1998 Nissan Altima install gone wrong?

[awencel]

First off, I see that you wanted us to look through the FAQ and old links before we post, which I did. I also look in the altima section specifically the 1998-2001 for an answer but haven't found it, so hopefully I haven't missed a thread with the solution to my problem. If I'm asking a redundant question, just forward a link to me since I didn't see one. My problem is as follows.

I have a 1998 Nissan Altima that I just bought, which replaced the Nissan 1991 Stanza that I had. I purchased a JVC KD-g240 deck player for the Stanza at first, and it worked fine with all the wires hooked up. I took that out recently and placed it in 1998 altima and came across a problem. I hard wired everything and placed electrical tape on the wires not used and those bundled up, just like I did in the Stanza, and it's all double checked for consistency of signal with multimeter. I have checked the fuze on the JVC and its fine, and I have reset the unit as well. What happens is the system turns on when I press the time and the eject button, which means that the power going to the system while the car is in acc is good--but the system only does that, which means the red wire, the switch is not wired properly. But, I used this link http://www.modifiedlife.com/ca...ltima/ to wire the car. I used this site for the Stanza as well. I'm not sure if the red wire is the problem or not, but I'm finding it difficult to progress even further.

Adam

[AppleBonker]

What do you mean the unit turns on but that is all? I guess, what is the unit not doing? If the unit actually powers on, that means all the power and ground cables are ok (yellow - always on, red - acc on and black - ground). So it sounds like all this wiring is ok.

[awencel]

This is exactly what happens:

Turn the key1. system back light comes on2. 5 seconds later, back light turns off3. I can press the eject button and time button and they work, but only for 5 seconds.

Start the car1. system back light doesn't come on2. I can press the eject button and time button and they work for only 5 seconds.

I'm not sure if the yellow or red is the fault?

[AppleBonker]

This is exactly what happens:

Turn the key1. system back light comes on2. 5 seconds later, back light turns off3. I can press the eject button and time button and they work, but only for 5 seconds.

Start the car1. system back light doesn't come on2. I can press the eject button and time button and they work for only 5 seconds.

I'm not sure if the yellow or red is the fault?

Seems like you're getting intermittent power. Double check the wiring on the yellow, red and black wires. If any of those does not have a secure connection, it could be causing this issue. Was the head unit completely functional in your previous car? If so, when was the last time you used it?

[awencel]

I'll recheck the wires again, but I just removed this unit yesterday. The head unit was working flawlessly in the previous Nissan Stanza up to yesterday when I removed it.

On a side note, usually when I'm almost finished with my setup I leave the ground wire loose. I then loosely touch the ground wire to the ground plate where the chasis sits in. I did that and this thing powered up like it does now when firmly in place. So, I think the black wire is secured down pretty well.

Also, just one small thing, the wire that I used last time to connect the accessory (switch) in the Stanza to the red wire on my deck was thicker than the one in the Altima. Would size matter considering the signal that it's emitting through the wire? They mention to connect the accessory wire to a blue one in the altima, but there's two blue ones. Using trial and error, I found the one that works...but again it's small compared to the Stanza one.

Adam

[AppleBonker]

Yeah, the head unit is probably fine. I would recheck the wiring because it seems like you're getting power, just not all the time (since it sounds like the unit is somewhat cutting in and out).

The size of the ACC on wire shouldn't matter. That wire doesn't provide much current. It more or less just tells the head unit when it can turn on (kind of like a light switch). Almost all of the power draw should come from the always on battery source.

[awencel]

Ok, did some extensive multi reading and testing, as well as encountered another problem. I found that the blue wire from the wire diagram gives off a 12v signal, but the pink wire does not. I found that weird since both should be giving off 12v signals--depending upon which position the switch is in. The pink never gives off any power regardless of which position the switch is in, so I'm hoping that doesn't mean I'm screwed. After starting starting the car again once everything was hooked up, my backlight for the speedometer and dash doesn't light up. The turn signal, brights, and everything else works, just not the backlight. So, I checked all the fuses and they looked a little old, so I replaced them. Don't know what to do from this point on since now the backlight for my dash and the cd player doesn't work. Car still works fine, it's just those things.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Adam

[awencel]

Sorry about this. I'm getting to know about cars bit by bit. I didn't know there was a fuse box under the hood for the backlight as well. I got the backlight to work again. Sorry about my nubbery on this. Both the backlight and audio were burned out, so I replaced them. The audio still does the same thing. I'm going to test the pink 12v constant tonight hopefully and see what the problem is. Still stumped on the original problem.

Adam

[AppleBonker]

Sorry about this. I'm getting to know about cars bit by bit. I didn't know there was a fuse box under the hood for the backlight as well. I got the backlight to work again. Sorry about my nubbery on this. Both the backlight and audio were burned out, so I replaced them. The audio still does the same thing. I'm going to test the pink 12v constant tonight hopefully and see what the problem is. Still stumped on the original problem.

Adam

Yeah, we all have to start somewhere. Glad you got part of the problem corrected. I would still double check that constant power wire. Like I said, it seems like you are occasionally getting power since the head unit is going in and out. I am equally stumped at this point. I wish I was more familiar with the older Altimas. Let me know what you find when you check more of the wiring and I'll see if I can help you figure anything out. Sorry that I haven't been able to come up with a good solution yet.