by "Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats)
Published 06/09/2017 at 19:57
by "Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats)
Published 06/09/2017 at 19:57
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I bought a new receiver and installed it in my mom’s Miata, because she was always complaining about not having hands free and because the CD player was broken. It’s basically a late Mother’s Day gift/excuse to borrow a convertible on a sunny weekend.
I was sort of successful, but stupid frigging Alpine put the microphone in the faceplate case and I forgot about it until a closed everything up (I’m sort of glad, because it’s late and I’m too exhausted to figure out how to run the wire).
I also chickened out on hooking up the steering wheel controls when I realized I’d have to cut into the car’s stereo connector and saw how little room there is under the dash. I’m debating just taking it some place to have it done, because I can barely get the wires out enough to see where I have to splice it in. It’s only two wires and a ground, but unless there’s a much longer length of wire hiding behind the dash, I have no clue how to get to it.
But these frigging twist connectors I bought from Crutchfield. Screw them so hard. On the one hand, they’re idiot proof, which is good, because I’m an idiot. On the other, I now have big bloody blisters on both thumbs from tightening all of these. These are the devil’s crimp caps.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
06/09/2017 at 20:35, STARS: 1
I used to buy the stereo harness that would fit the car and solder it to the stereos harness and then tape them well. Something like this.
Then if you change stereo you can use the same harness, just cut where you connected. Since cars tend to vibrate a lot more than a house I don’t ever use marrettes or any other twist connectors.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
06/09/2017 at 20:40, STARS: 0
Once you get back to the car it’s all plug and play. No cutting oem wires.
And they cost 15$ the last time I installed a after market stereo. Was my protege5 and that was about 15 years ago.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
06/09/2017 at 20:40, STARS: 0
And Fuck-you kinja for not letting me edit my replies
"Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats)
06/09/2017 at 20:43, STARS: 0
If it isn’t illegal to allow me near a soldering iron, it should be. That’s a good point about vibrations though, especially in a Miata. These things seem at least to be more resistant than a marrette, though. I tested them first and there was no pulling two wires apart, plus there’s a reason why my thumbs are bloodied and blistered at the moment.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
06/09/2017 at 20:48, STARS: 1
They’ve changed them since the first style when they were introduced. I like them for wiring, but they get expensive. You’re right about the twisting, but never had blisters. The old style had caps on both ends with a cone mandrel in the middle section. I like them cause they are reusable and you can disconnect them if need be. But a good crimper and the right butt connectors will do just fine as well. I’ve still got a couple bags of different sizes in my car stereo tool boxes.
I would also recommend the aftermarket harness adapter. Much easier for installs. Just match wire colors and connect, then it’s plug and play. And easily reversible later on.
"Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street." (demon-xanth)
06/09/2017 at 20:57, STARS: 2
I’d strongly recommend hook over side by side. They take a little extra room but are way more mechanically secure.
"Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats)
06/09/2017 at 21:19, STARS: 0
I got the harness adapter that Crutchfield recommended and it was such a breeze (except for one grey/black wire coming from the aftermarket harness, which didn’t have any label and didn’t appear on any documentation. I ended up taping it off, since there wasn’t anything left to splice to the receiver anyway).
The real problem is the steering wheel controls. I can’t figure out where they’d go on the aftermarket harness (unless that’s the black/gray unlabeled wire), so I’d have to do it on the original wiring coming from the car, which is a pain.
"Frank Grimes" (FrankGrimes)
06/10/2017 at 00:14, STARS: 1
I like the NASA way
"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
06/10/2017 at 02:09, STARS: 0
I do that one too, but it’s not always easy to twist them
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
06/10/2017 at 08:35, STARS: 1
That’s interesting. I wouldn’t think one wire would be enough for steering wheel controls. But, now that I’m thinking about it more, I guess I wouldn’t know what to expect for controls. I guess you could use one wire to handle multiple functions. I’ve never swapped a stereo out of something that was nice enough to have steering wheel controls.
"Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats)
06/10/2017 at 08:55, STARS: 0
Well, there’s a 12v accessory wire and two grounds, but I can just splice those into the aftermarket harness. The more that I think about it, the more I sort of suspect that the unlabeled wire might be where I connect the wire coming off of the controls, but I’d have to pull it to be sure. From what I’ve seen looking at Miata forums, it seems like most people buy two harnesses (they’re ~$5) and then pull wires from the second to plug into the first. I have a second harness coming tomorrow, so one way or another I should be able to get it working (it seems that it might autodetect the Miata, so hopefully I won’t even have to program it).
"Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street." (demon-xanth)
06/10/2017 at 18:31, STARS: 0
Usually with in dash areas the extra length of ridgity and the extra diameter can be problematic while a hook can be nice and short leaving the most flexible length.