Wiring an Aftermarket stereo

[LazyDog]

I am trying to install an after market stereo and need some quick help.
I am using a Metra wiring hardness and it has a blue lead wire for the power antenna, the hardness from the stereo does not have this lead.

My OEM stereo raises the antenna when power is on and down when off.

Where should I wire this blue lead???

Thanks

 

[tcp71]

There should still be a blue "amplifier" or "switched" wire from the new stereo. It just supplies a low current 12V output that turns on/off with the power of the new head unit. Most often it is used to turn an amplifier on/off with the stereo if you are adding an amplifier. This blue wired output should trigger your antenna without issue.

 

[buck91]

I used a Metra harness adapter for my 2011 F150 which developed a very insideous parasitic draw from the CANBUS adapter box.

 

[LazyDog]

Originally Posted by tcp71
There should still be a blue "amplifier" or "switched" wire from the new stereo. It just supplies a low current 12V output that turns on/off with the power of the new head unit. Most often it is used to turn an amplifier on/off with the stereo if you are adding an amplifier. This blue wired output should trigger your antenna without issue.


The stereo wiring diagram has no amplifier lead, the only other empty leads are, Brown/ tel muting, Light blue yellow line, steering wheel remote, blue/ white line remote Max 200 mA.

I am going to wire the blue wire to the accessory or red wire any problems with doing this??

 

[LazyDog]

Originally Posted by buck91
I used a Metra harness adapter for my 2011 F150 which developed a very insideous parasitic draw from the CANBUS adapter box.



From what I heard Canbus adapters really need to fit the vehicle properly, you want want to contact the company that made the adapter.

 

[Jimmy9190]

If the new radio has a blue wire with a white stripe on it that is the remote on wire. You can connect it to the solid blue antenna wire on the Metra harness and the antenna will go up when the new radio is on and down when it is off.

 

[LazyDog]

Originally Posted by Jimmy9190
If the new radio has a blue wire with a white stripe on it that is the remote on wire. You can connect it to the solid blue antenna wire on the Metra harness and the antenna will go up when the new radio is on and down when it is off.


The wiring diagram reads blue/ white line remote 200mA, assuming 200 milli amps which I think is low to power the antenna.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted by LazyDog
Originally Posted by Jimmy9190
If the new radio has a blue wire with a white stripe on it that is the remote on wire. You can connect it to the solid blue antenna wire on the Metra harness and the antenna will go up when the new radio is on and down when it is off.


The wiring diagram reads blue/ white line remote 200mA, assuming 200 milli amps which I think is low to power the antenna.

200 ma will trigger the antenna with no problems. If you have an amplifier you might want to wire in a relay to turn on both the antenna and amp.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted by LazyDog
Originally Posted by tcp71
There should still be a blue "amplifier" or "switched" wire from the new stereo. It just supplies a low current 12V output that turns on/off with the power of the new head unit. Most often it is used to turn an amplifier on/off with the stereo if you are adding an amplifier. This blue wired output should trigger your antenna without issue.


The stereo wiring diagram has no amplifier lead, the only other empty leads are, Brown/ tel muting, Light blue yellow line, steering wheel remote, blue/ white line remote Max 200 mA.

I am going to wire the blue wire to the accessory or red wire any problems with doing this??

The "line remote" is just another name for the amp turn-on lead. You can hook the antenna wire up to that. Most head units no longer have a dedicated power antenna wire, since most cars don't have power antennas anymore. So using the amp wire is standard operating procedure. This wire will not be powering the antenna motor; the antenna should have a separate wire for that. This is just a signal wire that tells the antenna when to go up and down. It doesn't draw significant current. The amp wire should work just fine.

 

[tcp71]

Yup. blue with white stripe. It just signals the antenna that the stereo is on. The antenna motor will have its own, separate, power. Don't add blue and red wires. This may cause damage when the ignition is on and the stereo is manually turned off or the antenna will be up all the time when the car is running (this might be ok for you).

 

[LazyDog]

Thanks to all for the great replies, I just need to the weather to be a little warmer. My garage is 33 degrees right know tooooo freaking cold.