Thread: Aftermarket Radio Head Unit question/s??

guys.... do the stock red/yellow stripe wire go to---> battery power (Red) & the red/blue go to ignition (yellow)??? I tried this today and it didn't work and I swapped the wire combo around and still no power.

Also where do you guys suggest to ground the head unit at?

PS.. I do not have the original harness. The previous owner chopped them like a cheap ass (every thing he did in this way CHEAP) and did butt connectors.

okay now I've run into some issues.
at the actually speaker BOTH driver side & passenger side is Brown & Brown/white wires while I still cant figure out what BLUE wire is the power and found out the red/black strip is const. power.


and I left my mutli meter at home again :/

9v battery and listen for a pop

lol.
well I figured it out. A co worker had a multimeter.

FSM is free online and has ALL THAT INFO!!!

yes and no it doesn't lol There was two Identical Wires of the same haha. I'm old school and figured it out with FSM. haha. :P

This is to help anyone who's interested & was in the same citation as I was. Previous owner hacked the original harness but I'm not responsible for anything that may go Bad as I'm not an expert.

This is what I did with a Kenwood head unit wiring to-------> stock wires (with no harness) for 91 NX. Use at your own risk. Now the BLUE******** wires will have to be tested to find the difference between the speaker vs power source. They are Identical on my car.

POWER SOURCE
ignition + red------> *********Blue********
battery + yellow------> red/black stripe
ground - Black-----> actually chassis (screw this in or bolt it. Up to you where you want to ground it as long as its a good source)


SPEAKERS
LEFT FRONT + white------> blue/white stripe
- white/black stripe------> blue/yellow stripe

RIGHT FRONT + Gray-----> brown
- gray/black stripe-----> brown/white stripe


LEFT REAR + green----->red
- green/w black stripe ----> green

RIGHT REAR + purple-----> Pink
- purple/black stripe------->******** Blue ********

I'd like to bring up an FM noise problem I have in my '93 NX with a '90's or early 00's Kenwood head unit (KDC-S2009).
- The CD works fine with no noise; if I pause it with the key at "accessory" or "on", there is no noise.
- With middle strength to weak FM stations, they come in clearly with the key at "accessory" but when the key is turned to "on", noise drowns out the FM program, even without the engine running. The noise continues with the key in "on" after the fuel pump has shut off and if I disconnect the ignition coil.
I've had this issue ever since I got rid of the stock radio in the late 90's with another Kenwood that had this same issue.

The ground wire from the radio is connected to a bracket that holds the airbag computer.
The rear ground port on the radio and the mounting bracket (chassis) are each grounded to separate bolts that hold the shifter assembly to the chassis of the car.
All three locations show good grounds (multi-meter run between the hot lead to the power port and ground shows 12.xx volts).
I recently had the antenna off when I was doing bodywork and made sure the mounting points for it were corrosion free.

So, who has ideas?

Sorry man but I don't have any real answers. I'm guessing I would look into it as a grounding issues or a wire that runs next to an active source/current. I would try to look into what you posted: "the ground wire from the radio is connected to a bracket that holds the airbag computer". I would also try new or different locations 1 at a time for the other grounds just to give it a try. It might just be the units too?
I haven't had any issues with my newer unit. Also food for thought but do you still have the original radio to put back in to see if it happens to have the issue that the kneads seem to best? Also have you done online search on the actual head unit to see common or known issues?

I just checked the voltage and it drops from 12.8V with the ACC on to 12.2V with the ignition on; this was with the battery hooked up to a trickle charger. What can cause a voltage drop like this and more importantly, how can it be fixed?