying more plastic door panel anchors. One way or the other, tunes will be had!!

Thanks for all the help Ricky!!

 

[Brooksie1]

Exactly! That's why it's such a pain with these X's compared to other cars.. No matter what, the wiring is going to that amp, whether you bypass it or not.. I mean, you could skip ALL this by simply running NEW wiring to all your speakers right from the 98 harness - but if you want it done neatly and properly that's even a BIGGER hassle.. I tried taking off 1 of my door panels before just to see, and I felt like I was gonna break something..

I would go back literally one by one and make sure you have every single wire connected tightly in the right spot before anything though.

Well, this morning has proven that sometimes a good eBay purchase is a bad one in reality. A Russian guy down the street who borrows some of my tools from time to time came by to borrow my torque wrench. Unbeknown until this morning, he works for a local shop... long story short, he took the radio back to his basement and the right side audio IC in the internal amp is blown/defective/no workee...

Now I have to make a choice whether to have him try to source a replacement IC or buy an aftermarket deck from his shop and install that in the old HU, retaining and using the external OEM amp.

Too late to go back to the eBay vendor, I've had the radio for a couple of months now. That guy Murphy sure gets around huh?

Anyway, thanks again Ricky for all your help!!

 

[617ricky]

tough break in the end, but at least it proves it was hooked up right haha.. if you don't wanna spend alot on another deck, just check ebay and craigslist.. and even tho that 1 you have there is 1/2 broken, you can still sell that on ebay as long as you say what's wrong with it.. someone out there will buy it lol.. well good luck

 

[Joe Dirt]

brooksie, if you do end up going aftermarket, check out my thread that I liked to earler- it should help out...

Sorry you couldn't get it fixed up!

 

[Brooksie1]

tough break in the end, but at least it proves it was hooked up right haha.. if you don't wanna spend alot on another deck, just check ebay and craigslist.. and even tho that 1 you have there is 1/2 broken, you can still sell that on ebay as long as you say what's wrong with it.. someone out there will buy it lol.. well good luck

Got some good news... the neighbour found a colleague with a replacement IC and he's going to install it tomorrow... then it's new wires to the speakers and to hell with the external setup. He thinks using the 98 HU is a good bet and about $100 cheaper than buying & installing an aftermarket unit.

Many thanks - cannot express my gratitude adequately!!

Brooksie

 

[617ricky]

Don't worry about it, it was like trying to solve a puzzle haha.. Now what, he's running new wires to all 4 speakers? That's gonna be a pretty decent sized job, taking off all those door panels, and running wire thru the door jambs - way more of a hassle than most other vehicles..

What do you mean "the external setup" ? Honestly, I don't think running new speaker wire is necessary, as long as the deck is repaired.. Even tho the stock wiring seems butchered cuz you cut it, it'd still do its job, it's not like you're increasing the wattage or anything, it's just another stock deck.. If you just made sure you connected all the wires real nice, you'd be saving hours of work for the same end result..

But hey, if the guy wants to help you out, new wires aren't a bad thing!! ha, good luck.

 

[Brooksie1]

The radio got repaired including the IC, 3 illumination bulbs and cleaning up the slag from the soldering someone did to put an MP3 port into the front of the HU. I have run the speaker wires today and only lost 3 door panel anchors in the process - now that's an accomplishment! Had to replace the RR speaker as it was futzed. Used the internal amp from the '98 HU and bypassed the external OEM amp.

I now have the HU reinstalled and WORKING!! Tunes are playing, CDs work and so does my iPod and Sirius!!!!

Yeehaw!

Thanks Ricky, all done and learned something to boot with your help... many, many thanks!

Brooksie

 

[PandorasCustoms]

Congrats on the completion of this.
I have been watching this thread thrive, and been seeing all of the brain-knocking you all have been doing to get it working right.

Hopefully, the wife is a happy camper now?

 

[Joe Dirt]

Wow- completion!

Congrats on getting it fixed!

Thanks goto ricky too- that was a long process...

 

[Brooksie1]

Congrats on the completion of this.
I have been watching this thread thrive, and been seeing all of the brain-knocking you all have been doing to get it working right.

Hopefully, the wife is a happy camper now?

She is my long suffering lady; she deserved something for all the time & loot I have put into restoring my Avanti... with all the parts I bought she accused me of smuggling another car into the garage, one box at a time! LOL!!

I wouldn't have found that bad IC no matter what so it was good my neighbor came along to save the day. The rest was relatively easy.

Thanks to all who so generously offered time & ideas to get this solved!

Brooksie