Stock Radio CLUSTER F***
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I just picked up the amp. Hope to give that a shot tonight and see if I can get things working.
Took the car for a spin last night my dash lights are no longer working. Unbelievable. From what I've read they are part of the same wiring cluster as the radio
i've attached a photo showing the wires on the back of the CM5908 referenced below.
its seems like general internet consensus is that mystery two prong plug is not needed. see '??' in attached photo.
backlight wire should be the white wire in the 2-pin plug that has yellow and white wires. see 'IL' in attached photo.
the white wire for the antenna power: there should be a prong near the top right corner (f you are looking at the back of the radio)where this would plug into. see 'PA' in attached photo.
is the amp gone, like the wires are hanging around and its been removed, or it was never there?
see my attached diagram for explanation of the wire loops. it shows a wire being connected to two pins of the the same connector.
the etm diagrams are certainly another language until you have used them a few times to figure out wiring.
AAAAAAAAAAAND it isn't the fuse. Any ideas?
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Speedo, Tach, Fuel, Temp & Climate Control
All of the warning lights are still functioning.
I plan on checking the ground (it was a mess) tonight. Also, none of the wiring that would have been going back to the stock amp is back there, so it looks like I'll be sending wires out for that.
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Speedo, Tach, Fuel, Temp & Climate Control
All of the warning lights are still functioning.
I plan on checking the ground (it was a mess) tonight. Also, none of the wiring that would have been going back to the stock amp is back there, so it looks like I'll be sending wires out for that.
if all of the dash lights are dead that would normally come on when you pull the light switch to position 1, the light switch could have shit the bed or the connection came loose. any of the wire you were dealing with at the radio shouldnt have affected this, the only thing i can think of is if you were tugging you could have pulled something loose.
the amp wiring is gone? i've never heard of anyone actually pulling the wiring when putting in a new system, that would be a waste of time and rather tedious to remove from the harness. your car most likely never had an amp. do you have tweeters in the doors at the mirrors?
Dan
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if all of the dash lights are dead that would normally come on when you pull the light switch to position 1, the light switch could have shit the bed or the connection came loose. any of the wire you were dealing with at the radio shouldnt have affected this, the only thing i can think of is if you were tugging you could have pulled something loose.
the amp wiring is gone? i've never heard of anyone actually pulling the wiring when putting in a new system, that would be a waste of time and rather tedious to remove from the harness. your car most likely never had an amp. do you have tweeters in the doors at the mirrors?
I was trying not to pull on them too hard, but there wasn't much to work with. Are you thinking it got pulled from the back of the headlight switch?
I have one odd plug, but nothing that looks like the plugs I have found when I search for the amp. There are a few loose wires back there, but nothing that matches the schematic.
Yes, I do have the tweeters.
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only one way to find out!
and just to be perfectly clear - there is no amp and location #3, hidden behind the carpet panel? and no wiring that has been cut running up inside the car under the seat/side panel between the rear speaker and location #3? there should be a big bundle (10ish wires) that would have gone to the amp.
and to go back a little, did you say at some point when you owned this car the speakers worked? what was changed/who changed it since that point?
Dan
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only one way to find out!
and just to be perfectly clear - there is no amp and location #3, hidden behind the carpet panel? and no wiring that has been cut running up inside the car under the seat/side panel between the rear speaker and location #3? there should be a big bundle (10ish wires) that would have gone to the amp.
and to go back a little, did you say at some point when you owned this car the speakers worked? what was changed/who changed it since that point?
I’m an idiot. I was looking under the carpet on the DS side towards the tail lights in the quarter panel. It’s there.
Yes, the rear speakers were working for sure with the old radio.
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ok, well if all the components are there, and you think you have it wired correctly, and its still not working....its time to start checking individual components to make sure they are not dead.
get the radio fired up and check the outputs to make sure voltage is coming from them. someone correct me if i'm wrong, but it may be an AC current, lower voltage than 12v at each output.
if its outputting sound, what i would do is make a temporary jumper cable, pull the interior panels and connect the radio directly to each speaker to see that they are all working.
Dan
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I borrowed a speaker to attempt to see if I could get some sound out of the radio w/out having to remove any panels. Now, when I turn on the radio I can hear a click from all of the speakers. No luck getting any sound to the speaker. Also, no luck with the lights in the dash.
