Radio comes on but no sound

[brc19761]

I have a 1994 Nissan Pathfinder LE. My pathy came with a factory radio and cd player. The unit looked like it was made together but when you took it out the radio was separate and the cd player were separate pieces. It just looked like it was made together in the dash. Well the radio worked but where the radio stations would be would not light up and the cd player did not work at all. This Pathfinder was in exceptional shape so I wanted to keep an original look. I bought a 1998 Nissan Altima head unit that fit perfectly into my Pathfinder. All of this was about four years ago. Well a few months ago when you started the truck only the back speakers would work and if you drove long enough the front speakers would come on.

I thought they maybe a loose connection since I had to cut and splice wires. Well I checked the radio and I couldn't find anything. So, I unhooked the radio and took it out (BIG MISTAKE). I hooked the radio back up and the radio would come on but there was no sound. I hooked it up over and over for over a month now and still can't get any sound. So, I hook up my stock radio and same thing radio and power antenna works but no sound. I took the amps out that are located in the rear cargo area. But still no sound.

The radios worked before so I know they are good b/c they come on, but for some reason I am not hooking up the speaker wires correctly or I am not hooking it up to where the amps are coming on. I have thought maybe a ground wire needed to be connected, but I have no idea what wire that may be. Also I have an 8 speaker system 4 speakers and 4 twitters.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Here is my wiring colors and what they go to.


FUNCTION PIN WIRE COLOR
Accessory 12 Volt GN/WT
Constant 12 Volt RD/GN
Chassis Ground BODY
Power Antenna RD
Remote PK
Illumination 7 PK/BK
Dimmer RD/BU

Left Front + To Amp OG/BU
Left Front - To Amp WT/BU
Right Front + To Amp WT
Right Front - To Amp OG
Left Rear + To Amp BU/GN
Left Rear - To Amp BU/YW
Right Rear + To Amp RD
Right Rear - To Amp GN

[PapaSmurf2k3]

If you remove the radio, you should be able to use a 9V battery or something to power the speakers (using the + and - wires and terminals) and verify that they are receiving power from the wiring as it goes to the back of the radio. If not, you have a wiring issue somewhere (or your wires are mis-labeled). If so, you have an issue at your radio.

[brc19761]

Thanks for the reply. I would never thought to do anything like that. I also think I may have a ground wire problem. I do not know if there is a ground wire already grounded somewhere from the factory for the radio. Or do I need to ground a wire myself?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

All the aftermarket radios I've ever done require a ground somewhere.

[Jake2.4]

A speaker wire shorted to ground will kill all sound. disconnect all speakers wiring behind the radio. Test by connecting 1 speaker at a time.

[brc19761]

Thanks for the info. I will give everything a try.

[850pathfinder]

Just to add when you hook a 9v to speaker wire, depending on the polarity, the speaker will either move fully in or fully out. No inbetween.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

^Yup. If you can see the speaker, it'll tell you if you have your polarities set correctly as well.

[Hawairish]

So do you have the factory amps in place or not? And neither of the radios output sound with or without those amps?

If the amps are out, what are the ohm ratings of the speakers (might be stamped on the back of the magnet if, or you can ohm it directly...it'll read a little less than actual)?

If the amps are in, have you checked the voltage before and after the amps? Each amp gets a different ACC signal. Have you check the fuses? The battery test shouldn't work through the amp; you'd have to check it at the speaker, but it wouldn't really tell you much.

According to the wiring diagram, there's a pink wire that runs from the HU to both amps...since this is the only wire that does so, I'm inclined to think this is a turn-on lead. Is there a voltage on it when in ACC?

Since you indicated a few months ago that the front speakers wouldn't come on until later while driving, sounds like your front amp was on its way out. Perhaps they've both bit the bullet.