Stereo Difficulties

[76/85 Truck]

Hey everyone! Normally I'm in the 73-87 side but my mom has a 1998 Chevy Silverado 1500 that has an aftermarket stereo. The stock harness is still used and the guy who put it in just got an adapter so the stock harness could be attached to the Pioneer head unit...

So the other night when she came home the face was still illuminated, and you could see the track time counter working, but none of the buttons worked and no sound came from the speakers.

I plugged in a different stereo to it (same connectors) , and nothing works except the eject button. There is power to the Yellow battery wire, and power to the Red ACC wire. I don't know where to go from here.

Any suggestions? Thanks for all your help!!!!

[ChevLoRay]

Does it have a detachable face? If so, it could be that it was not seated when someone may have been playing with it....

My Pioneer has a detachable face. At times, I will notice that the unit is playing but there is no display, or the controls don't cause any changes. All I do is hit the detach button, and the face swings down. I then close and reattach it. Fixes it every time.

[76/85 Truck]

That's what I thought at first, but I tried multiple stereos and they all do the same thing. No music, and no working buttons except eject.
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[treman03]

Try another ground. Just a thought if other stereos is doing it to.

[89chevsj]

ok. plug in your radio but leve it out of place. use a test light and a good ground and stab all wires while truck is running. dont worry about grounds just yet. check all positive wires to speakers for power. check all power wires before radio as well. you might need a profetional if you can't figure it out on your own.

[benoit454]

is the mute button on? lol some have a mute on them or the speaker level is on zero on the balance.

[76/85 Truck]

I checked all wires (didn't check the positive speaker wires, I will do that in the morning when it is light out), and they all have power that need to have power (and I used a voltmeter and they all have 12V)... The ground also has continuity. So the ACC wire has power, the BATT wire has power, and the ground has full continuity.

I find it weird that on my moms stereo, nothing works. On my stereo, the eject button is the only thing that works when plugged into her truck. I plug it back into mine, and it works fine. I don't know where to go from here. Because it's not like something is wrong between the deck and the speakers, because the faceplate won't even light up. Nothing is illuminated on the head unit.

Any suggestions? I'm thinking about taking it to a specialist, which I hate to do, but I might not have any other option. Thanks a BUNCH for your replys. Keep the suggestions coming! I'm open to everything! THANKS!!

[89chevsj]

that stumps me. somthing you could try... get in the truck and put your ear to the speaker. turn the key to accessory there should be some sort of noise. if not take your moms radio and hook it to your car, if it works, you could need a new connector. this baffles me and i've been doing audio customs since i was a little kid. If you take it anywhere take it to a dealer with a service center and ask one of the mechanics... giving its a factory radio.

[76/85 Truck]

I was thinking the same thing about the dealer. However, it isn't a factory radio. it's an aftermarket radio with the factory wiring harness. We got an adapter for an aftermarket stereo so it would hook up to the stock harness.

[dragginmetal]

I have seen some aftermarket radios that have to have the antenna hooked up to get power to the unit....are u pluging it in when u are testing these headunits? Does the antenna wire look good? Any corrode or break in it?
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[76/85 Truck]

The antenna wire looks great, and I have been plugging it in. I'm beginning to wonder if I need a new harness or something. I find it really odd that there is power going into the decks, and neither of the decks turn on.

Thanks for all your responses!
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[89chevsj]

that is really weird. you might check if you could get ahold of a factory radio. hook it up seeif it works. if yes, your adapter is bad. if no well, you might want to get prices for rewiring and maybe consider a different truck, or live witout radio.

[76/85 Truck]

I'll look through the wrecking yard for a factory radio tomorrow when I go to work. Hopefully it will have power to it and all I will need is a new adapter.

Thanks for your help. I will keep you updated. Let me know if you think of any other suggestions. I really appreciate it!!

[89chevsj]

just take your moms truck there and just hook it up. that way you wont have to spend money on another radio.

[bbchevy]

so you checked the wires for power.... but did you check for power at the right time? yellow should be powered all the time. saves the memory of the unit. red should only have power when the key is on. also follow those wires (red and yellow) back before the adapter plug. poke the wires with a test light and make sure they are the right ones. Basically as long as the yellow that goes into the harness for the radio is full and the red lights up then the key is on, and the black is neg, thats all you need. but check them before the plug.

