Electrical issues

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May 3, 2004 | 01:12 AM

ethan1321

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Instructor

Joined: Sep 2002

Posts: 116

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From: Boise ID

Electrical issues

How is everyone enjoying this first part of Spring? A nagging problem I found with my car after I bought it has reared its ugly head bad enough that I finally have to address it. A previous owner felt the need to cut I think just about every wire in the car and splice it back together to install an after market alarm and radio. Anyway the radio quit the other day out of the blue and after some investigation the clock 12 volt power wire only has .5 volts on it. Can somebody recommend a good wiring diagram for an 88 and where to get it at, so I can try and piece this mess back together.

Thanks,
Ethan

May 3, 2004 | 01:23 AM

Q1KSLVR

Drifting

Joined: Jul 2000

Posts: 1,298

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From: Jupiter Sunny Florida

Re: Electrical issues (ethan1321)

Spring means we have to run the A/C in the house and cars all the time now!

The factory manuals are the best way to diagnose problems and repair them. :thumbs:

May 3, 2004 | 01:34 AM

loflyin

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Joined: Jun 2003

Posts: 176

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From: Columbia SC

Re: Electrical issues (ethan1321)

Go ahead and get the factory manual. It has all of the intricate wiring diagrams and then has diagrams to show where connectors and components are. Goes into depth about problems that you will have in the future. Oh, you haven't had them yet? Trust me, you will. Got my manual at Helm.com. It's gonna run you about $100 with shipping. Worth every penny and then some!

Now, was the original stereo Bose? This makes a difference. On my 86 the on/off power wire is yellow. Illumination wire is brown (may not be used with your aftermarket unit). There is a black ground. There is a pink wire for power antenna and another pink one for the Bose amplifier relay (if you have this). There are two wires alone on a connector, pink and gray. The pink is your constant power for station memory/clock. Then there are the standard color coded speaker wires (GM). Hope this helps.

May 3, 2004 | 01:47 AM

ethan1321

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Joined: Sep 2002

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From: Boise ID

Re: Electrical issues (loflyin)

Thanks for the help. I will look at Helm.com for the manual. The car when I bought it had the factory Bose radio in it, how I discovered the mess was I put just a simple CD player in-place of the Bose and noticed the factory wiring plugs had been spliced back into place. The front speakers have never worked and the back are backwards, ie you change the balance to the left and the right one gets louder. So as you can see I have my work cut out for me. The reason I'm tearing into it now is a couple of days ago I pulled into the gas station and the radio was working and when I started the car up to leave the radio went blank. Well I found the 10 amp tail light fuse blown and thought maybe I would get lucky and just be able to change the fuse, well the tail lights now work fine but no luck with the radio. That is how I found I only have .5 volts on the constant 12 volt wire.

Ethan