c4 1987 replacement aftermarket, failure?
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,712
Likes: 331
Finalist 2020 C4 of the Year - Unmodified
c4 1987 replacement aftermarket, failure?
Hey all,
My previous owner put a Pioneer DEH-P3900MP in my c4 '87 with Bose speakers, this worked well except for AUX in. Could hear the amps "popping" on when turning on stereo. CD player and radio sounded awesome, for a non-audio guy.
I really wanted AUX to work, playing a bunch of MP3s via CD was just not big enough.
I picked up a BOSS Audio 632UAB off Amazon, specifically targeting pre-amp support. Well, obviously, it ain't working.
The Pioneer had a wiring harness adapting to its inputs, they were labeled well. I matched up fine, except for a couple that skipped the connector, connected directly.
One was power, the other was a three-way. Pretty obvious the 3some was antenna on, antenna and amp relay.
Finally the question, should this setup work at all? Again, note the Pioneer worked fine except for old AUX port.
I did three trials:
1) Skip the antenna and "pink wire". Failed, no sound at all. Stereo powered up fine.
2) Stereo blue antenna to "pink wire". This got sound that was terrible: low volume, tinny sound with absent bass. And worse, some electronic sounds: a whine followed by a regular whomp......whomp......whomp. Repeat.
3) Stereo blue to pink and internal antenna. Still terrible sound ( I played Aerosmith "Sweet Emotion" and there was NO drums!!), but the whomp was gone. Whine was still happening but not as often.
One extra item: I skipped hooking up the antenna input itself in all these, was planning on ditching that anyway.
Ideas welcome. I already did the search and review, Google as well as here and c4 forum.
Thanks ahead of time.
My previous owner put a Pioneer DEH-P3900MP in my c4 '87 with Bose speakers, this worked well except for AUX in. Could hear the amps "popping" on when turning on stereo. CD player and radio sounded awesome, for a non-audio guy.
I really wanted AUX to work, playing a bunch of MP3s via CD was just not big enough.
I picked up a BOSS Audio 632UAB off Amazon, specifically targeting pre-amp support. Well, obviously, it ain't working.
The Pioneer had a wiring harness adapting to its inputs, they were labeled well. I matched up fine, except for a couple that skipped the connector, connected directly.
One was power, the other was a three-way. Pretty obvious the 3some was antenna on, antenna and amp relay.
Finally the question, should this setup work at all? Again, note the Pioneer worked fine except for old AUX port.
I did three trials:
1) Skip the antenna and "pink wire". Failed, no sound at all. Stereo powered up fine.
2) Stereo blue antenna to "pink wire". This got sound that was terrible: low volume, tinny sound with absent bass. And worse, some electronic sounds: a whine followed by a regular whomp......whomp......whomp. Repeat.
3) Stereo blue to pink and internal antenna. Still terrible sound ( I played Aerosmith "Sweet Emotion" and there was NO drums!!), but the whomp was gone. Whine was still happening but not as often.
One extra item: I skipped hooking up the antenna input itself in all these, was planning on ditching that anyway.
Ideas welcome. I already did the search and review, Google as well as here and c4 forum.
Thanks ahead of time.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,712
Likes: 331
Finalist 2020 C4 of the Year - Unmodified
Yes, that's the pink wire, leads to Bose relay to turn on amplifiers. Pretty sure I noted in electrical diagram in service manual.
On the Boss, it's a blue wire (antenna), they didn't use blue/white.
I submitted a support ticket with Boss, wait and see time.
On the Boss, it's a blue wire (antenna), they didn't use blue/white.
I submitted a support ticket with Boss, wait and see time.
Last edited by kael; Mar 30, 2016 at 10:57 PM.