[bbchevy]

ALSO

if the speaker wires are crossed or any wires are shorting, an aftermarket radio will go into protect mode! making it impossible to turn on. it will stay off until the problem is fixed. maybe another wire is crossed from that plug to where he wired the pioneers plug to it. doesnt take much to lock it out. soo look for bare wire or crossed wires. and you cant test speaker wires with a test light. if the unit is off they wont get power... and if the volume is down they wont get power. so that wont work. you just need to make shore nothing is crossed or grounding. just an idea
-Scott

[BlackTopMotors]

Originally Posted by 76/85 Truck

Hey everyone! Normally I'm in the 73-87 side but my mom has a 1998 Chevy Silverado 1500 that has an aftermarket stereo. The stock harness is still used and the guy who put it in just got an adapter so the stock harness could be attached to the Pioneer head unit...

So the other night when she came home the face was still illuminated, and you could see the track time counter working, but none of the buttons worked and no sound came from the speakers.

I plugged in a different stereo to it (same connectors) , and nothing works except the eject button. There is power to the Yellow battery wire, and power to the Red ACC wire. I don't know where to go from here.

Any suggestions? Thanks for all your help!!!!

I no this may sound extreme but sometimes you just need to take it out and bench test the unit. Know what hooks up to what and go from there. Basic stereo installation is easy; don't pay unless you have too say running amps and crossover and such. Sometimes its as simple as a loose or pinched wire...improperly installed...

Good Luck, Roger

[81ShrtBox]

Not sure about the 88 model, but if you follow the power harness you might find it leads to the factory amp. You have to disconnect and remove this to use one or more of the plugs on it. Double check to make sure they didnt shortcut you, or make sure the remote wire isn't connected to your power antenna wire... One will be blue... the other will be blue/white. That Is a simple mistake that is often overlooked.

If you still can't get it give me a call... I'm on nights. Don't get off till 4am.
504-559-6939 Jarion
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[81ShrtBox]

It might be a bad speaker shorting out if it was working with the new radio. If the front dash speakers where replaced, the wires or the magnet may be grounding out on the metal dash structure. You can try removing the speakers one at a time and see if the problem stops.

Disconnect all the speaker wires and try another speaker to see if it works.
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[corbinc]

81shrtbox probably nailed it on the head. This happened to my friend once before because he did not remove the factory amp which on your truck should be located under the dash behind the factory head unit and thermostat control. The best thing to do is remove this amp, purchase a 10$ wiring harness from w/e local stereo store, plug the harness directly into the wiring bundle you removed from the amp (its the large blue plug if I am no mistaken), and rewire the aftermarket head unit to the new harness. It will be color coded and easy.

[89chevsj]

by amp do you guys mean the factory head unit? Just trying to learn a little bit.

[corbinc]

The factory head unit is what you control your volume, source (am/fm), ect. The amp is literally an amplifier that resides behind your dash (it is rectangular in shape with a heatsink on the back. The factory head unit plugs directly into the amplifier.

It is possible to identify speakers, ignition, and power from the wires that come from the amplifier into the factory head unit and some people have attempted utilizing the factory amp. Unfortunately, the amplifier must be bypassed for any aftermarket stereo system. There are two plugs that come out of the factory amp. The larger plug will be what an aftermarket wiring harness is attached to.

[89chevsj]

Thanks corbinc alrighty i just pulled the "pocket in mine where the original was and found a chrome and red 400 watt amp. I'm guessing aftermarket huh? my cab and dash are from a 93? ohwell mine works amazingly so I'm good. hey mister OP any updates?

[81ShrtBox]

Thats not factory... the original one is bare metal.. with sharp edges. I found that out the hard way. Post some pics of what you found. I need an idea of what you have..

I've been doing audio/video for about 10-12yrs now

[seth is usdm]

yes, the factory amp should have been bypassed once an aftermarket stereo was put it. because once it goes bad it does all sorts of weird things. take it to an aftermarket stereo shop. simple diagnosis should only run you 45 bucks. then you can fix whats wrong after they've figured it out