The voltage coming out was .023 at the most.
I'm thinking I ended up with a trash radio and killed my dash lights in the process of trying to do the install.
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Not much of a wiring expert, hint if you have your hazard switch installed upside down in an e30 which is possible by the way your headlights and turn signals will exhibit strange behavior...and there was that rewired 1955 Willy's Jeep kind of on fire incident in the mid-70s.
That said:
-If you're getting power to the head unit have you tried running a cassette in the deck to see if you get any sound from that? If yes could be just a radio specific issue which leads to other things. I don't know the unit but If no longer power to the head is there an inline or internal fuse?
-With the radio the clicking sound through the speakers is one click when you turn the unit on or constant?
-As far dead dash lights which fuses have you checked?
-Also to rule out the "doh" factor with the new light switch have you rotated the switch knob to make sure things aren't just dimmed (been there I am sad to admit)?
-Lights aside do the gauges themselves still work (tach, speedo). If yes that is a good thing, if no you might have damaged/shorted your SI board. You have had the battery disconnected during the install yes?
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-Also to rule out the "doh" factor with the new light switch have you rotated the switch knob to make sure things aren't just dimmed (been there I am sad to admit)?
ooo, good idea! could easily be missed
i wish you were closer so i could look at this myself.
I found this on r3v: (they suggest to check the grounds)
someone said:
All the ground wires in the console are brown. I don't suspect that radio ground connection as being the cause of your lights not working unless they cut the wire. As long as they just tapped into it it should be okay. If they cut the wire, then I agree with you, that becomes the most likely fault. Try grounding the loose end of that wire if it is cut.
Probably easiest to take the cluster out and trace the dash lighting circuit back to the rheostat in the headlight switch. The connector for the dash lighting may just be disconnected from it.someone said:
I killed alot of time tracking it down, but it turned out that someone spliced a ground from the heater control light and used it as the ground for the stereo. Since all the lights use the same ground....they all stopped working
Dan
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Not much of a wiring expert, hint if you have your hazard switch installed upside down in an e30 which is possible by the way your headlights and turn signals will exhibit strange behavior...and there was that rewired 1955 Willy's Jeep kind of on fire incident in the mid-70s.
That said:
-If you're getting power to the head unit have you tried running a cassette in the deck to see if you get any sound from that? If yes could be just a radio specific issue which leads to other things. I don't know the unit but If no longer power to the head is there an inline or internal fuse?
-With the radio the clicking sound through the speakers is one click when you turn the unit on or constant?
-As far dead dash lights which fuses have you checked?
-Also to rule out the "doh" factor with the new light switch have you rotated the switch knob to make sure things aren't just dimmed (been there I am sad to admit)?
-Lights aside do the gauges themselves still work (tach, speedo). If yes that is a good thing, if no you might have damaged/shorted your SI board. You have had the battery disconnected during the install yes?
Yeah, I have tried the cassette deck. Still no sound. Cassette deck itself seems to be working.
The speakers click once when the radio turns on and the sound is turned up.
Dead dash lights (& PS rear Tail light) - I have replaced fuse #'s 10,12, 19, 21, 22, 23
I did rotate the knob. I wish it was that easy!
The speedo, tach, etc. all work, just no longer light up.
Yes, I did have the battery disconnected.
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ooo, good idea! could easily be missed
i wish you were closer so i could look at this myself.
I found this on r3v: (they suggest to check the grounds)
I'm getting more and more concerned the ground got messed up in the process of all of this. All of the ground wires that I can find (3 of them 1 from the radio) are all connected. Any advice on re-grounding it them?
My analog clock is still lit and working, but I don't have lights for my heat/ac controls.
I am concerned about pulling the cluster and causing more issues.
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the fact that all the lights that are out are in the same circuit leads me to believe the cause is one wire in that circuit. (causing all of them to not have power or ground.)
i'd pull the cluster/knee panel/etc to start following wires from start to end to inspect.
the cluster is easy to pull. more time consuming if you have an airbag steering wheel. i can swap clusters in about 5 min with an non-airbag wheel. there is no risk to damaging anything if you don't pull on stuff like He-man
Dan
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Did you get this sorted? @AlpineE30
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