Being a Noobie, I have some dead basic questions regarding installing a HU. The wiring coming out of the deck I have mostly made sense of except for a couple. Can anyone let me know what the brown, orange and yellow wires are for? I think the orange is illumination but not 100%. Will one of these (extra) wires allow me to listen to the unit without turning the key to ACC? I know this is basic but I don't want to damage anything with the old trial and error method.

 

Are you talking about the wiring coming out of the stock deck or the new deck? Regardless why don't you go and get a wiring harness adapter. Those things make hooking up a deck impossible to screw up.

 

I do have a harness adapter, just lacking instructions of any sort. Everything seems to be working fine except when I turn the car off(key not out) the stereo goes off instead of going off when I take the key out. As well there is a brown wire coming out of the deck that doesn't have a 'home'.

 

what kind of car is it? Many of the GM products have a relay in them so that the radio stays on for a set period of time until the door is opened. If so this feature may not be compatible with your aftermarket deck. When these adapters are made they fit a large number of vehicles and often times do not account for the feature sets of all of the different vehicles. There are a few websites out there which will list all the radio wiring and what they do. www.the12volt.com is one such site. Check it out.

 

Hmm I think the brown wire is for the steering wheel remote if you have one.

All you have to do is connect the color coded wires together, and whatever wires you have left that aren't on the harness adapter just tape them off.

As for the stereo going off when the car is turned off and the key is still in, this is normal. If you want to turn on the stereo without turning on the car just then the key back or ahead.

Do you drive a GM? I had a Cavalier and the stereo would turn off right away after I shut the car off when the key was still inserted.

 

Yes, the brown wire is steering wheel controls. Thanks for the help, not sure if everything is 100% yet though. I have two yellow(with fuses) coming out of the HU, so I connected both to the yellow in the harness. Seems to work. Also should I ground the deck directly to metal or just connect black to the harness?

 

Either grounding to metal or through the harness both work. Grounding through the harness is usually more convenient and neater. The brown wire should be a phone interrupt on the deck for handsfree or bluetooth units.

 

Thanks Skifreak, either way, I haven't used the brown but it is good to know. What about 2 yellow with fuses?

 

the yellows are your battery 12v constant power.. they should be fined hooked up together. as long as they dont draw too much power on them. what size fuses are in them...
what head unit is this you are installing.. the brown wire 99% of the time doesnt have a home. sounds like you have it nailed so far shouldnt be any major issues..