Audio Systems: New Cd will not power, chevy s10, s10 truck

Question
Hi, I have a 1993 Chevy S10 truck and have been having a problem where the stereo occassionally wouls start clicking on and off very rapidly for no reason. It would do it for a short time and then not return for months. Finally, it started last week and got worse from there, the clicking would stop and I could see that the display was there very faintly. I went and bout a new Kenwood Cd receiver and installed the wires with a holster so everything would match up but I cannot get power at all to it. If I hook up the old one, it still is clicking away. I have tested the power sources and got a good reading on both of them so I think there is no problem with the power. The only other difference I see is the old wires have a small black box with the yellow and black wires going inside and soldered to a device. What is this device and is it neccessary? The old stereo was a JVC.

Answer
Hello Jay,
The little box that you mentioned is a noise filter, most newer stereos will have some sort of filter built in on the circuit board. The best way to test for 12 volts on both power leads is to use a test lamp. with a test lamp, it will put a load on the 12 volt line and tell you for sure if 12 volts is on both power feeds. Normally the RED wire is switched on with the key/ignition and the YELLOW wire is hot at all times to hold the clock and station presets. Also make sure that you have a good ground connection.

TOM,
T&D ELECTRONICS
tdeser@zoominternet.net