Firstly, this is my first post on this forum. I did search a lot about this information, but I cannot seem to find the exact answer to my question. I'm probably doing something wrong since this is the first time installing an aftermarket head unit, but I like to do things myself and figured I'd give it a try.

Problem: Head unit powers on, but no sound (Yes I know there's about 100 threads about this)

I have a 1997 Dodge Dakota, with the Infinity sound package in it. Basically, my dad gave me an Alpine CDE-100 head unit, but he had already opened it and messed around with the parts. Since I'm cheap, I decided to make due with what I have and adapt. I went to Best Buy and bought a wire harness, and dash kit. As far as the head unit goes I didn't have the proper mounting hardware, so I just duct taped it to the dash kit (works fine).



Second, I crimped all the aftermarket stereo wires to the wire harness. I ended up with three extra wires that I taped the ends off because they did not have corresponding wires on the aftermarket head unit's wire harness. These wires were: mute (solid brown), dimmer (orange/white), light illumination (solid orange).

There were three plugs in the factory stereo.



A gray, a black, and a little black one that says "AMP" on it (pictured below)



What I did was snip that little plug that says "AMP" on it, then crimped that wire to the blue/white one that came with the aftermarket harness.



For starters, I have no idea where to put the ground cable.....



I'm getting no sound, and I'm completely stumped. This is what the back of my H/U looks like.



If anyone can help me with this, it would be greatly appreciated. I thought this would be easy (it probably is), but I'm retarded and can't figure it out.

 

well the problem would prolly be with ur stock amp..if you got a test light see if its getting power and go from there...your white and black RCA's on the back give your "aftermarket" amp sound... you might have to get an aftermarket amp. but ive never wired a head unit into a vehicle that had a stock amp...

 

As soon as possible disconnect the blue/white from the wire you connected it to in the truck. That wire in the truck is the ground wire for the factory radio. It may say "amp" on the connector but that is just the name of the supplier for that plastic connector. You may have damaged the remote on output from the Alpine deck by connecting it to ground. You can try connecting it to the right remote on wire for your factory Infinity amplifier and see what happens.

Connect the black ground wire from the Alpine deck to the ground wire for the factory radio in the dash. Connect the blue/white wire on the Alpine to that solid blue wire on the black plug of the harness you installed. Connect the red, yellow, and corresponding speaker output wires to their respective wires on the gray and black plugs of the harness you bought. If it works and you have sound, you are lucky you didn't burn up the remote output on the Alpine.

If there is still no sound, connect the solid blue in the black aftermarket harness plug to the red switched accessory 12 volts wire over on the gray plug. See if the amp will trigger that way. If not, check the amplifier/audio fuse in the fuse panel. Be sure to tape up the orange wire on your aftermarket harness. It's for the dash lights and if it is bare and shorts out against the chassis of the deck, it will blow the dash light fuse.

Best Buy or any other Alpine dealer will have the correct mounting sleeve for the deck. Duct tape will work but it's best to just get the sleeve for it and mount the deck securely. Plus with the proper mount you will have less chance of skipping on CD's and internal damage to the deck from being mounted too loosely in the dash.

 

I'll go ahead and reiterate much of what 01SilverCC said:

1. Disconnect that blue and white wire from the wire that had the little black plastic "Amp" connector on it immediately. That black wire with the Amp-brand connector is the chassis ground for the factory radio. You want to connect the solid black wire from your aftermarket HU to it instead, and then you'll actually have ground.

2. Definitely get a proper mounting sleeve for your HU. They are semi-universal, i.e., you may not specifically need one for your make and model of HU, but rather just one for a DIN-sized HU (which is the standard size). They are also very easy to install. Just slide it into the dash adapter plate and bend the tabs on it to secure it in place. Your HU then slides into the sleeve and locks in place automatically (you use a pair of special "keys" to remove the HU from the sleeve).

3. The remote turn-on lead (AKA: amplifier turn-on lead) from the HU is blue/white (which you apparently have running to ground right now). You need to connect that to the solid blue wire in the harness adapter you bought.

Additionally, is there a ground wire from the factory amplifier (possibly green/black) kicking around in there? If so, you need to also connect that to chassis ground. If the ground wire from the amplifier is heavier than the black ground wire (the one that had the Amp brand connector on it), then you'll want to connect it directly to the chassis (body) or look for something that it was originally grounded to and reconnect it if it isn't already connected.

To make your own chassis ground, crimp a suitable ring terminal on the ground wire. Then find an inconspicuous part of the body to ground to (the firewall or floor pan for example) and drill a hole there. Clean the area around the hole to the bare steel, and attach the ring terminal with a sheet metal screw. I like to then cover the sheet metal screw, ring terminal and a little of the surrounding area with clear silicone, which prevents the screw from loosening and also protects against corrosion.

 

Thanks for the replies. I've only so much as tried testing the H/U with that blue/white wire hooked up. Since it didn't work, I've just been driving around with no stereo at all. I'm hoping nothing got damaged and I'm going to try what you said. Although, I think the blue wire on my wire harness is already hooked into something else...? I'll check and get back to you guys.