OK, I have a normal stereo. It all works great as it was in another car before.

Sister got a new car and had me install the stereo.

The problem is that the car has 1 wire going to each of the speakers (in the cluster for the stereo)

I can connect either wire (+ or -) to the speaker wire and it will work. If I turn the stereo off and back on, there is no sound until I disconnect the speaker and reconnect it.

Mind boggling for sure...

Any Ideas?

Originally posted by Benny
OK, I have a normal stereo. It all works great as it was in another car before.

Sister got a new car and had me install the stereo.

The problem is that the car has 1 wire going to each of the speakers (in the cluster for the stereo)

I can connect either wire (+ or -) to the speaker wire and it will work. If I turn the stereo off and back on, there is no sound until I disconnect the speaker and reconnect it.

Mind boggling for sure...

Any Ideas?

I've done a bunch of stereos, and when I have problems like that... Usually I just tear it all down and rewire. A really really strong + or - signal alone will make noise (barely) could that be it?

Ahh, I'm gonna say mabey it's a common ground?
4 positive leads, and 1 ground lead.

Yep, sounds like a common ground to me too.

Anywho; I would still go ahead and rewire the car. The best way to do this is to drive over it, have it totalled, and get a 4x4 :flipoff2:

What's the car make/model? I can't think of any "new" cars that are using common ground setups ... more likely it has a factory amp hidden somewhere.

"...there is no sound until I disconnect the speaker and reconnect it." Do you mean the speaker itself, or the speaker wire from the radio to the factory harness? This makes sense if there is a factory amp since you aren't providing it the signals it expects anymore (factory amps don't use an antenna or amp power signal to turn on.)

CP

its not a "new" car. Its a used POS Toyota Corolla.

So, how do I need to wire up this stereo? there are 8 wires for speakers on the stereo (2 for each speaker) and only 4 (5th one may be there, but not marked) in the dash cluster.

You should have a switched wire (power with test light when key in on and run position). Constant may be there, depending on how old (power at all times, lights on or off). Ground (use one of the positives and the test light to find). Use a 9 volt battery to "pop" the speakers by connecting a positive lead to the positive side of the battery, then touch other wires (ones you have left after finding constant, switched, and ground) to the negative side of the battery. You will eventually find one that will make one of the speakers "pop". This will also tell you the location of the speaker so you know wich one to connect it to. Don't forget this may be common ground, so all 4 speaker grounds may have to tie into one wire in the car. You also can try the ground wire you origanlly found as this may be a common ground for the speakers also.


EDIT: are you sure this car has 4 speakers in it? If so, are they all factory? Someone may have ran extra speaker wires at one time, and they may be hiding somewhere behind the dash. (just an afterthought)

See if this makes sense, might be for different year model, what is yours?

Pin 1, green: front right speaker (+)
Pin 2, pink: front left speaker (+)
Pin 3, grey: +12V only when ignition switch is at ON or ACC
Pin 4, blue with yellow stripe: +12V, always on
Pin 5, blue: front right speaker (-)
Pin 6, violet: front left speaker (-)
Pin 7, brown: ground

The rear speaker connections are on the smaller harness:

Pin 1, red: rear right speaker (+)
Pin 2, black: rear left speaker (+)
Pin 3, white: rear right speaker (-)
Pin 6, yellow: rear left speaker (-)

CP