82 Radio Wiring

[82Redo]

Hi all,

I have a standard (non-special edition) 1982 Vette. It had the original AM/FM/Cassette/CB radio in it. I'm in the process of replacing it. I have identified all but 6 wires and I can use some help, I have no wiring diagrams on it . Here's what I know:

Blue 4-wire connector: Rear Speakers
White 4-wire connector: Front Speakers

Here's what I don't know and could use some help on:

Black 4-wire connector: 2 yellow wires, black wire, and a grey wire.
Small black 2-wire connector: brown wire, orange wire.

I have a power antennae, so I'm thinking 2 of the wires work that. I'm thinking 2 wires are constant power wires for the clock. 2 wires should be for the power after ignition. Maybe 2 of them are for the dashboard rheostat to dim the radio?? I dunno, I forgot to see if that was a function on the big yellow LED readout before I pulled the old radio out :duh .

Also, is it possible to replace the front speakers without pulling apart the entire dash? It looks like the speaker grills can be removed, but I'm not sure how. Even if it is possible, can you replace the speakers from there?

Has anyone done this or offer any help?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mkapp7879]

Blue 4-wire connector: Rear Speakers
White 4-wire connector: Front Speakers

Here's what I don't know and could use some help on:

Black 4-wire connector: 2 yellow wires, black wire, and a grey wire.
Small black 2-wire connector: brown wire, orange wire.

Just changed over my white 79. You're correct on the speaker wires. The connector with the 2 yellows ,black and grey wires are for the power. The black is ground, grey is connected to the headlight circuit, one yellow is fused radio power and the other yellow is for the antenna and it does matter which yellow goes to the radio and to the antenna. I didn't think it mattered, antenna worked properly, but the "stereo" light would stay on when I switched off the radio(?). Switched them before putting it all back together. All my leads had been cut off so I had to reattach the connectors. Not sure what the 2 wire connector is for, possibly for station memory for your year. Sure somebody will chime in to help. Mike

 

[mkapp7879]

Speakers come out from above. Grills pop out and speakers are held in with 4 screws. Pain to get at the screws closest to the windshield but doable.

 

[82ColEd]

Hi all,

I have a standard (non-special edition) 1982 Vette. It had the original AM/FM/Cassette/CB radio in it. I'm in the process of replacing it. I have identified all but 6 wires and I can use some help, I have no wiring diagrams on it . Here's what I know:

snip

Has anyone done this or offer any help?

Thanks in advance.

82Redo.. Firstly: Welcome to the !!

If need be, i'll take mine out and check the wires on the back.. Or check my books (I'd have to dig them out again).. Let me know..

Also, are you putting a new one radio in, or just fixing the original ? Reason i am asking, while mine wasnt a CB, i had mine refurbished by the Big E and they gave me a GM 1981 Digi AM/FM Cass. back, not my 82CE one.. :cry

Let me know if you need me to go find out what that 2-wire (brown/orange) is for..


-Stefan

 

[82Redo]

Thanks for the information everyone, here's the story. I'm putting in an Alpine unit and speakers, but I want to keep things in order so if anyone ever wants to restore it to it's original state, it can be done. The old system works, it's just missing a button. The problem is it sounds bad and I don't want to redo everything in cassette format. After popping the front speaker grille (Thanks mkapp7879) I found the speakers to be in pretty bad shape. I'll store them though, just for the heck of it. I'm going to hook up the battery and stab the last few wires (2 yellows, orange, and brown) with a meter and see which are hot with the ignition off. From what I can tell, if the grey goes to the dashboard lighting, I would bet the yellows are constant hot and ignition hot, that would leave the orange brown combo to operate the power antennae. I'll find out soon, I'm heading out to the garage now.

 

[mkapp7879]

Looked in the book at the wiring diagram. The yellows are for radio power and antenna activation. Radio power yellow is 20 gauge, antenna yellow is 18 gauge. Don't know if you can tell the difference by looking at them. The yellow basically goes into the radio where it is switched to activate the antenna and comes right back out and goes to the antenna relay. Mike

 

[bill81vette]

welcome to CAC!!!82 redo enjoy the forums!!!!!!!

