Head Unit swap question.

[xSaleen]

Purchased an '01 ACR with kenwood Head Unit, it dies on the way home. Has power, but doesn't work properly.

I've done some head unit swaps on other vehicles, using the Crutchfield plug-in-play harneses. I've searched here and found that they don't make one, but I thought I would be able to hard wire everything, using the shop manual's diagrams.

Only thing, I see that this link:
2000 Dodge Viper Stereo Wiring Information
Shows 15 wires from the factory stereo. After removing the Kenwood, I'm not seeing nearly that many wires, plus some are cut very close from the harness:

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Also, it l see that on both sides stuffed into the dash, is a crossover, with some very un-factory like wiring:

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I'm pretty sure this is some sort of botched after market install, or attempt to pull out some goodies, and make this work before selling it.

So my question is, on a factory install, would there be all 15 wires, including the ones to connected to the speakers, and if I want this to just work with my new head unit's amp, should I just run new wiring from the speakers directly to the head unit?

 

[Warfang]

I'd be more concerned about the car as a whole than just the stereo. Who sold it to you?

 

[GTSnake]

The speaker wires would be by the amp in the trunk. The wires up front wound only be the power and accessories wires. The DIN wire would lead to the factory amp in the back. Did this car have an aftermarket amp somewhere?

 

[dave6666]

The speaker wires would be by the amp in the trunk. The wires up front wound only be the power and accessories wires. The DIN wire would lead to the factory amp in the back. Did this car have an aftermarket amp somewhere?

Kind of like he said, but if you are not using the outboard amp, then the speaker wires need to go directly to the head unit. Seeing as Vipers come from the factory with an outboard amp, you'll have to run those wires as a new install.

When Car Toys put my Alpine in my GTS they did a pretty good job on the harness. However, coming from an avionics background, I had to improve upon it. I spent about 3 hours making the dash wiring really sweet. Looks like your needs the same.

BTW, I have not been able to find the pin out on the factory amp din cable. Car Toys worked their way through it though. Would love to know what they did to figure it out.

 

[v10kingsnake]

the crossover is for the component set most likely in your doors. Diamond audio is not cheap stuff so watch what you "toss" You probably just have a bad headunit. Possibly a fuse out? I assume you have an amp in the car. And not the one which is inside the head unit. An external one.