Questioni have a 2001 saturn sl...it came with a stock cd player in it and i took it out..im trying to hook up this deck and i just cant figure it out, iv had a few people look at it and no one can..
would you be able to tell me which wires i have to hook up together and which ones to leave out? id really appreciate it
tyler
AnswerHi Tyler,
Sorry about the delay in answering your question.
Is it too late to use an adapter harness to connect to the factory radio plug? Using the correct adapter is, by far, the best way to install an after-market head unit; it eliminates all the wiring guess-work and makes the installation much easier, as well as allowing you to re-install the factory radio later on. The right harness for your Saturn would be a Metra 70-2002.
If you've already cut off the factory plug, and you can't re-attach it, then things become more difficult. The problem is that GM often uses the same wire color for more than one function in the radio harness--ie, you might see a couple different yellow wires, but only one is a speaker wire. In this case, you'd need to use a multimeter to test the wire functions before you can connect them.
If you're left with a bunch of wires, and you're trying to match them with the after-market deck's wiring, here's how I'd do it:
First, disconnect all the wires. Make sure no factory wires are touching, and that there are no bare wire ends that can contact other wires or the metal in the dash.
Next, check all your fuses. You can do this with a multimeter, following this method:
http://kzcarfi.blogspot.com/2008/08/testing-vehicle-fuses-with-multimeter.html
The two radio fuses are both in the fuse panel under the driver's side dash. You'll need to make sure they're good before you can test the wires. Additionally, there are other fuses for the illumination wires in the radio harness; if they're blown, they'll need to be replaced before you can test for these wires (and before your instrument cluster lighting will work). It's very common to have blown fuses if you've cut off the factory radio plug.
Next, locate the constant power wire. This should be an orange wire in the radio plug. It will test with voltage at all times, regardless of key position. (There may be two orange wires in the plug; only one should test properly). Once you've found it, connect it to the yellow wire in the after-market radio harness. Don't just twist and tape your wires; use a solderless barrel connector, with a proper crimping tool.
Then locate the key-switched power wire. This will be a yellow wire--again, there will be more than one. The power wire will test with voltage when you turn the key to the "acc" position, and no voltage with the key off. Connect this wire to the red wire in the after-market deck harness.
You need to identify the illumination wires, so they don't get mixed up with speaker wires. There's an illumination wire, and a dimmer wire. The illumination wire should be dark brown. It will test with voltage when you turn the parking light switch on, and lose voltage with the lights off. The dimmer wire should be gray; it will test the same way as the illumination wire, except that the dimmer wire's voltage will change as you adjust the dash dimmer switch. If your new deck has an orange or orange/white illumination wire, you can connect it to the brown illumination wire in the radio harness; otherwise, tape these wires off and leave them alone.
Find your ground wire; this should be a black wire in the radio plug. There may also be a braided metal cable; you can use this for your ground wire if you wish, or combine both. Make sure not to mix up a dark brown wire for the black wire. The ground wire will connect to the black wire in the after-market radio harness.
This should just leave your speaker wires. Here are the wire colors:
Left front (+): tan
Left front (-): gray
Right front (+): light green
Right front (-): dark green
Left rear (+): dark brown
Left rear (-): yellow
Right rear (+): dark blue
Right rear (-): light blue
Hope this helps!
Brian
