What is that wire behind my stereo headunit?

[andyj]

I thought I should get a new car stereo and had a look how it's connected today. Unfortunately the PO left quite a mess:

It looks like they simply cut the original plug and soldered on one fitting the stereo.
Can anyone confirm or deny that? Do you have pictures that show how it should be? That would be of great help.

There is also some wire bracket in there that took a lot of room. I removed it as it was apparently holding nothing at all:

Is that a genuine jeep part or something custom made?

 

[L J]

There is also some wire bracket in there that took a lot of room. I removed it as it was apparently holding nothing at all:

View attachment 661433

Is that a genuine jeep part or something custom made?

it bolts to the back of a factory radio

https://www.moparpartsgiant.com/par...year=2003&submodel=&extra1=&extra2=&filter=()

 

[macleanflood]

Looks like the typical mess. Mine had rat tailed wires wrapped in electrical tape. I've seen wire nuts.

A good uninsulated butt splice and crimper and heat shrink insulation should clean that all up nicely.

-Mac

 

[GoldenGorilla]

You're asking if a TJ with previous owners has factory wiring?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

No

I think you should be able to find the wire colors on the pinout diagrams for you year, but I think you'll have to hard wire to the new stereo plug or try to find the original plug, repin and get the adapter for your stereo of choice.

 

[GoldenGorilla]

Looks like the typical mess. Mine had rat tailed wires wrapped in electrical tape. I've seen wire nuts.

A good uninsulated butt splice and crimper and heat shrink insulation should clean that all up nicely.

-Mac

I've been liking butt splices with waterproof heat shrink built in like these too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0981YS94M

Some thin uninsulated heat shrink over the bundle gives a nice finish

 

[macleanflood]

I've been liking butt splices with waterproof heat shrink built in like these too.

I use those a lot too...but they're really bulky. It's nice to have a really small bundle of wires behind a stereo.

Also consider a less traditional stereo. You can get boat and SxS modules that can tuck into places and you end up with a volume/power multifunction knob.

Mount that on a plastic or aluminum panel in lieu of the full stereo and you have room for switches!

-Mac

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Looks like the typical mess. Mine had rat tailed wires wrapped in electrical tape. I've seen wire nuts.

A good uninsulated butt splice and crimper and heat shrink insulation should clean that all up nicely.

-Mac

You're asking if a TJ with previous owners has factory wiring?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

No

I think you should be able to find the wire colors on the pinout diagrams for you year, but I think you'll have to hard wire to the new stereo plug or try to find the original plug, repin and get the adapter for your stereo of choice.

Note to self: Never, ever sell my rig to any member of this forum.

 

[DirtDawg]

I replaced the old JVC unit with CD player in mine a few months ago with a much newer design Kenwood BT model. Same wiring rats-nest due to previous owner not using a commercially available adapter harness. A small hassle but not a big deal using combo of factory wiring diagram (forum resource section ) and that furnished with the Kenwood. From doing that, it seemed wire color code functionality on aftermarket radios has been "mostly" standardized. I simply made a chart showing factory wire color codes and corresponding aftermarket wire colors and replicated that on the replacement Kenwood while referring to the mentioned diagrams.

Single DIN radios are compact (especially non-CD units), thus no need to remove that factory support brace if still in place. Off-pavement, I stream music playlists from my Samsung android navigation tablet to that Kenwood, since the tablet is on displaying ArcGIS mapping of this area.

 

[andyj]

or try to find the original plug, repin and get the adapter for your stereo of choice.

Actually that is my plan. I just need to figure out what the original plug is.