Aftermarket Radio Install Issues (was Did All Wd21 Pathys Come With An Amplifier?)

[DryBear]

I am the second owner of my Pathfinder, and decided to switch out my old stock radio:

 

I don't have any rear speakers, and apparently, no amp either. The Metra harness I bought only fits onto the bigger one for the front speakers, and power, etc. but the other half that has the rear speakers and amp power wire doesn't connect to anything.

 

The unused part of the Metra harness:

 

The harnesses on the Pathy:

 

The blue connector above originally connected to the blue plug on the stock radio (as can be seen on the top left side), and I'm guessing was just to power illumination of the radio face.

 

There is nothing underneath the radio area - where would the stock amp reside if I had one?

 

Also, the Metra harness has an orange wire, as well as an orange and white wire for illumination - which would I use?

Edited April 20, 2007 by DryBear

[DryBear]

Well the radio is in, but am experiencing some other problems - on AM radio there is a lot of crackling sounds which gets more frequent with higher volume. On FM radio, the sound is fine, but after around 3-5 minutes the sound will just fade to nothing. And when playing a CD, with lots of bass, the sound will cut off completely. Turning the radio off and on again only temporarily fixes the issues.

 

I know its not the head unit as I get the same results from two different units. I also have replaced the door speakers with some low end Pioneer speakers.

 

What could the problem be? Grounding issue? Perhaps the stock speaker wires?

[88pathoffroad]

Mine had no amps. Came with a two-knob AM/FM/cassette, but different than yours.

 

You can check under the dash and behind the glove box for the other end of the antenna connector. Maybe it's pulled loose or has abraded through somewhere. Try wiggling the antenna with the stereo on and see if it crackles. No idea on the power/sound issues. Call Metra and ask them what's wrong with their product! Otherwise, rewire the whole thing yourself and start snipping wires.

[DryBear]

Well my original mast antenna is broken off, and I am trying a Metra amplified "hidden" antenna, and wonder if that is part of the problem

(similar to this one:)

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-ALnaeOQVVja/c...;search=antenna

 

Someone at another forum mentioned that maybe the radio is pulling more power than the stock wiring can handle, and to replace/upgrade that wiring.

 

I was hoping to avoid doing any rewiring but it looks like I'm stuck with it

[glenn]

Since it's affecting radio and CD playback, it's not the antenna; if it's coming on after a few minutes of use it sounds more like that as something [ capacitor, tranistor for example] inside the radio is heating up it's failing; I would replace the entire unit because it seems defective, I doubt it's a power draw problem; besides, returning and replacing the unit first is a lot easier then rewiring your pathy; Good luck - glenn

[Iamstaypuff]

"On FM radio, the sound is fine, but after around 3-5 minutes the sound will just fade to nothing. And when playing a CD, with lots of bass, the sound will cut off completely. Turning the radio off and on again only temporarily fixes the issues."

 

 

this is due to a short. one of your wires is loose. i replaced my speakers with alpine ones, and had same problem. it is cutting out when a bumb big enough makes it short