i just bought a kenwood from a partner of mine and having prolems with trying to determine which factory wire is what. i bought the wiring harness from autozone but the factory wiring isnt labled. i dont want to splice the wrong wires. someone, anyone please help me.

I don't remember all the colors (don't have them in front of me) but most wiring harnesses match the color of stock. You'll have a ground which is black, a 12V lead that turns on with the ignition (I think is red), a constant 12V lead (I think this is yellow), a dimmer lead (not sure what color this will be) and nomrally a low voltage lead used to turn on amps or sometimes power antennas (this is normally blue). Its been a long time so don't hold me to the colors and I'm just doing this off of memory. The best thing to do is use a volt meter and connect it and measure what is coming from each lead to determine what it does.

I don't remember all the colors (don't have them in front of me) but most wiring harnesses match the color of stock. You'll have a ground which is black, a 12V lead that turns on with the ignition (I think is red), a constant 12V lead (I think this is yellow), a dimmer lead (not sure what color this will be) and nomrally a low voltage lead used to turn on amps or sometimes power antennas (this is normally blue). Its been a long time so don't hold me to the colors and I'm just doing this off of memory. The best thing to do is use a volt meter and connect it and measure what is coming from each lead to determine what it does.

thanx for the reply. the aftermarket harness iss labled, its the factory harness colors i'm trying to figure out. the colors are different. as a matter of fact, i didnt even see a solid red or black wire on the factort harness.

Here is a list of the wires/colors/functions:

Black Connector
Pin #1 - Radio On Signal (Dark Blue)
Pin #2 - Radio On Output (Orange/Yellow stripe)
Pin #3 - Ground (Black/Light Green stripe)
Pint#4 - Not used
Pin #5 - Panel Illumination (Black/White stripe)
Pin #6 - Ignition (White/Purple stripe)
Pin #7 - Ground (Black)
Pin #8 - Battery (Light Green/Purple stripe)

You could save yourself ALOT of trouble and get the wire adaptors from Scosche and be done with it.....no splicing at all....simple plug/play.

This is good info for me as a just ordered a new Kenwood head unit today. Got sick of the factory CD changer not working after I go over big bumps. As for the dash opening, I was looking at their website and found this http://www.scosche.com/scosche_caraudio.aspx?ItemID=FD1300B&CategoryID=5 , is that what I need? It doesn't really look right. For the harness I figured this is what I need. http://www.scosche.com/scosche/connectors/FDK1.asp . Am I right on these??

This is good info for me as a just ordered a new Kenwood head unit today. Got sick of the factory CD changer not working after I go over big bumps. As for the dash opening, I was looking at their website and found this http://www.scosche.com/scosche_caraudio.aspx?ItemID=FD1300B&CategoryID=5 , is that what I need? It doesn't really look right. For the harness I figured this is what I need. http://www.scosche.com/scosche/connectors/FDK1.asp . Am I right on these??

For the kit you want this (http://www.scosche.com/scosche_caraudio.aspx?ItemID=SKFD27-3&CategoryID=5), and as for the wiring, I am not sure if you have the JBL system or not, and if you plan on leaving it in or not. If you plan on using the JBL sytem (if you have that installed in your car) you will need this (http://www.scosche.com/scosche_caraudio.aspx?ItemID=FDK10B&CategoryID=78) or this (http://www.scosche.com/scosche_caraudio.aspx?ItemID=FDK8B&CategoryID=78).

I think I used the first one when I kept the factory amp in the car. The problem is if you have the JBL system and you plan on keeping the JBL speakers you HAVE to keep the amp, and the reason for that is all of the crossover is done inside the amp. The problem with that is, with the newer headunits, they put out too much voltage and will eventually burn out the factory amp. That is why some ppl that have a newer aftermarket headunit and the factory system (JBL or other....just the factory amp) the factory amp has cut out on them leaving them with no sound.

Hope that helps.

My bad. I have a 96 Mark with the JBL system. I am replacing the rear speakers as both of them are blown. I have not yet decided if I will keep the amp or not now. My guess is I will keep it for now, and when it does crap out I will just rewire everything.

My bad. I have a 96 Mark with the JBL system. I am replacing the rear speakers as both of them are blown. I have not yet decided if I will keep the amp or not now. My guess is I will keep it for now, and when it does crap out I will just rewire everything.

You have mail.....:D

Go to the stereo shop and get a harness connector for about $10 It will plug right into the original harness and tells you wich wires are for what.