All amplifiers require a separate ground wire, so it … After you’ve secured your radio wires, connect your car battery and test the radio. You need to look for your car electrical manual. There may be a trim “faceplate” over the stereo that pops off, revealing bolts in the face of the stereo instead of behind it. If you go to the back of the cigarette lighter there should be a power connector and there is going to be a ground wire and a power wire. If you don’t have either of those, you can wrap the wires with electrical tape. By using our site, you agree to our. Do I need to connect the blue/white remote turn on to the power antenna for it to raise and lower it or is that only for key fob engine starting? If there is no ground wire, you can secure the ground cable to bare metal in the body of the car to serve as a ground. Place the end of a solder spool on the twisted wire leads, and heat it with a soldering iron, making sure the solder touches the wires and not the soldering iron. there should be a ground wire that was hooked up to you factory radio. Take the roll of 16 gauge wire, knot one end of it loosely at the location of the receiver, and walk it to the area where it will be attached to the water pipe. References. This process is done along with the wiring of your aftermarket stereo. If the ground is not good, it's easy to run a new ground wire to save the day. If the resistance is okay but the accessory still isn’t working right, set the voltmeter to DC current (voltage). How do I connect the wires when wiring a car stereo? Car stereo wire identification may sound daunting, but actually figuring out the purpose of each wire in the wiring harness. It's a black wire. A basic ground system is as follows: Always use a heavy ground cable and connect one end to the negative battery terminal, and the other end to the starter motor or engine block as close to the starter as possible. If you are installing a small electronic device on the front of the car like a satellite radio for instance, you may want to check for an existing ground, a factory ground. If you are able to purchase a harness adaptor for your new stereo, it will plug directly into the car’s existing clip. Crank it down, test it for resistance, and you're good to go as you get as close to zero OHMs as possible on your OHM meter. A multimeter may come handy in this task. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Doing the installation yourself can be a bit daunting, so it’s important to approach it with patience. Can you tell me where the blue wire is supposed to be attached on the car? Remember that the stereo is still connected to the car with wires, so be careful not to rip any out as you remove the stereo from the console. Do not pull the wires out of the clip. If something does not work properly, review the connections with the wiring diagrams that you have to make sure all of the wires are connected to their corresponding match. Consult your car’s repair manual if you want to determine the best way to remove pieces of trim that are in your way. This likely because you didn't connect to the red ACC wire. Touch one end of your test leads to the known power wire, and the other to the ground in the harness. if the manual not available, you have no choice but to trace each wiring. wikiHow's. If the stereo doesn’t come out, it is likely stuck by a piece of trim. Learn how to properly ground the power/ground wire from your car audio amplifier. Testing a ground strap is very easy. If you ground to that wire, you're probably going to be ok. This will insure the correct ground path to the starter motor. Please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. To wire a car stereo, start by disconnecting your car battery to avoid electrocuting yourself. The 12 volt constant power wire is usually yellow or blue, though it may be a number of colors coming from the car. (Interestingly, it's also the #1 cause of any electrical issue on a vehicle.) Then, match the colored wires of your radio and your car and twist the wires together. Now, generally there is a ground wire coming from your car's radio wiring harness that you can tie into. Once done, try to wiggle the stereo. If your car is like most and has a ground wire for the car stereo already, just cut the connector off and crimp it to the adapter harness. It should hardly move at all when properly secured. Step 2 Hence the term "remote turn on wire". Touch the ground strap to see if it created any heat at the negative battery terminal or the bolt to the body. The power wire coming from the stereo is usually red, and likely will connect to a red wire from the car. For more tips, including how to remove your old car stereo before wiring in a new one, read on! Be sure to allow for extra length needed for running the wire along walls or behind furniture. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. A fuse in its ground would have blown to protect the radio. It is a single wire coming off the base of the antenna, not the larger cable wire that goes to your radio, but the only other wire running from the antenna. The power and ground wires need to be thick enough to accommodate the amp's demand for electrical current or the amp won't operate properly or put out its rated power.. This article has been viewed 234,457 times. