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I was reviewing the instructions for my headunit install and I was just thinking. Would it be a good idea to pre-assemble the harness? Meaning make all of the connections necessary so all I have to do is plug in the unit and be on my way?

And for attaching the wires, just a simple twist together and eletrical tape wrap?

The only Headunit I've installed was in my 95, and that was more of a reinstall than anything.

I think it makes sense.

Whenever I've installed an aftermarket stereo in a car I have always bought the "into-car" harness and spliced it and the stereo's harness together, essentially making a plug-and-play adapter.

Don't just twist-and-tape unless you don't plan on moving your car often.

If you want the easiest option, get a bunch of crimp-on butt splices (be sure to get appropriately-sized ones for the gauge of wire you're dealing with; you may need some reds and some blues):

http://www.partsexpress.com/images/095-250m.jpg

And a crimping tool:

http://www.partsexpress.com/images/360-630m.jpg

I just put in my Alpine cd player (thanks again Jason ) and we spliced in the harness adapter ($ 16.99 at Bestbuy) before we ever even took the dash apart. I soldered mine and then used electrical tape over the solder joints. Every wire color matched perfect and it took only about 10-15 minutes from start to finish. I'm going to be posting pics of the result soon.

I could solder, I have some flux upstairs somewhere I think. Now if only I knew where my iron was...

Yeah, Matt, that's a good thing to point out -- the EIA has defined a standard for the wire colors so they will all match up (unless you're trying to do illumination dimming; that's weird in our cars).

You should be able to do this job without any flux external to the solder. Just make sure you're using rosin core solder. And Radio Shack has usable soldering irons for just over 8 bucks. Big Lots probably has some cheaper.

I recommend heat shrink tubing over electrical tape if you can manage it. Of course, using both together is even better. When you use electrical tape, be sure to stretch it slightly as you wrap it tightly around the joint, and always cut it with scissors.

legacy92ej22t wrote:I just put in my Alpine cd player (thanks again Jason ;) ) and we spliced in the harness adapter ($ 16.99 at Bestbuy) before we ever even took the dash apart. I soldered mine and then used electrical tape over the solder joints. Every wire color matched perfect and it took only about 10-15 minutes from start to finish. I'm going to be posting pics of the result soon. :D

If you go to the trouble of soldering it, you should use heat shrink tubing to insulate the connections instead of electrical tape. IMHO.

For automotive applications I like the crimp method.

The pro installers use the "from head unit" harness supplied with the head unit, and the "to car harness" purchased separately to make a plug and play adaptor. They use crimp connectors. It's the fastest, most reliable way to do it.

I've done thousands of connections, both crimp and solder- I wire recording studios for a living. Done correctly, crimp connections are very good. That's the way your entire vehicle is wired from the factory.

mine's done exactly as steve said. I'd reccommend that

Yea, now that it's mentioned, I'll just hit up Pep-boys and get some crimp connectors. I have the crimper (my dad has lots of weird tools, lol. We even have a cement nailer that uses .22 blanks to fire nails through concrete. It's fun.)

I wonder if pep-boys has heat-shrink tubing too...

BAC5.2 wrote: I wonder if pep-boys has heat-shrink tubing too...

Most likely they do. It will be really cheap at an electronics store (not radio shack, but a real nerd hang out). You have to have a heat gun to shrink it, though. It's like a really hot hair dryer. DON'T use it on your hair.

ultrasonic wrote:

legacy92ej22t wrote:I just put in my Alpine cd player (thanks again Jason ) and we spliced in the harness adapter ($ 16.99 at Bestbuy) before we ever even took the dash apart. I soldered mine and then used electrical tape over the solder joints. Every wire color matched perfect and it took only about 10-15 minutes from start to finish. I'm going to be posting pics of the result soon.

If you go to the trouble of soldering it, you should use heat shrink tubing to insulate the connections instead of electrical tape. IMHO.
.

That's true. I didn't have any though. I'm not real worried about it though either.

I often get good results using a butane lighter to shrink heat shrink tubing.

It's true that pretty much every connection in your car that can be crimped is crimped, and that the connection is extremely solid. However, you should understand that generally the crimpers and terminals you find at stores aren't of the same quality.

legacy92ej22t wrote:I just put in my Alpine cd player (thanks again Jason ) and we spliced in the harness adapter ($ 16.99 at Bestbuy) before we ever even took the dash apart. I soldered mine and then used electrical tape over the solder joints. Every wire color matched perfect and it took only about 10-15 minutes from start to finish. I'm going to be posting pics of the result soon.

This is what I would do.

No problem Matt! Glad you like it!

vrg3 wrote:It's true that pretty much every connection in your car that can be crimped is crimped, and that the connection is extremely solid. However, you should understand that generally the crimpers and terminals you find at stores aren't of the same quality.

True. I have a few hand operated ratchet type crimp tools (ELCO/EDAC, DL, etc.) that deliver a specific and repeatable amount of force. These can be quite expensive (several hundred dollars each). The neumatic or electric tools that are used for manufacturing are expensive, powerful, and expensive. Yes, I meant to say expensive twice.

That being said, I've never seen a properly done crimp connection come apart on a car stereo.

ultrasonic wrote:Yes, I meant to say expensive twice.

Yeah, those are nice.

That being said, I've never seen a properly done crimp connection come apart on a car stereo.

Yeah, if you do it right even the cheap crimpers and terminals will be perfectly strong enough for this purpose.

I just crimped them up and got it all strongly connected.

Seem to be pretty solid. I gotta get some heat shrink tubing and finish it up though.

Questions:

On the harness, there is a power antenna wire. What does this connect to? There is nothing on the Pioneer harness to connect to that.

Also, Should I ground to the body, or should I splice into the ground wire on the harness? Which would be better?

Everything looks solid, so I should be good to go.

The Pioneer head unit doesn't control the antenna?

I guess you should connect it to the "remote" wire on the head unit if there is one then. But your antenna will be up even when you're playing a CD or something in that case.

If there's no "remote" wire either, you'll have to use accessory +12v and then your antenna will be up even if the stereo is turned off.

I grounded to a bolt on the console-to-body bracket over the transmission tunnel. There may've already been another ground there. Either way, I've never had trouble. I crimped one of those 'eye' contacts to it.

Steve

The ground wire in the radio harness ends in a ring terminal attached somewhere near the airbag computer (or where the ABS computer would be on non-airbag cars) and should work fine for the head unit.

If you're planning on installing an amp, though, it might be good to pick a better ground to avoid ground loops.

I'll be running an amp (eventually 2), but they won't be grounded near the headunit or anything. They will be grounded by the rear seats onto the body like in my 95.

I'll re-check the harness and call Meyer Emco and see what they say. I might have missed something.

The grounding wire on the headunit already has an eye crimped on.

I tapped into the control wire.

Re-reading the instructions, they say the following:

"Blue/White. To system control terminal of the power amp or Auto-antenna relay control terminal (max.300mA 12V DC)."

So that's what I needed to tap into.

I'll worry about amp control if I end up with a Pioneer amp (or two)