New car radio, causing battery problems

bobjim

Hi,
I recently fitted a new Kenwood car radio/CD into my venerable 1991 Toyota Hiace van but have had problems with it since. I got an ISO connection kit (basically a cable with appropriate connectors on either end, see pic) and that connected the radio to the existing van wiring OK.

However, with both white connectors joined to their van counterparts, the radio powers on (lights come on) but there is no sound. When I disconnected one of the connectors, the radio works but doesn't keep presets and seems to drain the battery??

From searching on the web, it seems car radios normally have 2 power connections, one to keep the presets and the other that turns the radio on when you turn on the ignition - is this correct?

My question is: how do I easily resolve this? I know feck all about car electrics so I'm hoping the answer is something very simple that will avoid me having to go to a car audio/electrics specialist.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Bobjim

franksm

See the way the yellow and red wires have bullet plugs ? swap the wires around

That ought to solve your problem.

The ISO standard is great, but some car manufacturers for some reason got is bass ackwards ;-)

On some, the red wire is +12v permanent and the yellow is +ve IGN, on others it's the other way around.

Atlantic Dawn

franksm wrote: »

See the way the yellow and red wires have bullet plugs ? swap the wires around

That ought to solve your problem.

The ISO standard is great, but some car manufacturers for some reason got is bass ackwards ;-)

On some, the red wire is +12v permanent and the yellow is +ve IGN, on others it's the other way around.

+1 Yes this should sort it.

bobjim

Thanks for the suggestion - I tried this and it may have solved the power/battery problem but it doesn't seem to have made a difference to the audio. When I turn on the radio, the lights come on but there's no sound.

I have noticed that if I disconnect the connector which has four wires marked:

right rear positive
right rear negative
left rear positive
left rear negative

then the sound comes on. What is this connector for? Can I simply leave it disconnected?

At the moment, I've removed the radio again until I get any advice and the time to look at it properly so I'd appreciate any more suggestions.

Cheers,
bobjim

bobjim

bobjim wrote: »

right rear positive
right rear negative
left rear positive
left rear negative

then the sound comes on. What is this connector for? Can I simply leave it disconnected?

that's for two rear speakers, which I doubt you have, so you can leave that unconnected