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. The rest of the harness wires are for the speakers. But if I'm not mistaken you may need an amplifier/inverter to run a car deck off of power supplied to a home. Why doesn't the unit turn off when the key is in the off position? If you have a wiring harness, then everything should be hooked up. Don’t force it out, instead look for any obstructions that may be preventing it from moving. The yellow wire helps to keep the battery stable, and it has constant power. This guide will allow you to see what gauge power and ground wires you can use based on the amperes and length of wire. And the red one holds an important position of a power cable which turns the radio on and off. Unscrew these bolts and slide the stereo out. Ground Wire . 2021 heselectronics For You . If you go to the back of the cigarette lighter there should be a power connector and there is going to be a ground wire and a power wire. That ACC wire is powered only when the key is in the ACC position. 2) grab a 'floating ground adapter' which hooks up behind the head unit. Use the diagrams to properly match each with its appropriate wire from the car. You will typically need to string a power and ground wire to the location of each speaker as well as wires for any other components. You may also need to screw the stereo into place if it doesn’t use spring clips. If you have a reading less than five ohms, the ground is okay. All boats will have a primary battery for ignition and critical electronics, and a second battery for everything else that needs power. If you have recently bought a new car stereo and now planning to install it, then this article is for you. How to Make a Proper Ground Connection | Car Audio - YouTube Then run a single ground to the best source of ground, the negative terminal on your car… % of people told us that this article helped them. To get the best results, you may need to remove paneling or trim pieces, or lift up the carpet to route the wiring. The engine to chassis bonding wire had broken. Try not to let the wiring get in the way of the bracket you will need to bolt the stereo too (if your stereo requires being bolted into place). I often ground my components using separate ground points. You can order adaptors online or at most auto parts or electronics stores. If you have the chance of using 6-gauge wires as your power instead of 8, then do so. It may have a plastic button or tab holding it in place. 1) run new ground wires from each speaker into the back of the new head unit, or. Loading. Remove the keys and disconnect the battery again after you’ve tested the stereo. If you are grounding an amplifier, which is a perfect example, you can back out the seat belt bolt and get the wire underneath there and crank it back down, you are going to have pretty much have a perfect ground. If you can't locate the ground wire visually, then the best way to locate the ground wire is with an ohmmeter. Be careful when removing the wire harness clip from the back of the stereo. I could go into all of the scientific reasons for this but it all boils down to noise. you can drill a hole on something metal of the car and wrap the wire around a screw and screw it into the hole. Power and ground wires. Ground wire: once you have identified the constant wire, you now become able to identify the ground one. If there are no holes, remove the trim below, above or to the side of the stereo to gain access to the bolts. I've installed everything from navigation systems to full car stereo systems, remote starters, alarms, and beyond. After you’ve verified that your vehicle has an illumination wire on the factory harness, its time to connect these wires. Car Stereo Wire Colors. Some vehicles may require an adaptor to properly fit the new stereo in the hole for the old one. You do not need to remove the battery or disconnect the cable from the positive terminal. Your amp's instructions will include a recommendation on what size wire to use. Look for two pairs of matching holes on the left and ride side of the stereo. Loading. People tend to underestimate the amount and size of wires that they need when installing many components in a car audio systems. Open the trunk or the hood of your car, whichever is nearest to the location of your antenna. Now, a ground is a negative electrical connection that powers up the unit and it is almost always going to end up at the chassis of the car. If you use that same ground, you're good to go. Cut ground wire to adequate length. In a bind, you may be able to use pieces of a metal coat hanger to create your own DIN tools. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/21\/Wire-a-Car-Stereo-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Wire-a-Car-Stereo-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/2\/21\/Wire-a-Car-Stereo-Step-1.jpg\/aid134686-v4-728px-Wire-a-Car-Stereo-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"