Radio Battery Wire Alternative

[sergechronos]

To make this super short, installing a new aftermarket radio in the car and found that amongst a variety of other issues the battery wire for the factory radio harness had been cut or torn before right where the wire goes into the connector. It had been "repaired" with solder, however clearly wasn't a great job because any time I would hit a bump with the factory radio it'd shut off until I turned the car off then back on at which point all the memory settings would be lost. The new radio won't turn on without power on that battery wire, so I tried using a tap splice farther back on the wire to connect the factory harness to the new stereo harness, but still wouldn't work. If I hook up the power and the battery wire to a positive terminal on a battery and the ground to the negative terminal, it turns on so I know the radio is good. Is there somewhere else around the radio that I could tap into for the battery wire, or am I going to have to pull the center console back out and go chasing the battery wire for the radio?

[Bloodlust182]

You could tap into your ignition wires off the column. Thats what i did to wire my AA wing to work only when the key is on. Im not exactly sure but i think on one side of the connector it is a black wire with a red stripe then it turns into a black wire with a white stripe. I would take a good look at a wiring pdf lol.

[cjbyron]

Unless you've used it for something else already there is a spare circuit in your inside fusebox. I think it is location #8 but it's been a while so you might want to verify that. That's the most common place people tap for a new power line for aftermarket or other applications.

[sergechronos]

Forgot to update this actually. I spent a bit of time poking about since then. Found a break in the wire, repaired it and all seemed good till today. Went back out, and the AC was resetting to 77 every time I put the key in the ignition and the radio wasn't working. Pulled Fuse 15, not blown. Put the same fuse back in, and then it all worked properly. So I believe I may have some kind of issue with the contacts within that terminal (which controls battery/memory functions for stuff)