 

[82Redo]

Ok, here I am....Last night I thought everything made sense. I went out, finished wiring, and plugged in the new stereo without mounting it. I plugged in the radio and as soon as I powered it up, the power antennae came up. That's a good thing. Then I switched to CD mode and the antennae went down, probably another good thing. I did this a couple times and it worked each time. Then I tried to dim the radio with the headlight switch, nothing happened. I went to bed cause it's late. This afternoon, I go back out and tried it again, not only would the radio not dim, the antennae won't raise (can hear the relay click, but nothing moves). Hmmmm, I tried working the headlight switch to see if the dash lights would change and found out the dash lights don't work (I feel pretty stupid, I didn't check to see if they worked before I started). (I just bought the car and haven't driven it at night yet!) Checked all fuses, they're good. I realize I have the Insturment Cluster out and wonder, does that have to be plugged in for everything to work? My yellow wires are both 18 guage, but I don't think that's the problem (I stabbed them with a meter and one has power with ignition on). The only things I think it may be are the Instrument Cluster needs to be plugged in, or the yellow and grey wires are different from 1979 and 1982??? I don't really want to put in the cluster, find out things don't work, and have to remove it all again! Plus I want to tape up the new wire bundle when it all finally works (if it ever does). Does anyone know where to find a radio wiring diagram without having to pay $99 for the original shop manual?

 

[82Redo]

Back again, went out and plugged in the Instrument Cluster without mounting it, tried the dash lights and they don't work! Dangit! If the antennae were working, I'd feel I've wired it correctly. But now that the antennae isn't working, I still don't know If it's wired correctly. By the way, I've also tried this with the car running so I don't think the battery is to low to run things. Any suggestions?


"Help me Obi-Wan, You're my only hope!"

 

[LannyL81]

Small black 2-wire connector: brown wire, orange wire.

This is for the clock and station memory power. It is hot at all times from the battery.

As to why your antenna will no longer go up.....not sure. Sounds like the relay is stuck in the "bring antenna down" position. The clicking you hear is the antenna is at the full down position and power should be shut off to it...but something is not switching the relay off. A bit difficult to troubleshoot via internet. But I strongly suggest getting the Service Manual for the car...even the CD kind has the schematics and are cheaper than the actual manual.


Oh and your dead dashlights might be due to a burned-out headlight switch....mine had burned the rehostat wiring in two. Had to replace the entire switch. What a pain it is getting that knob off....!!!!

Good luck,
LannyL81

 

[mkapp7879]

An aftermarket radio may just not dim, it's either on or off. Probably don't even need to use the grey lead. Is it lit up when off? Listen at the rear fender to see if you hear the antenna motor running. The nylon lead may have broken. They give you no warning at all. When I bought my white 79 last summer, the antenna stopped working when I was checking out the car. It went up and stayed up. I had to crawl under the Vette and snip a wire as it kept running. 11K mile car. Owner was upset(not at me), just wondered how he would get it fixed. Helped with the negotiations, tho. Try pulling it up by hand, gently tho. If the nylon leader is broken, it should come up. Check the fuse for the instrument lights, possibly hooking the grey up wrong blew the fuse. Fuse is way up at the top, just left of center. 6 amp. Good luck. The yellow lead that tested hot with the ignition on is the radio lead. The other yellow is for the antenna, only hot when the radio is installed and turned on. Mike

 

[82Redo]

This is soooooo strange. I'm looking through regular schematics and I find the Instrument Panel Illumination knob gets it's power from the tail lights circuit. So I flip the knob and see my tail lights don't work, check the 20 amp fuse and it's burnt. Replace it and the dash lights come on and dim as they should. Plug in the new radio and weird things happen. When I turn on the radio, the antennae raises (that's a good thing). When I turn on the headlights to see if the illumination works, the radio power goes dead (that's a bad thing). If the radio is off and I turn on the headlights, the antennae raises (again, bad thing)! I can only assume the grey wire and the yellow wire are switched??!! They're really the only 2 wires that aren't verified as far as I can tell. I really don't know but it bothers me when I turn on the headlights and it kills power to the radio. That indicates that I'm shorting something and I may be causing damage to the radio. I'm frustrated.

