1991 Camry Radio Replacement Nightmare

[Krawlspace]

Hi,
My brother and I have been trying to swap radios in his 1991 Camry for two days now and only achieving increasing levels of frustration. We have searched the internets and the googles and every wiring diagram we find does not match the wires coming from the dash. We have been to Install Dr., and found several other diagrams including some mentioned on these forums. They all seem to agree with one another, but again do not match what we have. The OEM plugs were already missing so we can't use an adapter. We do have the diagram from the new stereo, so all we need is the correct identification of the existing wires. Below is a shot of what we have. There is a power antenna.
From left to right the wires are:



Brown - blue rings
Grey - silver ring
Blue - yellow stripe
White - brown ring
Red - blue ring
Black - brown ring
Yellow - black ring
Black - red stripe
Pale green - silver ring
White - green stripe
Pink - blue stripe
Pink - silver ring
Purple - silver ring
Blue - silver ring
Green - silver ring

We used a multimeter and seemed to identify the first three wires as they are described in the diagrams we did find:

Brown - blue ring is Ground
Grey is Ignition
Blue - yellow stripe is constant

When we hooked up only these three wires to his new stereo according to the stereo's diagram we kept blowing fuses. The multimeter showed 12v on the constant, although it jumped to 30-35 when the ignition was in the accessory position. The meter also showed 0v on the grey when acc was off, but jumped off the charts when acc was on. We had the probe in the DC jack and set to 20v DC.
At this point we are at a loss and really are hoping some good soul here can help us out. We did find a thread that shows the same wiring we have, although we didn't see where the poster listed how he identified the wires. Here is that post: 91 Camry stereo

Thanks to all who respond. Our wives have promised cake to anyone who helps us

[Grego 92]

Maybe this will help

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/...tail/2036.html

I've had better luck looking in the truck forums from this site and yotatech (have a 92' 22RE 4x4) and then try and apply those troubleshooting tips to my 90' camry. Seems like the people who are really into fixing things tend to be the off-road guys and are much more helpful.

I got the above link from the truck forum off yotatech

Good luck!

[Krawlspace]

Thanks for the link Grego. We saw that same list at several sites. It seems to confirm the first three wires, but we have a total of 15 and that list only has 13. Additionally, we blow fuses when hooked up as the list says, and the grey wire jumps over 20v on the meter.

[Blakeman]

We got help from the support at crutchfield for the kia that I have that had the same kind of problem, maybe call them up and see.

[atobe]

you don't use 2 wires... which are dimming and illumination(turns on the HU's lights when headlights are on). measure your voltage at the battery... is your alternator good ? i don't see how it can go over 14V re-probe all the wires again

[scarney1988]

You have fifteen wires total in your picture.



Green and blue in the top right should go to your P/F speaker

Purple and Pink go to D/F should go to D/F speaker

Red and White go to P/R speaker

Yellow and Black go to D/F speaker

Brown is ground

The light blue with yellow tracer is powered through your dome fuse 20A and goes to the power antenna relay. Looks to be the controlled battery voltage that will operate the electric motor.

Grey is power going through the 7.5A radio fuse. Power for radio.

Purple with Light blue tracer goes to power antenna. Seems to signal antenna to rise when tape deck is on

red with black tracer goes to power antenna. Seems to signal antenna when radio receiver is on.

That's what I'm reading off of the factory wiring diagram. If you leave your email, I can email you the Toyota Factory Diagrams for your radio and power antenna.

4 speakers x 2 wires each = 8 wires
Power for radio = 1 wire
Ground = 1 wire
Rest are most likely power antenna signal control.

Depending on how good you are with your DVOM you should be able to get to each speaker and measure resistance through the connector. Then connect the two leads at your dash and you should get continuity while they are together and OL when they are apart.

As you discover each one I would highly recommend labeling it and then soldering a connector for each individual wire. Be little more time consuming but you'll be thanking yourself later.

Good luck.

I hate radios tooo

Sean

[Krawlspace]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions!
I spoke to my brother today and he mentioned a blown dome fuse as well, so that figures in correctly I think.
We hope to take a crack at it tomorrow after printing this thread and will be sure to post results.

[Krawlspace]

Sean...
After re-reading your reply I noticed your offer to email me the factory diagram. Please send it to krawlspace(at)yahoo.com. We really appreciate it! thanks!!!!!

[scarney1988]

Check your email. I'm sure you'll be fine just take your time. Ignore the hoops around the wires. Good luck.

[scarney1988]

Any progress?

[james42519]

i hate it when people do this. they can't spend the money on a adapter and have to cut the connector off. i had to do this in the past 2 cars i got. the 96 mitsubishi mirage. had to go to library and look it up on some thing they had on the comptuer (some reference for the car i guess) that had the info since install dr didn't match the color code. took some time but i got a generic connectors wired to the wires and hooked to radio. the other car Pontiac sunfire was a little easier since i got the plugs from salvage yard and matched the colored and plunged it into a adapter to use. hope you go this fixed

[seng]

alrighty, this is what you do. i don't like using multimeter for car stereos, i prefer a circuit tester.

you've found the ignition and constant power source. forget about the ground. plug in your antenna for the source of ground. this will get you started.

you're probably blowing fuses cause of a bad ground or the factory ground wire is incorrect. don't sweat it, there's other ways to get a ground source....like the antenna that i mentioned above or part of the chasis.

speaker wires, you can use the internet diagrams or go straight to the speakers itself to find the color. or wire the speakers straight to the stereo.

if you still have any problems, let us know and i'll try my best to get you through this.

Seng