Sony Radio installation problems

MI 99XPL · April 7, 2002

I just got done installing my Sony MD player into my Avalanche. There is no sound coming from the speakers. The radio was used for a few years with no problems on my 91 S-10 Blazer. The 1st time I installed it, the panel was very dim. So I pulled it out and double checked all the wires on my harness. They were connected correctly. When I put it back in, the panel lit up normally, but there was no sound. I tired AM, FM, and a MD. None of them had sound.

I'm using an antenna adaptor, aftermarket wiring harness, and aftermarket radio mounting kit.

Am I missing something simple? Do I need to disconnect the battery for a few minutes? Or do I need to bite the bullet and take it into a dealer or radio install shop?

Thanks

MI 99XPL

NeXuS1 · April 7, 2002

you sure you wired the harness to the radio correctly? it does power up right? are you powering the speakers off deck power or an amp?

x6369x · April 8, 2002

2 things could be wrong:

1) The Sony MD player's outputs are fried. Depending on how long it had been sitting around, electronics have a strange way of working one day, and not the next. It may have an internal short since you originally had problems w/ the display.

2) I'm not familiar w/ the AV's, but there may be an internal amplifier on the AV's stock system, and you might need to connect some sort of amp turn on wire.

Just my $0.02.

MI 99XPL · April 8, 2002

NeXuS1 - I double-checked the wiring and everything is correct. I even got out both diagrams and read all the wires. It does power up. I can set the clock, put radio stations into memory, adjust bass, play MD, etc, etc. I have no aftermarket amps installed.

x6369x - Maybe I should put the radio back into the S10 blazer and see if it works there. At least I’d know if it's the radio or the AV. I'm not sure if there are factory amps in the AV.

Does anybody know if there are factory amps in the AV?

Thanks.

MI 99XPL

MI 99XPL · April 9, 2002

Well, I disconnected the battery for a few minutes and that wasn't the problem. I'm taking the radio to a shop tomorrow to see if they can test it to make sure the radio works.

Mi 99XPL

NeXuS1 · April 9, 2002

thats probably your best bet. most places have a station to test head units on. if it works then you can start narrowing down the problem from there.

MI 99XPL · April 9, 2002

Well, just got back from the radio install place. The Sony tested just fine on their system. And they used my wiring harness, so that's fine too. They said the AV doesn't have any amps installed for the based model CD radio that GM makes, so it shouldn't be from an amp that isn't being turned on. I'd be interested in hearing if anybody found some stock amps in the truck and what radio package they had.

They did tell me that aftermarket radio with built in amps sometime will shut down the speakers if they "sense" a speaker going bad. It's sometype of protection circuit. The easiest way to test it is to install the radio and turn it on. Than, one by one, unplug the speakers. If the radio works, that's the bad speaker. If not, keep going. Has anybody else heard of this?

Thanks

MI 99XPL

MI 99XPL · April 10, 2002

I think the AV has different wiring than most GM vehicles. Does anybody know if this might be true? Is there a site out there that I might be able tocheck for the AV? Or an email somebody can send me if they already ran into this?

Thanks

MI 99XPL

[email protected]

mikeb · April 10, 2002

www.installdr.com

MI 99XPL · April 11, 2002

I GOT IT!!!! I stopped in a Circuit City and they said that there should be a pink wire used to turn on the factory amp. I get home and start working on it and guess what, no pink wire. And I also got an email from another person trying to help also stated that the amp turn on is the pink wire. (That's just my luck.)

So I got out the tester and started to figure it out. It turns out that the wire position normally used for a power antenna is also used to turn on the factory amp.

And for anybody that wants to know, the amp is located behind the glove box, not the passenger side kick panel. It's held in by 2 small screws that can be acessed from underneath the dash.

Thanks for your help everybody!

MI 99XPL