Stereo install....no power (sort of?!?)

[matt_s]

Hey, just went to install a new stereo in my MK2 Golf. It was a straight forward job with the connector box just plugging into the back of the head unit. As i plugged that in i heard the unit making a 'wurring' noise as if it was getting power but when i press the power button nothing happens!! Every time i disconnect and then reconnect all the wires i hear the noise again...but the unit will just not powere up!!

Any suggestions??

Cheers

[matt_s]

Ill just add that the new stereo was pulled straight from my GFs car and is working fine. The old stereo that i took out had no power problems whatsoever. I remember a mate of mine having the same problem before and just took it in somewhere to be fixed...i want to have a crack at doing it myself though...much more satisfying!

[Heyho]

Sounds like you have 1 of your power supplies missing - you should have a permanent live AND a switched live - the switched is commonly red, and the permanent orange or yellow, depending on the make of headunit.

I think I had to have a bit of a rummage around for a switched feed on my mk2, as IIRC, it's not in the stereo loom.

Hope that helps, good luck!

[matt_s]

The old stereo which i took out worked independently of the ignition.....should it not have worked at all though if i am missing a wire?

[matt_s]

Just been out to the car again and i noticed that the eject button (which sits behind the removable stereo face) it is flashing on and off with no real rhythm....would suggest it is getting a bit of power from somewhere!

[tommk3cab]

by independantly of the ignition do you mean it worked even when the car was off?

does it look like the standard car wiring has been cut at all?

how are the red and yellow wires in the head unit loom joined together? ( there should be some bullet connectors on the red and yellow wires) and they may be all joined together ( so red and yellow - red or red and yellow - yellow) or could be swapped round ( so red - yellow and yellow - red )

the whirring noise you describe, does it sound like the internal CD player spinning up? or like an electrical hum? if its the cd player spinning up i would say it sounds like a HU fault with the faceplate or faceplate connectinons as it sound to me like the power is there but the display, for some reason is not working. could be wrong but thats all i can think of. and I wouldnt recccomend trying to fix a faceplate, had a look inside one once, not much visable to go wrong ( such as posssibly loose wires)

it could of course be the ribbon bit inside the HU that connects to the faceplate flipdown bit ( if its a flipdown ) and thay can come loose and are easy to fix.

[tommk3cab]

just read your eject button post, ive never seen anything like that, doesnt sound too good though.

few initial troubleshooting ideas, put the unit back in your GFs car, see if it works then. then you will know for sure if its your car or the stereo.

after that, if you can get a long length of decent quality wire ( even speaker wire would work as long as you dont turn the HU up or have it on too long)  first connect the wire to both the red and yellow wires going into the stereo ( use the bullet clips i said about earlier, doesnt have to be a particularly fantastic connection or anything, just quiet secure) then run the wire round into the engine bay and straight to the battery + terminal, just be careful not to shut the doors or bonnet and make sure the wire has no splits in ( dont want any short circuits!). if it now works this will tell you it would be a good idea to wire the HU direct to the battery because it would mean the standard wiring had issues. at least thats what i would do, but i dont want you setting yourself on fire or killing your car so its up to you if you reckon you can do it safely!

the black (earth ) HU wire has caused me problems in the past but thats not too easy to check without a multimeter or cutting wires.

also i would leave it disconnected until you get it fixed, it may flatten your battery.

[matt_s]

Hi, yeah the old stereo worked when the car was off.

I would describe the sound as the same as when you push a CD into the player and the HU takes it in.

The wiring looks shocking if im honest. First time ive looked behind there and every wire has a connector box on it! The wiring goes red-yellow, yellow-red and have the bullet clips.

Will try reconnecting it to my GFs car...really cant see that its broken as it was working perfectly before i pulled it out and then it went straight into my car. Will try that though so that i can at least make sure its not the HU .

Thanks for your reply!

[tommk3cab]

no problem, i forgot to say, have you ever had a stereo working in your car?

edit: just read that you have had one before so forget i said this!

[tommk3cab]

in which case i would say, after reading about the shoddy wiring you seem to have been delt i would follow my 2nd post bit about connecting straght to the battery, but only if you think you can do it safely, you will have to be a bit careful, make sure you connect to the HU first and it should be fine though.



doing this permanentally, (through footwells up into the engine bulkhead, obviously not just leaving the wire running all round the outside of the car!) is quiet a good idea anyway in ageing cars as the wiring can start to go a bit dodgy, especially if its been messed with.

wiring the black wire directly to clean metal is a good idea too and something you may need to do by the sound of things.

if you really dont want to get this involved and, as i assume you old stereo worked i would start by checking all the existing botched connections for split or loose connections.

by ''every wire has a connector box on'' do you mean those dodgy screw down, white connector blocks? they are not good at the best of times!