Radio issues

REILLY

Registered User
I know there are plenty of postings on this already, however my Nephews 1990 SC had all of the wiring cut at the dash when we got it. I have cut the the harness out of the 94 parts car that I have and am trying to match up the 94 harness wires with the 90 dash wires. I know the grounds are different and have the memory power wire and switch 12v wires hooked up. the radio comes on and nothing from the speakers. except if I put 12v to the heavy blue wire that comes from the dash then I get a humming from all speakers. The amp and sub are hooked up. The CD is not currently working bu I have an orange and light blue wire that is hooked to the wiring harness that send 12v when the radio is turned on but I have no display on that and it will not accept CD's

Last question . there is a small plug that has two wires and from the 35th anniversary site it looks like a remote on and return of some sort. I dont have the plug for that either is that hoookup necessary?

the good thing : those grey cables for the cd in and speaker outs are in tact,

thanks again, I would really like to find a 94 wiring diagram for the stereo.

thanks for your help this far, seems like a lot of folks have had troubles with the radio.
 
>The CD is not currently working - have no display on that and it will not accept CD's

A very common reason for no audio at the speakers. One cause is failed/leaking capacitors on the CD internal board. If you bother to take it apart, be sure to check for a previously owned CD still inside.

My advice is to abandon the original system and move up to a more current technology - hands-free cell, etc.
 
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so even though the radio tunes into a station, the cd has to be operable in order for sound to come from the speakers? what next? I really want to get some soud for the car my nephew is 16 and will want a stereo.
 
so even though the radio tunes into a station, the cd has to be operable in order for sound to come from the speakers? what next? I really want to get some soud for the car my nephew is 16 and will want a stereo.

It is an integrated system that was fairly advanced at the time....but that was eons ago in terms of today's systems. If it was easy to fix, it most likely wouldn't have been disabled when it came onto your radar.

Grab the required adapters from Scosche and your choice of head unit from where ever. You'll need one adapter at the dash and one to bypass the amps in the back.

http://www.scosche.com/
 
I've got an aftermarket sony cd player. that is pretty nice. what wires can be abandoned if any when installing the new unit?
 
I've got an aftermarket sony cd player. that is pretty nice. what wires can be abandoned if any when installing the new unit?


Just get the adapters....nothing to puzzle over, unless you can't figure out what you need from the scosche site - speak up if that's the case. The antenna lead goes to the lead off the Sony. Done, unless you want to add an amp and new speakers and new sub and iPod connection, etc. etc.
 
I've run into this problem on quite a few SCs.....:mad:

I hate it when a PO cuts the wire harness just save a few dollars on a radio install....:(

It is easier to just replace the entire radio wire harness with one that has the correct plugs and get the proper adapter for whatever unit you want to install....

There is a common ground (5 or 7mm bolt) on the chassis behind where the CD player goes and a plug right next to it.....

Follow the harness across the lower part of the glove box and into the kick panel.....

You will find the rest of the connectors there.....

Does your sons SC have a power antenna.....:confused:

If not, don't worry about it....

If it does, you need to make a decision, splice the 2 two wires for the power antenna or pull the rest of the harness from the inside of the fenderwell....

If you do the splice, carefully cut the antenna cable out of both wire bundles....

Re-install wire harness (don't forget the ground wires) and your good to go.....:cool:

One other thing to check is the 5 amp fuse in the power distribution box under the hood.....:D

The radio needs it....:rolleyes:

As for the hole where the CD player used to live, there's an insert that goes in there.....

If it doesn't have power antenna, you can install one, if you want....;)
 
got thre radio adaptor today . installed it. The only problem that I have is that when the light knob is pulled the instrument cluster doesn't turn on. . I messed with it forever. the only fix that I found was to wire the orange black into the constant power. now the dash lights will come on but the radio stays on if the headlights are off when the car is off. then when you pull the knob to turn the lights on the radio goes off. not a huge issue but it seemed like the only way to get the dash lights to come on. everything works fine when the car is running though. radio works and the amps are powering the speakers. thanks for the help on this one.

now off to figure out the cooling fan issue.
 
No, everything works while the car is on but after turning the car off the radio will stay on until you pull the light switch knob. then if you push the knob in again then the radio will go back on. it seems like the orange/black wire is getting power when the lights are off but not when they are on.

weird but no fuses popping.
 
>then if you push the knob in again then the radio will go back on

And if the only song it plays then is "How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away", I would run, not walk, far, far away....
 
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