Wiring for New Stereo

F

Fraserp6

Member
Right, for ages and ages I've had a 10 disc changer an amp and a new head unit sitting in the house to fit into my p6.

I'm finally getting round to doing it today, though I've managed to confuse myself once again.

I'm familiar with how to wire up the amp and changer, from the head unit, however, I'm not too sure what the wires in my P6 are for.

I've got a brown wire, with an in-line fuse, I'm pretty sure thats the live.

I've got a thick metal braded strap, I'm pretty sure thats to channel out any interference.

Then I had the ariel, straight forward enough

Then I have this molded black plug, which has two wires going into it, a 2 pin socket then two wires coming out of it, one is black the other is black with a white strip. Now I kinda assume this is the negative, but in retrospect, I'm probably wrong.

Whats it for, as unit I figure out the CAR's wiring I'm not really able to sort the rest of the wiring to the car.

Any clarity would be appreciated. I'm pretty sure it's simply enough, but my brain has been pickled by welding gas today, so I'm getting through things a little slower than usual.

Fraser
 
The black plug probably isn't standard (I've not seen it in any of mine) so you'd really have to trace it & see where it goes. Black & Black/white though sounds like it may be a speaker connection so it may lead to the speaker in the rear shelf.
Is that what the braided strap does then, I've often wondered?
 
The braided metal strap sounds like an earth connection
Basically you need an ignition-switched live , a permanent live and an earth
Any standard speaker wires won't be relevant to a stereo installation
 
Oh yes, it's an earth connection, that's what I use it for. But it's a bl**dy big earth connection so must have an alternative function too.
 
The plug sounds like a speaker wire.

There is a radio feed wire there which is live with ignition on (check manual for colour). Any old earth will do you, there is some there and if you're lucky you might find a spare on position on one of the multi-way connectors.

I took a live feed from the cigar lighter. Solder a wire on and you can put a bullet on the end of it. you will probably find a single speaker wire for the rear which is probably translucent.

Colin
 
Hi Guys


Cheers for the help.

The black and black/white wires were indeed for the front speaker, the front speakers to be exact. there is a double ended wire, though bound as one sigular wire for the rear speaker, so that makes sense. If I'm earthing my Stereo, which will be the black wire, it should be fine to bond it with the braided wire that bolts into the back of the stereo?

The brown fused wire from the car, is now attached to the to the red live wire on the stereo, is this the live feed pre ignition?
 
I'd be using an electrical tester then you wont make any cock ups with your new stuff that might end in you having to go back there again a 2nd time, or worse doing any permanent damage :) ,
But I'm just lazy :wink:
 
Are you intending to use the factory fitted speakers? or are you running four new seperate pairs of wires for new speakers?
The reason I ask is that many older speaker wiring systems used an earth return for the speakers and had only one live wire from the headunit, this could prove fatal to your stereo if you wired it to this sort of system.

Graeme
 
Fraserp6 said:
I've got a thick metal braded strap, I'm pretty sure thats to channel out any interference.
Click to expand...

My P6 is missing this one. Probably that's the reason that i have some interference even on an expensive radio... :?

Is it possible to post a photo of it, so that i can replicate it in my car?
 
Any wire bonded to the Car stereo and wired back ( not a long wire) the chassis of the car will work. If you still are experiencing problems check the aerial earthing at the base where it connects to the metal on the car it should be a very good earth. After this is done and if you still having problems you will need to look at the cars electrical sytem to reduce interference noises.

Graeme
 
Thanks Graeme,

I will start with the obvious things first. The head unit is earthed with just a thin wire to allow it to operate, but there is no separate earth from the chassis of the unit. I am not too sure about the aerial's earth, but i doubt that it is any good as is.

I think that later 4 cyl cars had a round metal shield over the distributor (to act as Faraday cage?) and some kind of a capacitor connected somehow on the side of the dizzy. No need to mention that my car has none of the these too. Do you think that they are a worthwhile addition?

I don't have a terrible problem with interference, but on some stations that broadcast on low volume, i can hear the engine, and the various switches as i turn them on and off.

Demetris
 
yes the capacitor on the distributer/coil is worth while, not sure about the faraday cage around the distributor but it sounds like a good idea, Having good condition resistance cables to your spark plugs is a must for good noise supression also, can't remeber if the p6's have an instrument regulator but on most cars of the p6 vintage these are a mechanical regulator and can kick up a lot of electrical noise also. Is most of your noise on AM or FM ?

PS is your radio a factory origional? if it is the age of the radio can mean that internal noise filtering capacitors in the radio are starting to fail due to age and this can contribute to poor noise performance

Graeme
 
Hi Demetris,

My 2000TC is only a year (if that) later than yours registered in April '71. Whilst a Series 2, it has most of the series 1 loom.

I've got a Sony CD/Radio connected without any braided wire, just a simple wire to earth. I don't have any cage around the dizzy and no capacitor thingy on the coil. It all works just fine - well absolutely excellent actually. The old MW/LW Radiomobile that I took out also worked just fine (if you could find anything to tune into that is :wink: )

Maybe the earthing solutions are the ones to look out for first before fitting the extra bits to the engine.

Bri.
 
My radio / CD is an almost new Becker Indianapolis, so there is no excuse on its side.
Before the Becker i had an older Alpine, which had condiderable more noise.
On the radio, i just use FM. I have replaced the instrument voltage regulator with a solid state one.
The spark plug cables are new also.
But i wonder how the (original on the roof) aerial is earthed since it has a plastic mounting.
I guess i have to look closer to the aerial...

Demetris
 
Right, got the head unit sorted, took a bit of fiddling but sorted in the end. Managed to set it far enough back into the centre console that the ROVER blanking plate can cover the unit when the Facia is removed.

the CD changer is connected, and I'll sort the Amp out in the morning.

I bought some NADA doors a while back, complete with side impact bars and electric windows, one thing they also have is a much larger cut out for speakers, so the 6x9's I had in my VW bus will be placed in my front doors with the regular 165mm speakers sitting in the rear doors. These behind the door cards so they can't be seen.

I'll get some photos up in a while.

Demetris, I'll get a photo of that earth strap tomorrow, so you can see what you're missing. It's similar to the strap on the battery.
 
Hi fraserp6

I've been taught to make sure the main pos is strong and comes straight from the battery, especially when connecting amplifiers; ie. running a dedicated, fused cable independent of the car's fuse box. The ignition-switched on/off signal needs less current and I'd be happy to use a supplied pickup for that, ideally if it comes live at position 1 on the ignition. Your braided strap screwed into bodywork sounds good as a safeguard against interference. Hope it sounds great 8)
 
There is an argument for having a braided strap linking the bonnet to the inner wings
This is so any interference from the engine is earthed and not radiated by the bonnet
This makes up for any loss of continuity if the hinges were used as the link ( I think)

The aerial may have a plastic base but the coax is earthed to the roof by a metal ring with teeth round the edges
 
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