Friday, April 1, 2011

Aftermarket Headunit Installation


Installing a new head unit can be a total bitch.. I've been there. You know.. laying upside down in the drivers seat trying to solder wires behind the dashboard. The stock ends cut just too short to get a good grip on by the previous owner.. the hole in the center console support brackets just too small to fit your hands through.. yeah. Boy, have I been there. I started out with the manual that came with my reverse harness, a Haynes manual, and a ton of those cap splice connectors. I made extra work for myself with that decision but I'd rather plan ahead, & do it right the first time than make a giant mess trying to unsolder wires I mixed up. I remember how much of a pain in the ass it was trying to get all the wiring connections figured out so here's a little guide on which colors Honda used for which wires. Remember my car's a 92 Integra LS so other years/submodels might have slightly different wiring..






When I installed my new head unit I sat down with my Haynes Repair Manual and the manual that came with this reverse harness and wrote down which color on the stock harness connected to what color on the Metra harness. Not everyone's going to use this harness so here's a wiring diagram for the radio in a 1992 Integra. The white/blue wire coming from fuse 14 is hot at all times, and fuse 22 is only hot with the key in accessory or run.

 I pulled the previous owners head unit, disconnected their mess of wires and started matching up what I had written down. At first I connected everything with the cap splice connectors just so I was sure it would work correctly when everything was soldered together for good. Then I powered up the head unit, saw everything was connected and working and took it out again to solder the connections. I zapped some heatshrink around all my connections, reinstalled my new head unit and turned up the volume :)


 

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