OEM Stereo install questions???

[97SHOgt]

Well I pulled the stock radio/tape deck and cd player from either a '94 or a '95 at the junk yard. My car is a '92 and it has a aftermarket head unit installed already with the cup holder coin tray. I'm trying to install the stock system, I'm sure I have everything hooked up correctly, but the sound is bad. Everything seems to work properly, all the buttons, the cd player, everything works except the sound is terrible. It is very quiet and the volume has to be turned up very loud to hear, and if you turn up the bass at all the sound is terrible. I also notice that the radio does not come in as well, everything is fuzzy. When I hit seek it only picks up a few local station, not nearly as many as it should.

Just to make sure, I plugged back in the aftermarket head unit and everything sounded good, the radio came in like it should, sounded great just like before. So I guess I need to know if I am missing something while hooking it up, the head unit is junk, or if I need to stop being picky and live with the aftermarket setup. I just really like the look of the stock system and I really want to get this working properly. Any advice or input is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[97SHOgt]

Nobody? I guess if I don't figure it out I'm gonna get rid of the stock setup and put the aftermarket cd player back in.

 

[SuperHO]

Check the amp(s) in the trunk and see if someone hooked up an amy bypass harness....you really can't miss it. otherwise, I'd guess the stock stereo is shot.

 

[97SHOgt]

Check the amp(s) in the trunk and see if someone hooked up an amy bypass harness....you really can't miss it. otherwise, I'd guess the stock stereo is shot.

I'm going to check this out now. I hope this is the case, the stock stereo looks so much better IMO.

 

[97SHOgt]

Alright, here is the situation. I looked in the trunk and they did bypass the amp on the right side. So put the two plugs back into the amp and went to try out the radio and I get nothing, no sound whatsoever, no hissing no static, no nothing. So when the amp is bypassed with the aftermarket head unit installed everything sounds great the way it should. When the amp is bypassed with the stock radio/tape deck and cd player installed, the sound quality is poor and only audible when cranked up all the way. And finally when everything is wired up in stock form, stock radio and everything, and both amps hooked up I get nothing. So now my guess is a bad amp, I really have no idea, when is comes to this stuff I know very little. Anybody think they know what the problem is now?

 

[jelloslug]

Did you get the jumper cable that goes from the CD player to the tape deck?

 

[SASHO91]

are you using the correct plug when going back to the stock setup(radio/amp).
IIRC, you have to use the other plug for the aftermarket HU, which is black if i recall.

 

[USHOMEISHOU]

Did you get the jumper cable that goes from the CD player to the tape deck?

also, is the factory harness still attached?:type:

 

[97SHOgt]

I'm fairly certain that everything was wired up correctly. Everything functioned properly but the sound. The cd player works, the radio works, it is just really quiet when the amp is bypassed. There is only one way to plug in the stock amp meaning the clips only fit in one side, so I know I didn't mess that up, but when it was running through the stock amp I had no sound. In the dash everything was hooked up excpet the one harness which I'm assuming is for the non-premium sound system was left untouched (nothing would plug into it), nothing was cut when the aftermarket head unit was put in. Like I said I pulled all the wires from the junk yard so I know I have all that, the jumpers and everything. The only thing I noticed was the plug with 8 prongs, the one that sends sound to the speakers I believe was all black in my car, and the one I pulled from the junkyard had metal on the outside of the plug. Not sure if that would make a difference. That for the info so far, hopefully I can get this thing all worked out.

 

[USHOMEISHOU]

this could be a stupid question but are you sure that the factory unit that you pulled from the junkyard is for the premium sound system?

 

[91SLOSHO]

sounds like the amps are not turning on... with the amps bypassed with the aftermarket radio it sounds great(aftermarket radios have internal amps, the stock radio with the amps bypassed sounds horrible....most likely because its very low power(which is why the volume has to be cranked to get any noise) just to get signal to the amps...then the power is boosted... check all wiring around the amps and behind the radio/cd player, make sure no wires have been cut... i have the whole audio wiring diagram for a gen 2 somewhere around here,if i can find it i'll send it your way

 

[97SHOgt]

this could be a stupid question but are you sure that the factory unit that you pulled from the junkyard is for the premium sound system?

The car at the junkyard had everything a premium sound system has. Two amps in the trunk, sub, JBL on the speaker grills on the door. I'm sure was a premium sound system.

sounds like the amps are not turning on... with the amps bypassed with the aftermarket radio it sounds great(aftermarket radios have internal amps, the stock radio with the amps bypassed sounds horrible....most likely because its very low power(which is why the volume has to be cranked to get any noise) just to get signal to the amps...then the power is boosted... check all wiring around the amps and behind the radio/cd player, make sure no wires have been cut... i have the whole audio wiring diagram for a gen 2 somewhere around here,if i can find it i'll send it your way

I'll double check all the wiring everywhere, make sure everything is connected. If you can find the diagram and could send it my way that would be great

 

[jelloslug]

The jumper wire goes from the tape deck to the CD player. If that's not there it will do exactly what you are takling about. It's a six pin connector that looks similar to the 8 pin connector that sends the audio signal to the amps.

 

[USHOMEISHOU]

The jumper wire goes from the tape deck to the CD player. If that's not there it will do exactly what you are takling about. It's a six pin connector that looks similar to the 8 pin connector that sends the audio signal to the amps.

well... if there's anyone who knows their way around the dash in this car, its you mr. "i've got a fancy schmancy digital dash"



just kidding dude, I'm just jealous