Radio fitting problems

[softwired]

Hi, this is my first post so apologies if I'm in the wrong place. Firstly I am not in any way an auto electrician so please consider this when chuckling at my stupidity and before anyone says it, I know, I should have gone to a professional to do this but I'm skint and thought it cant be that hard!
Here's the story..
Got a new alba radio for my Kia Picanto (05). The old one Just stopped working about 6 months ago and my wife has got to the limit of driving without the radio on. She has to talk to me instead which is not her favorite pass time. Anyway, unplugged old one and plugged new one in, didn't work. waggled stuff around, unplugged and re-plugged lots of times in the hope it would work but nothing. I did notice though that when you pressed the eject button the unit made a noise as if it was ejecting but there was nothing at all. Studied the wires and connection to see if i could see anything obvious. Only thing I saw was that the illumination wire was wired to a blank connection on the radio. I didn't know what this wire was so decided to fiddle and see if that was the problem. Wired the illumination wire to yellow wire to see what happened. Radio didn't work but when I went out that evening the radio worked! After a lot of switching on and off etc I found out that the radio came on with the headlights? Knew this wasn't right so disconnected illumination from yellow. I tried something else. Connected illumination to earth. dashboard lights went out (doh. headlights still worked but no internal dash lights. radio didnt work either). Disconnected Illumination from earth but dash lights didnt come back on. Touched illumination wire to yellow and dash lights came on without headlights! At that point I disconnected radio and went back in the house to get some ear ache from my wife.
Can I sort this out myself of have I knackered something.
I'm really not as stupid as I sound here. I can follow simple instructions if anyone has any.
I know I should go see a professional but it might be a simple solution?
Thanks in anticipation of any advice/help

 

[ifindoubtdont]

Right, time to get out the car manual and the radio fitting destructions (sorry) instructions. Rule 1. In the car manual, check the section that says which fuse does what, find the one that covers the radio. You will usually find that "something else" is also covered by that fuse, is that "something else" not working, if "yes" then the fuse is probably blown and you didn't need to buy a new radio, go to Rule 2. If "no" then see Rule 2. Rule 2. Read the radio fitting instructions carefully. Oh! and welcome to the world of Autoelectrics, where nothing makes sense.

 

[jon small]

(1) connecting illumination wire to earth has blown the dash light fuse
(2) when illumination wire connected to yellow wire radio worked with headlights on leads me to conclude that the accessory wire (yellow) had no feed to it , this would most likely mean that the accessory fuse is blown - replace with another fuse of the correct rating and the radio should work.
on a standard din radio the power plug the yellow wire - accessory on cars with with that option
red wire - permanent supply for the radio memory
black or brown wire - earth usually (but not always so check with a test meter)
there are also wires for illumination and for an electric / amplified aerial - colours vary by manufacturer
the cigar lighter is often on the accessory circuit - so check whether that is working - they often get damaged by phone chargers / debris or quite often kids putting foil wrappers or coins in ( have come across this many times when i used to work for a car audio specialist company)
please be careful messing with the wires as the most common cause of car fires is people upgrading audio equipment and adding other accessories that need hard wiring - good luck - jon

 

[tazz]

Every radio now has iso connector......and there is an adapter iso for every make of car.....go to Halfords and buy the correct iso adapter for you car....simples

 

[dan86]

Every radio now has iso connector......and there is an adapter iso for every make of car.....go to Halfords and buy the correct iso adapter for you car....simples

the correct way to go. don't fuff about working out what does what and chopping cables etc. Why make life difficult! don't be tight, spend £15 on the right harness and jobs a good un

 

[shanky887614]

the correct way to go. don't fuff about working out what does what and chopping cables etc. Why make life difficult! don't be tight, spend £15 on the right harness and jobs a good un

Dont even need to spend that, can get them a lot cheaper online

 

[guest119]

The problem with the adaptor units from Halfrauds or on line is that they cannot produce a voltage that isnt there.
The OP appears to have a wiring system similar to one in a mk4 Golf which i worked on recently.

The switched live required by the OP to turn on his audio might not be there. The VW original wiring I was working on sent signal voltage only to the unit and that was just fine and dandy till you try to fit a Sony or whatever. The solution in my case (and for many on the Golf forum) was to find a switched live elsewhere, in my case, the heater fan switch.


Boydy

 

[tazz]

the iso plug was supposed to stop this problem of trying to wire a new radio, with a pre 2000 car i can understand it. But for a 2005 KIA I am sure there is an iso adapter lead

 

[shanky887614]

the iso plug was supposed to stop this problem of trying to wire a new radio, with a pre 2000 car i can understand it. But for a 2005 KIA I am sure there is an iso adapter lead

Not always the case. For example on c1,106 and aygo. The radio is the same till 2011 then changes

 

[tazz]

Makes the iso idea look stupid, if this is the case...hopefully there is a new iso lead for the 2011 c1

 

[guest119]

Tazz, its the manufacturers way of trying to make you use only their audio kit.
An adaptor lead cannot produce a switched live if there is not one there.

Boydy

 

[softwired]

Hi, Thanks for your advice. Studied the fuses and stuff. found out that connecting the illumination wire to yellow blew fuse for rear nearside side lights as well as dashboard. replaced that and all ok. Along with bits of old sandwich and sweet wrapper, I found a penny jammed in the cigarette lighter socket. found that the lighter fuse had blown. replaced and radio worked!! All up and running again.. thanks.
Next problem... my other car is a 2001 seicento. think this might be just sensor problems. 1. abs seems to be on all the time (that juddering) took abs fuse out and brakes are ok except abs light and handbrake light on all the time. 2. when idling revs go up and down as if pressing throttle - from idle to about 1500 revs and back again. Any ideas. Thanks again

 

[jon small]

glad you have got the radio sorted - as i said kids love putting things in cigar lighters (little angels),

Next problem... my other car is a 2001 seicento. think this might be just sensor problems. 1. abs seems to be on all the time (that juddering) took abs fuse out and brakes are ok except abs light and handbrake light on all the time. 2. when idling revs go up and down as if pressing throttle - from idle to about 1500 revs and back again. Any ideas. Thanks again

(1) possibly sensor failed but more likely dirt/dust/grease( from split c.v boot)/debris on a wheel sensor/induction ring - check, dust out with airline or hoover or clean with paintbrush or brake cleaner spray
(2) could be dirt or soot on mass airflow sensor - clean with brake cleaner spray or could be a split air pipe - check ducting from m.a.s to inlet manifold and all air hoses to/from inlet manifold, possibly m.a.s, air temp sensor etc.

it would probably be worth getting a garage or mobile auto-electrician to scan for fault code errors if you have checked the obvious things above and the faults persist - good luck - Jon