Need some help installing Kenwood stereo on '97 Camry

[eikeland]

I got a new Kenwood CD player that I would like to replace the old pioneer CD with. It originally came with premium sound (6 speakers), but the factory radio has been replaced once with a pioneer a few years ago. When I replaced everything today, I noticed I barely had sound in the front speakers (had to really crank it to hear anything), but the rear speakers were fine. I checked the connectors and they look fine to me and I even twisted them together to make sure I had a good connection. This is what my wiring looks like:
On the vehicle I had one 5 pin connector (this is the harness for the rear, which works fine):
Purple (+ right rear)
Purple Black (- right rear)
Light Green (+ left rear)
Dark Green Black (- left rear)
Orange Black (Grounding Dimmer and is not connected)

There is also a 10 pin connector:
Yellow (Battery)
Red (Ignition)
Black (Ground)
Two blue wires that are connected to each other (Power antenna and is not connected)
Orange White (I think it says Dimmer on the wire, and this one is not connected)
Grey (+ right front)
Grey Black (-right front)
White (+ left front)
White Black (- left front)

You would think there the problem would be among the last 4 wires, but they are connected properly as far as I can tell. I don't think what the original setup was and if it had an amp that was disabled or not and I am not sure if this has anything to do with it.

Any idea what the problem can be?

[LynchburgCSI]

Double check your wiring with the stuff at the12volt.com.

[eikeland]

Thanks, I did check it.
I am not sure where these colors are since I don't have any pink wires at the two piece harness from the Camry is connected to the Kenwood harness.
I have a purple and a purple-black, but they are labeled Right Rear.
I have two green wires, but they are labeled +/- for the Left Rear.
The only blue wire is labeled power antenna.

[LynchburgCSI]

Alright. Double check the list below. It SHOULD be the colors of the OEM harness. Are you using an adapter harness? IE- a harness that plugs into the OEM wiring? If you are, all you need to do is match the colors coming from the harness adapter to the wires coming from the radio itself. If you're NOT using an adaptor harness, you should get one. If you already chopped off the OEM connector on the OEM harness, then you need to use the table below to match the correct wires.

Constant 12V+ Blue/Yellow
Switched 12V+ Gray
Ground Brown
Illumination Dark Green
Dimmer White/Green
Antenna Trigger n/a
Antenna Rear Window
Front Speakers 6 1/2" Doors
Left Front (+) Pink
Left Front (-) Purple
Right Front (+) Green
Right Front (-) Blue
Rear Speakers 6" x 9" Rear Deck
Left Rear (+) Black
Left Rear (-) Yellow
Right Rear (+) Red
Right Rear (-) White

If all of this fails, you may want to search around the forum for info in disabling the factory amp. Heck, may even want to do that first.

[eikeland]

The colors you list are not the ones I have. The colors I listed in the original post is that of a harness that was already there and had the writings on it. The two white plugs (one harness) plug into the harness of the vehicle and was already there. I am not sure if this is a Toyota part or not. The smaller black harness is the Kenwood harness that came with the CD player and plugs into the CD player. I have to connect the two harnesses by joining the wires, unless there is a harness that connects my Kenwood directly to the Toyota harness instead of using two harnesses? That would make my life easier, but honestly I guess it should be that difficult to connect the two...
I guess it's possible that the two piece white harness is not a toyota part and not labeled correctly...

I'll look into how to disable the amp to.

I was going to attach an image, but it looks like the only way of doing this is by URL and I don't have another server I upload images to. Is it not possible to attach images directly in the post?

[eikeland]

This is the Toyota harness that plugs into the vehicle on one end and I am trying to splice my Kenwood harness to at the other end.
http://www.salectronics.com/detail.a...duct_id=TWH950
As you can see the colors are not the same as the ones you listed.
Thanks for your help, and I will try to look more into this tomorrow.

[uibalnme]

Here's a chart showing the factory wire colors, and the aftermarket wire color standards. You really only need the adapter harness like the one you posted. I got one from Crutchfield, and have upgraded my stereo 3 times using the same harness. All you need to do is match the wire colors of the stereo's harness to the adapter harness. Then you plug the 2 bule factory wire harnesses into the adapter harness, and you're done.

[Mister_Perkins]

Harness Adapter FTW

[eikeland]

I assume the white harness is the factory harness and the colors you list in the Standard column, right? This is what I have matched with the colors in the manual for the Kenwood harness (see my first post).
I haven't had to too much time to look at if anything has to be done to disable the factory amp, but I see there is a Blue "Amplifier Turn On" cable in your chart. Is this for an external AMP or do I need to do anything with this wire?

This did come with premium sound and this is why I am thinking it has an external amp.



I think I found what I need: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1207017...s.html?tp=2977
I should probably check the box it was shipped in again since it was supposed to come with one from Crutchfield (at least for most stereos), but I don't remember seeing it.

Your vehicle is equipped with an upgraded factory sound system. We'll include a wiring harness (free with most stereos) that will bypass your factory amplifier so you can take advantage of your aftermarket stereo's extra power. Toyota/Geo Wire Harness $9.99

[uibalnme]

Originally Posted by eikeland

I assume the white harness is the factory harness and the colors you list in the Standard column, right?...

No, the blue harnesses are factory, the white is the adapter harness connected to the stereo. Like I said, you don't need to worry about what wire colors do what in the factory harness. All you need is the adapter harness.

Here's the basic idea:

New stereo--->black stereo harness--->white adapter harness--->blue factory harness

[eikeland]

That's what I started realizing when I wrote my last post, but thanks for confirming it. I called Crutchfield and they said they would send the adapter for free. Great service!

Thanks everybody for your help, and hopefully I can close this thread when I get the adapter, but I probably shouldn't say that yet...