Gen 1 Standard Cab Install

[ForOffRoadDriving]

have you checked out this article in the tech library yet? http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/radio_wiring_diagrams.html
it might help answer some of your ?s.

 

[baxtej44]

have you checked out this article in the tech library yet? http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/radio_wiring_diagrams.html
it might help answer some of your ?s.

none of the wires in questions are with the OEM harness, they are all in the harness adapter that I bought from Best Buy (made by Dynex)

 

[rjppunk]

if it makes you feel any better, my entire system is in my danger ranger all wired up to go, except the HU is either broken or somethings @#$%ed up in the wiring. Either way I don't have time right now to get it fixed.

 

[4x4fun]

update: got to work on my new (used) HU... undid the old radio harness and the OEM harness adapter. put in the new one, and matched up all the colors. the harness adapter has 4 wires that don't match up with anything on my headunit.

1) orange w/ white stripe
2) orange w/ black stripe
3) pink'ish salmon color, possibly an orange?
4) solid blue (the blue with white stripe was the turn on according to the little tag on the wire on the radio harness)

so i capped those off with a wire nutt, the two striped orange ones are together, since they go together (is that okay?)





buuuuuuuut, HU doesn't turn on... causes? i mean i could triple check, but i am 99.999999% sure EVERY wire has a home besides those above. and they are all illumination or dimmer, and i believe the solid blue was for power antenna (which i don't have). (i think the dimmer had a positive and negative, thus orange w/ white and orange w/ black)


i'm extremely upset about this right now... i really wanted it to work =(

that sounds right..... do the orange ones go into the same hole in your connector?

 

[baxtej44]

that sounds right..... do the orange ones go into the same hole in your connector?

sorry, i'm not sure what exactly you're asking.

i do not believe the OEM harness has any of those 4 listed wires (i'd have to check to make sure) but this is the order:


OEM harness
plug (male or female i can't remember, don't think it matters though)
plug(male or female i can't remember, don't think it matters though)
harness adapter
wire nuts
radio harness
plug (male)
plug (female on the head unit itself)


the wires in question are in step 4 of that list, the harness adapter right now they are coming out of the second plug and going into a wire nuts and ending there by themselves.

 

[baxtej44]

if it matters any, my dome light doesn't work anymore... not sure what it could be from unless it was something with moving my box around behind my seats... could it have been with anything easily accessible from where the radio harness is? is the dome light hooked up to any of those wires that i capped off?


i need some answers, cuz this sucks =(

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

can you take pics with a cell phone or anything? that tends to help alot for us visual learners, and im sure its something super simple thats hanging you up, just like what i found last night with my set up.

 

[baxtej44]

can you take pics with a cell phone or anything? that tends to help alot for us visual learners, and im sure its something super simple thats hanging you up, just like what i found last night with my set up.

ya i'll get on that. i checked again yesterday, all wires are matched up...


i do have one quick question though.


the radio harness had a black cable that had a terminal connector at the end shaped like the end of a wrench (open end), and i figured okay, it's black... that means ground. so i snipped off the end, stripped off some of the insulation and put it in a wire nut with the black cable from the harness adapter... is that okay? is that correct? should i have put it under a bolt somewhere?

 

[4x4fun]

ya i'll get on that. i checked again yesterday, all wires are matched up...


i do have one quick question though.


the radio harness had a black cable that had a terminal connector at the end shaped like the end of a wrench (open end), and i figured okay, it's black... that means ground. so i snipped off the end, stripped off some of the insulation and put it in a wire nut with the black cable from the harness adapter... is that okay? is that correct? should i have put it under a bolt somewhere?

hats correct that was the ground that end is so you can bolt it to the frame. some OEM units grounded to the frame via the chassis of the unit its self, so there would be no ground for the aftermarket one so that was there solution.

 

[baxtej44]

hats correct that was the ground that end is so you can bolt it to the frame. some OEM units grounded to the frame via the chassis of the unit its self, so there would be no ground for the aftermarket one so that was there solution.

okay so i need to go see if i kept that end or not, and if i didn't i need to pick up a new connector...

where can i ground it at?? i don't really know of any good spots, and so you ARE saying that the black wire coming from the radio harness needs to go to a bolt somewhere, and not to the black wire on the harness adapter?

 

[4x4fun]

okay so i need to go see if i kept that end or not, and if i didn't i need to pick up a new connector...

where can i ground it at?? i don't really know of any good spots, and so you ARE saying that the black wire coming from the radio harness needs to go to a bolt somewhere, and not to the black wire on the harness adapter?

lol ok

the black wire you cut the end off was the ground. you connected it to the ground in your wiring harness, thats whats supposed to happen. its an odd thing to see no ground cable but it does happen.

what can happen is you have HU ground-> wirenut-> wire -> harness plug -> OEM plug then nothing.

if you see that id say thats your problem.. you dont have a ground. youll have to ground it to the frame. and by frame the metal structure for your dash is ok too.

 

[baxtej44]

lol ok

the black wire you cut the end off was the ground. you connected it to the ground in your wiring harness, thats whats supposed to happen. its an odd thing to see no ground cable but it does happen.

what can happen is you have HU ground-> wirenut-> wire -> harness plug -> OEM plug then nothing.

if you see that id say thats your problem.. you dont have a ground. youll have to ground it to the frame. and by frame the metal structure for your dash is ok too.

ok well the only bolt i can see on my metal structure of my dash is real tiny, so i think i'll just drill a new hole and drop a bolt in there...

sorry i was just makin sure of what you meant.




and i went exploring in my cab today looking for somewhere to ground my amp. i was gonna do my seat bolt, but the bolt is too large for the hole in the connector... it's like an o-ring connector if that makes sense... can i swap that out for a spade terminal for grounding? i would assume there wouldn't really be a difference... if i can do that it'd be ideal because i have some 4g spade terminals that i could put on there and the seat is really close to my amp... in fact it's so close i'd have to trim down my ground cable so it's not so long, and that's ideal right? shortest ground wire possible right? without being too taut of course.

 

[4x4fun]

ok well the only bolt i can see on my metal structure of my dash is real tiny, so i think i'll just drill a new hole and drop a bolt in there...

sorry i was just makin sure of what you meant.




and i went exploring in my cab today looking for somewhere to ground my amp. i was gonna do my seat bolt, but the bolt is too large for the hole in the connector... it's like an o-ring connector if that makes sense... can i swap that out for a spade terminal for grounding? i would assume there wouldn't really be a difference... if i can do that it'd be ideal because i have some 4g spade terminals that i could put on there and the seat is really close to my amp... in fact it's so close i'd have to trim down my ground cable so it's not so long, and that's ideal right? shortest ground wire possible right? without being too taut of course.

as long at the spade terminal grounds out your ok. and yes you w3ant the shortest grounding possable. how ever depending on how its all set up. having slack and being able to move things is nice.

side note you want your wire to be as short as you can for resistance in the circuit reasons. how ever every extra foot of 4 gauge wire adds .0002485 ohms of resistance. and please take note of the decimal lol. its not gonna matter really. just more can get caught on things and get in the way vers adding ohms.

another side note 22guage ohms per foot is .01614 so that could add up a bit depending on what your doing lol

 

[4x4fun]

one more thing if any one ever sees your stuff and makes fun of you and actually quotes the ohms loss. no worries they have never or will never be laid. so as right as they might be. your still one up on them

 

[baxtej44]

okay cool thanks lol... i don't hang around people who would know anything that long wires make things worse (even though it may be minuscule) so i don't have to worry about that one...


i really need the HU problem to be the ground... REALLY NEED IT. lol cuz i want it to be working after that. tired of driving without music lol...