Stereo wiring help

[iangrant]

I'm trying to fit a new stereo to my 944 S, and I am unsure about the power connectors.
Wondered if anyone can help me identify them. I hope attaching these pictures works!
Ah, only 1 picture per message. Okay, so this picture shows the three power leads to the left, coming out of the car and currently into the existing stereo (Panasonic F30).
Brown, I got that figured. What are the other two, which is the continuous or switched power supply?

 

[iangrant]

This picture shows the connector that came with the new stereo. I intend to buy an appropriate socket for that black bit and wire it to the existing plugs on the car, rather than chop things up.
Black is ground (so goes to brown), but where do red and yellow go? One is switched, one is continuous. Is blue the power antenna lead? Orange is not mentioned in the stereo manual...

 

[iangrant]

This is the antenna lead (the little red wire coming off the aerial plug is spliced to the little black wire, which is connected to the blue wire which goes into the existing stereo), I presume this goes to the blue connector on the previous pic?

Incidentally, I currently have very bad (i.e., none) radio reception, I thought maybe it is because the power amplifier for the in-windscreen antenna was not connected. There are two leads with plugs like that one shown. The other was not connected, and has only one wire (the aerial plug), no little wire like this one (for the power amp), anybody know which is the right one?

 

[iangrant]

Finally, between the power leads from the car and the stereo, there is this great big black thing on the red lead. What is that? Do I need it, or was it something to do with the old stereo?

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[Fen]

The big black thing is an inline fuse holder. Do you have a multimeter? If so you'd be best to use it to determine which wire has 12v permanentlt, which is switched and what is earth. You can also trace speaker wires using it if necessary. Google for "ISO Wiring Connector" or similar and you'll get a link to the colour codes for the plug you need.

 

[Guest]

Holy cow batman! That's a bit of a mess.

Well, at least the speaker wires are easy to figure out. []

The ariel is easiest to start with. You should have a proper ariel connection on the car. without one you'll never get any sort of decent radio coverage, so if you havent, you'll probably need a new ariel. First question: what ariel do you have fitted? (I take it the S is not with an integrated screen ariel?). If it is just a standard ariel (as I would think), than you just need to fit the normal conector to it. if the ariel has a booster function, then take the wire from the power ariel of the stereo (as instructed in the booklet, usually blue or green/striped) to it. In a standard windscreen integrated ariel, the booster lead is actually in the same loom, taped/clamped to the main lead, so it's easy to identify. not sure how it is in other 944's though!)

Right, power.... You should have (basically) 3 main wires. a negative (I think this is the large brown one), a switched positive, and a permanent live. *usually* the yellow wire from your existing stereo is the permanent power, which then leaves the red as switched positive. HOWEVER, to be totally sure, because many people have maybe done stereo fittings on a particular car and changed wire colours over the years, invest in a multimeter. you can pick them up for £5ish, and they are well worth it to not blow up you car! (I.E. DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR THE COLOURS! CHECK THEM OUT YOURSELF!)

As for the rest, well they aren't actually necessary in a standard stereo setup. There may have been other equipment fitted in the past which would explain the rest of the gubbins (some 944's had equalisers and so-on fitted from factory). Unless you have amps, or other electrical stuff fitted, I would just chop them off, insulate them up WELL, and tape them to something to prevent them from rattling.

 

[Fen]

The S will have a screen aerial - all the oval dash cars did AFAIK. That means you have to power the amplifier and as I forgot to mention before that goes to the blue wire on the ISO connector.

 

[iangrant]

Excellent, cheers guys. I just tried a multimeter, and so now I know which is switched and permanent, the speakers are labelled, so I'm gonna pop down to Maplins tomorrow and get a couple of ISO sockets to connect to the existing plugs there.

Several of the wires seem to have inline fuses (small ones, and also that big black thing), but the new stereo has a little fuse plug in the back of it, I am right in just connecting it to the wires without the existing inline fuses? (i.e. I'm thinking they are part of the old stereo, not the car, if you see what I mean)

Yes, the aerial is the in-windscreen antenna, I looked under the dashboard but couldn't see what might be the power amp, as I said, there are two leads with antenna plugs on them, one just an antenna plug, the other with a little lead coming out of it, for the power amp. I'm guessing that's the one I should use, no idea what the other was (it wasn't connected).

 

[Guest]

yep. dump the inline fuses. The radio's built in ones will do the job (if not, blame the radio!)

2 ariel plugs seems wierd. is there a second ariel fitted somewhere? maybe an extension that's fallen/been taken off? Oh well. tape it up, and use the one with the little fly lead (and attach to the blue antenna wire in the head unit)