Car Stereos: cd player in car, stereo amplifier, factory stereo

Question
My cd player in my car is wired up and everything but there is 3 wires but no place for them to hook up to. And it still won't play. I don't know what else to do. All the fuses are good.

Answer
Hi Jennifer,

There are often extra wires left over when you're done a car stereo install because they represent features that your deck or car may not have: powered antenna, deck dimming, etc.

I wouldn't worry too much about it -- if the deck were working. :)

I hope you used an aftermarket wiring harness, and didn't cut your factory wires.  As long as you did that, you should be good to go.  Just ensure that all of the wires that there are a match for on the other side wire up.

If the deck doesn't turn on at all, then one of the THREE wires that do power functions aren't working.

Those are:
- Ground (usually black on an aftermarket harness.)
- 12V Constant (usually yellow on an aftermarket harness.)
- 12V switched (usually red on an aftermarket harness.)

Press the eject button.. does it still eject?  If so, your 12V switched is probably missing.  If it doesn't, then either ground or 12V constant is bad.

If it turns on, but there's no sound, then you might be dealing with issues regarding a factory stereo amplifier or something.

If you believe that to be the case, feel free to submit another question, and provide all the info you can about the new stereo, car make, year, model, and factory options, etc.

Justin