i recently bought a citroen saxo (1996) which came with 2 big fat speakers, but no stereo. I didn't think to check whether my stereo would work with the car as i thought that cars of this age came with the wiring in 2 handy plug in adaptors.
what i didn't realise was that the old owner had cut all of the existing wires off the plug in bits and re-wired them into a single adaptor which fits nowhere in the back of my stereo which is just an average in-car cd player.
it all looks a complete mess with duct tape stuck everywhere. Is it possible to scavenge wiring from a saxo from a breakers yard and get the original wiring back? or does anyone have any idea what the previous owner was trying to do?
thanks
Replies (5)
newB on 02/14/2008 11:27:28
sounds like rather than buying a wiring harness, he cut the adapter for the stock unit off and tried to splice straight from car wires to deck wires, then removed the deck and your left with a handful of mess! you can get your deck in, but your going to need a volt meter to see which wire is constent/switched power and a 9v to test which wires go to which speaker. then match those wires with the ones that come with your head unit.
"questions? comments? COFFEE"
-Drew
SQLThump on 02/14/2008 17:33:35
Another method I use when horrible things like this occor, is running fused off cables to the fuse block. With a simple test light, you can see which fuses you can use for both constant and switched, just check with the test light which ones are lightin up on the respective circuits.
From there, you kind of still have to use the 9V battery to identify the speakers.
Or you can do it the crazy way, like me, and wire an amp cable straight to your battery, and connect it to the constant and switched power. You have to turn it on and off manually, but you wont have any problems with having voltage drops in that line!
cplkittle on 02/14/2008 21:04:15
Being in the US, I don't have access to the wire colors for that vehicle. Maybe you could contact the dealership for a wire color diagram. Either way, it sounds like the wiring needs to be redone. If you get the wire colors, I would clean up the mess in the dash and use the proper connectors (butt splices or crimp caps) to attach the new wires.
If you just want a fresh start, it is not that expensive to simply run new wires to each speaker. It will take a little time, but there is no guesswork.
fran on 02/15/2008 14:42:22
thanks.
i think that from the sound of that i'd be best off taking it to a garage as i wouldn't have the first idea how to do a good job!
swez on 02/15/2008 16:12:00
That might be the best idea. In experienced hands, this is a rather simple yet a precise operation. The steps have been given already, but having the proper tools and knowledge take time to gather. If that is not possible now or not your cup of tea, call in a "Wiring Doctor" to connect all the dots.
This is not brain surgery, but it does take the right tools and know-how to get things right the first time. Guessing wrong often leads to blown fuses at best. At worst, frying a few wiring harnesses is not a good idea either. Fuses are cheap. Making new wiring harnesses from the old ashes is a very expensive proposition.
Ideally, the "Wiring Doctor" can come up with the proper factory harnesses, (from the "Boneyard/Breakers Yard" as you mentioned) do the splices and then use the proper conversion harnesses to fit your cd/player like a Pro. If not, he can just tap the exsisting wires to match the aftermarket harness that fits the cd/radio player you have now. (We call them Head Units or HU for short)
FYI: It seems this vehicle was originally designed off the same platform as the Peugeot 106 model. It was originallay dubbed the new "Project S8" in prototype. (A Supermini-sedan designed by the French) There were several pre and post production models that used a similar platform and if one wanted basic gas-sipper performance or a high performance version, (3-5 door hatchback) This vehicle can be tweaked for high performance mods as desired. Nice!
Swez
PS Where are you from anyway and how did you find CK?
what i didn't realise was that the old owner had cut all of the existing wires off the plug in bits and re-wired them into a single adaptor which fits nowhere in the back of my stereo which is just an average in-car cd player.
it all looks a complete mess with duct tape stuck everywhere. Is it possible to scavenge wiring from a saxo from a breakers yard and get the original wiring back? or does anyone have any idea what the previous owner was trying to do?
thanks
Replies (5)
newB on 02/14/2008 11:27:28
sounds like rather than buying a wiring harness, he cut the adapter for the stock unit off and tried to splice straight from car wires to deck wires, then removed the deck and your left with a handful of mess! you can get your deck in, but your going to need a volt meter to see which wire is constent/switched power and a 9v to test which wires go to which speaker. then match those wires with the ones that come with your head unit.
"questions? comments? COFFEE"
-Drew
SQLThump on 02/14/2008 17:33:35
Another method I use when horrible things like this occor, is running fused off cables to the fuse block. With a simple test light, you can see which fuses you can use for both constant and switched, just check with the test light which ones are lightin up on the respective circuits.
From there, you kind of still have to use the 9V battery to identify the speakers.
Or you can do it the crazy way, like me, and wire an amp cable straight to your battery, and connect it to the constant and switched power. You have to turn it on and off manually, but you wont have any problems with having voltage drops in that line!
cplkittle on 02/14/2008 21:04:15
Being in the US, I don't have access to the wire colors for that vehicle. Maybe you could contact the dealership for a wire color diagram. Either way, it sounds like the wiring needs to be redone. If you get the wire colors, I would clean up the mess in the dash and use the proper connectors (butt splices or crimp caps) to attach the new wires.
If you just want a fresh start, it is not that expensive to simply run new wires to each speaker. It will take a little time, but there is no guesswork.
fran on 02/15/2008 14:42:22
thanks.
i think that from the sound of that i'd be best off taking it to a garage as i wouldn't have the first idea how to do a good job!
swez on 02/15/2008 16:12:00
That might be the best idea. In experienced hands, this is a rather simple yet a precise operation. The steps have been given already, but having the proper tools and knowledge take time to gather. If that is not possible now or not your cup of tea, call in a "Wiring Doctor" to connect all the dots.
This is not brain surgery, but it does take the right tools and know-how to get things right the first time. Guessing wrong often leads to blown fuses at best. At worst, frying a few wiring harnesses is not a good idea either. Fuses are cheap. Making new wiring harnesses from the old ashes is a very expensive proposition.
Ideally, the "Wiring Doctor" can come up with the proper factory harnesses, (from the "Boneyard/Breakers Yard" as you mentioned) do the splices and then use the proper conversion harnesses to fit your cd/player like a Pro. If not, he can just tap the exsisting wires to match the aftermarket harness that fits the cd/radio player you have now. (We call them Head Units or HU for short)
FYI: It seems this vehicle was originally designed off the same platform as the Peugeot 106 model. It was originallay dubbed the new "Project S8" in prototype. (A Supermini-sedan designed by the French) There were several pre and post production models that used a similar platform and if one wanted basic gas-sipper performance or a high performance version, (3-5 door hatchback) This vehicle can be tweaked for high performance mods as desired. Nice!
Swez
PS Where are you from anyway and how did you find CK?
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