MX5 Radio wiring

Bumhucker

Bumhucker

Bumhucker

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I recently joined the MX5 club ;) but can't get my Kenwood radio to work :( If there's anyone with a bit of experience in this area that could shed some light it would be much appreciated.

When it's all wired up, the radio doesn't power. The old Panasonic radio that came with the car DID work. This makes me think the problem is the connections.

Here is the car's wiring:

IMAG0021.jpg


Here's a close up of the car plug from the previous pic:

IMAG0022.jpg


This is the wiring that connects the car to the radio (smaller whitish thing on one end connects to plug in 2nd pic):

IMAG0023.jpg


Close up of smaller whitish thing from previous pic:

IMAG0028.jpg


The plug in the previous pic only has 4 prongs. From a novice's point of view there seems to be a lot of wiring considering the wires reduce down to 4 at this point.

Does any of this look immediately wrong to a more experienced eye?
 
To get the unit to turn it needs to be earthed by pluging in the Aerial, i trust you had this connected when you tryed to power up the unit? Loads of people make this mistake and think that the earthing wiring on the ISO block is enough.

Other than that, the ISO block looks ok, just make sure you plug the power and speaker blocks into the right side of the ISO block, if the previous unit powered on the wiring must be ok.
 
Its an ISO lead, the thing with the white connectors.

You got a haynes manual?

Have a look on the internet for 'car ISO wiring' diagram etc.

Will tell you what the colours are, if they haven't been chopped/replaced.
 
Firestar_3x said:
To get the unit to turn it needs to be earthed by pluging in the Aerial, i trust you had this connected when you tryed to power up the unit? Loads of people make this mistake and think that the earthing wiring on the ISO block is enough.

Other than that, the ISO block looks ok, just make sure you plug the power and speaker blocks into the right side of the ISO block, if the previous unit powered on the wiring must be ok.
Click to expand...

Just checked again making sure the aerial is in with no success.

If the ISO block is the thing in my hand in the 3rd pic, it's impossible to get them mixed up as the two plugs are stuck together, meaning only one way of connecting.

Biohazard said:
Its an ISO lead, the thing with the white connectors.

You got a haynes manual?

Have a look on the internet for 'car ISO wiring' diagram etc.

Will tell you what the colours are, if they haven't been chopped/replaced.
Click to expand...

I'll look into that.

Firestar_3x said:
In addition you may need to earth that ring connector.
Click to expand...

How do I do that? :)
 
I'm trying to cast my mind back to when i had my 5 and if i had any issue and other than those mentioned i can't think of any.

You need to double check that black wire is a negative, once you've figured this out then simply touch it against the supports behind the radio that hold the dash in place.

You checked the fuse in the HU is not blown?

Its quite hard to say anymore because someone has had a good go at those wires in the past.
 
Firestar_3x said:
I'm trying to cast my mind back to when i had my 5 and if i had any issue and other than those mentioned i can't think of any.

You need to double check that black wire is a negative, once you've figured this out then simply touch it against the supports behind the radio that hold the dash in place.

You checked the fuse in the HU is not blown?

Its quite hard to say anymore because someone has had a good go at those wires in the past.
Click to expand...

The black wire says "CHASSIS GROUND (12V-)" and it doesn't make the radio work when I hold it against the metal post behind the radio.

I can't see anything wrong by looking at the fuse. I would need to buy and try out another one to be sure I guess.
 
I think I've realised the problem. The plug in the car isn't a good fit for the socket on the ISO adaptor. In fact, I don't think the pins are actually going into the correct holes. I think this is because a previous owner removed the original plug and wired in a plug that fits straight into the Panasonic radio. This would eliminate the need for the actual adaptor but is that even possible? If so, it could be the problem.

The option I would then have is to either find adaptors so I could link my radio in or cut out the plug and put in an original type plug or my Kenwood plug. If so, what do you think is the easiest option?
 
When mine would fire up in lude i was going mad as i couldn't figure it out. Turned out i had popped the ACC fuse which i didn't know exsisted and stopped any power going to the headunit...
 
Right. Careful examination of wiring diagrams has made me pretty confident that I can wire the car straight to the ISO block. Just need to pop to ******s to get the necessary supplies.

What's the Overclockers verdict on connecting wires? Is crimping enough or shall I go down the solder route?
 
solder and shrink is how I did mine.

I got a standard ISO connector and wired it up to what was left after the previous bodge but with new speaker cable and earth.

Any time I change cd player now its just a case of unplugging plugging the new one in.
 
As far as I can see there, the right hand part of the adapter wire you're holding up in the 2nd pic converts your car's connector to a standard DIN plug...?
 
BigglesPiP said:
As far as I can see there, the right hand part of the adapter wire you're holding up in the 2nd pic converts your car's connector to a standard DIN plug...?
Click to expand...

If you mean the 3rd pic, the right hand part converts ISO to Kenwood plug. The left hand part converts Mazda MX-5 to ISO.
 
Dont go chopping the OE plug off theres no need, you have the correct iso adaptor plug.
Have you checked you are getting power from the red (switched) and yellow (permanent) supply leads ? It could be theres a fuse gone and only ones working ? or as suggested earlier make sure there is an earth connector, jap cars earth via the aerial.

The small white plug with 4 wires in it are the rear speaker connectors btw
 
Just soldered in the ISO adaptor and it's alive!!!! I've got a fully working radio :D

This gives me confidence to start the next project, remote central locking. Anyone done this on an MX5? The previous owner pulled out the Clifford alarm and in doing so removed part of the central locking wiring. I'm guessing it's going to be another 'open it up and sort it out' job :(
 
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