 

[82Redo]

Hey Mike, the radio does have an illumination input. I'm considering just swapping the yellow and the grey wires. I don't know what else to do. I may also see if my local Chevy dealer has the wiring diagram I can look at for a few minutes. I don't feel like waiting the week or so to order the GM service manual.

frank

 

[mkapp7879]

Try disconnecting the grey wire from the radio. Don't think you need it for the aftermarket radio. All that does for a factory radio is light up the "dial". Make sure your radio power is from the yellow that is hot with the ignition on. Like I found out with mine, if you switch the 2 yellows the radio and antenna will work but strange things happen. In my case the stereo light stayed on when it shouldn't be. I switched mine right away so I didn't see whether anything else was affected. I tested the different yellow wire hookups on my workbench with a battery and speakers and saw what the difference was right away. Mike

 

[mkapp7879]

Have you cut the plugs off the wiring harness? If so, were the 2 yellow wires side by side? Look at the back of the old radio, I'm assuming it's factory, and look at where the plug plugs in. The antenna wire should be next(edit, it's below) to the radio power lead. I'm gonna go out to the barn and look at some pigtails that I have and see what's up. Back later. Mike (edit)The light dimmer wire(grey?) is diagonal from the yellow power lead.

 

[mkapp7879]

OK, looked at another factory radio that I have and some wiring pigtails. Looking at the back of your original FACTORY radio, you see three 4 wire plugins on the right hand side. Top plug is power, other two are speakers. Looking at the top plug, the top left wire is power, should be that yellow hot with ignition on wire. Directly below that yellow is the antenna lead(yellow?). Mike

 

[82Redo]

ALL RIGHT!! Got it with a minor problem that can't be fixed. I called my local Chevy dealer to see if he had a manual. He didn't of course, but he had one to an 81 chevette (don't laugh) and told me they were probably quite similiar and the brown wire in the 2 wire connector (with the orange wire) was the light-switch wire I was looking for. He says the grey wire is a constant hot for the dash lights. After a little wiring and re-re-wiring, the grey wire was the wire I was looking for (YOU DA MAN, MIKE!) and the brown was a constant hot (which was hooked into the ground wire!). Once it was hooked up properly, the dashboard dimmer switch when dimmed, brightens the radio slightly and dims it slightly when you brighten the dashboard lights. It really isn't that noticeable though.

Now I ask myself where my troubleshooting went wrong, why did I have a hot wire hooked to ground. BECAUSE THE FUSE WAS BLOW AND IT DIDN'T SHOW HOT WHEN I STABBED IT. Had I found that before I started troubleshooting I would never have connected it.

2 lessons i have learned, 1) check everything applicable to your project PRIOR to tearing into it. 2) buy a GM shop manual so you don't have to guess if you're year is similiar to other years!

Thanks for everyones inputs, I appreciate it! -frank

 

[mkapp7879]

So did you even use the brown and orange wires? Just curious. Mike

 

[82Redo]

The orange one is a constant hot so I used it for primary power, that keeps the clock time. The brown one I didn't use. I capped it because it is hot most of the time, unless the tail light fuse blows :L and I don't want it shorting anywhere. I'm doing the brackets for the physical mounting right now. It'll be back together tonight and I'll see the dashboard lights work. otfl I kill me!

Thanks for all your help Mike.

frank

 

[jdp6000]

Ok, here I am....Last night I thought everything made sense. I went out, finished wiring, and plugged in the new stereo without mounting it. I plugged in the radio and as soon as I powered it up, the power antennae came up. That's a good thing. Then I switched to CD mode and the antennae went down, probably another good thing. I did this a couple times and it worked each time. Then I tried to dim the radio with the headlight switch, nothing happened. I went to bed cause it's late. This afternoon, I go back out and tried it again, not only would the radio not dim, the antennae won't raise (can hear the relay click, but nothing moves). Hmmmm, I tried working the headlight switch to see if the dash lights would change and found out the dash lights don't work (I feel pretty stupid, I didn't check to see if they worked before I started). (I just bought the car and haven't driven it at night yet!) Checked all fuses, they're good. I realize I have the Insturment Cluster out and wonder, does that have to be plugged in for everything to work? My yellow wires are both 18 guage, but I don't think that's the problem (I stabbed them with a meter and one has power with ignition on). The only things I think it may be are the Instrument Cluster needs to be plugged in, or the yellow and grey wires are different from 1979 and 1982??? I don't really want to put in the cluster, find out things don't work, and have to remove it all again! Plus I want to tape up the new wire bundle when it all finally works (if it ever does). Does anyone know where to find a radio wiring diagram without having to pay $99 for the original shop manual?

the brown is for the dimmer...

yellow going in is power

yellow going out is power antenna

a yellow going out is for LH rear speaker