Radio Issues (1988 MR2)

[Red October]

If you've read my silly "Hello" thread you know I just became the proud owner of a 1988 MR2. It needs a few things, among them a blower fan, an alternator, tires, headlight kit, paint, and a radio. Naturally I set about the highest priority item right away... The radio, of course!

Anyway when I got it it had in it a JVC head unit, a 200-watt amplifier called a "California"; I think (200 Watts in a car that you wear more than sit it?!?!? Da-a-a-mn!). This was originally associated with two HUGE speakers behind the front seats, which prevented them from actually going back far enough for me to drive the car. Fortunately (Semi... I had hoped they were still there to go into my big Buick) they were gone. I've pulled most of the old equipment and I'm trying to go back to a Toyota stereo. A quick trip to the Junk Yard reveals that 90% of Toyotas leave the factory with abysmal stereos... Of perhaps 100 Toyotas I could access the radios, in, say, 60 of them.. of those 60 maybe 35 had radios.. of those 35 exactly 3 had radios worth the time to pull. I now own two of them; a beautiful unit with an integrated amp and I think a 10-band EQ out of an 84 Cressida, and a somewht less nice unit (No EQ) out of I think an 88 Celica Supra (I think it was a GT or something... did that model exist?) Most of the others were that very common black single-height radio with a tape deck and no fancy controls I'm sure many of you have pulled out and put in a trash can.

The unit out of the Celica mates up with the MR2 connector no problem. I put a 12V source on the car, installed the radio (after putting back together the harness which the guy who put in the JVC cut up, seemingly for fun, as nothing was spliced in except for one wire) and fired it up. It works Ok just sitting there on the console; can't tune radio stations but I think that's an antenna problem; cassette deck only works well one direction (but it has life in both so I think I can fix it). Good news is both speakers and the factory subwoofer work great. Bad news comes as I go to put it in. As soon as the brackets touch the metal, the radio stops working. An hour of cursing and hunting later, I've found the radio fuse (not the one in the engine compartment, the one under the dash... damn car has 3 fuse blocks... at least!). I install the radio completely, replace the fuse, apply 12V again, and the fuse blows. I move up 5 Amps. Fuse blows. Move up 10 amps. Fuse blows. Now I'm lost. There is a random wire behind the driver's seat that is attached to chassis ground. I don't know what it is but it's obviously from the old stereo installation. Is this the problem, or is it either a.) the car, or b.) The radio?
In case you're wondering the one from the Cressida has a different connector; but I can use the adaptor from the JVC to make an adaptor for it since I'm about 90% sure that the connector has all the same functions as the smaller one.

Lastly, did this car ever come with rear speakers? There are grills for them but no sound comes out when fade is put to rear.. there are wires that leave the radio for rear, but no sound from behind the grills... I've seen 2 MR2s like this! Are there at least wires in the pillars, as I have speakers I think will fit back there.

Thanks in advance,
Red October

[aaron7]

Ok. First... seriously... break that up into paragraphs!!

Second, get a 93+ tape/CD deck. Far as I've heard, they bolt right in and can be found relatively easy.

Third, yes the 88/89 MR2 (maybe the 87) had rear speakers. They are 3.5".

Fourth... I know the connector difference you are referring to on the Cressida radio. The pins are larger, right? I have a radio from a 84 Celica with the same pins. You'd have to go back to the junk yard and get the pin header then splice it into the harness.

Fifth.. why not keep the JVC? They make OK radios. Pitch that amp though :p

Sixth... NEVER keep putting in bigger fuses. It's blowing for a reason!

Last... as for why the radio blows a fuse, I have no idea. Could be a short in the radio, could be a short in the harness... that's a good one.

[aaron7]

BTW, I'm in MA too, so if you ever want to meet up let me know, I'd love to help!

[Red October]

Thanks!

Sorry about the "Huge block of text" effect. I'm usually so good with forums!

I don't want a tape/CD deck because I'm something of a stcikler for cars being "Period". (or at least looking it) This is giving me Hell with my other "fun" car (a 1984 Corvette... Can you tell I like 1980's Sportscars?).

I saw the difference on the Cressida radio after I had pulled it and gotten down from the car which was on top of a burnt Corolla. I stood around for a minute saying words I'm not yet sure you can use on these forums before I climbed back up into the Cressida to collect the harness. But now if I remember correctly the JVC's adaptor only has the "Large" connector. The local car audio shop can probably make me an adaptor or sell parts though. The 3-point safety harness being standard sure makes it easy to climb into a car on top of another car, though.

Last I remembered the JVC didn't work and it's a) Ugly and b) not period. They do make good units; I have a KWXC-777 in my "Daily Driver" and I can rattle the glass fairly easily... but the thing is silver (Bletch) and the display is overlarge.

I know upping the Amperage of fuses is bad practice.

Someone told me to try cutting the ground on the radio connector. Worth a shot since I think it's already spliced... the guy who did the JVC cut and re-spliced most of the wires on the "Big" connector before he decied to make a harness adaptor. He left most of the wires on the "little" connector cut for no reason, nothing was spliced to them.

P.S. where abouts in MA are you? I might have seen your car! I know I've seen another red MR2 going around... (I've borrowed a Red one... the one I have now is grey).

[aaron7]

Cutting the ground on the harness might work (as it sounds shorted)... but it is a band-aid; not a fix. You need to figure out what is shorting before you wake up one day to a pile of metal and charcoal in the driveway!

What yard do you go to? Jacks I would imagine, right?

Also, if that JVC is dead I could use it for parts to fix some of mine, I'm sure. Let me know if you want to sell it or whatever!

[Red October]

Yep, Jack's. Only one MR2 there that I found, a blue 89 with Auto tranny, the 4AGE is missing as is the Dash (Auto cluster still sitting on the seat if someone wants it ) BUT IT HAD THE DAMN HOOD ORNAMENT! I've only ever seen one other MR2 with that intact! I gotta go back to photograph its paintjob, though, it's pretty cool and very 80s.

I don't want the JVC; Hell it might still work. I'll let you know. I'll sell it accordingly.. figgure ~20 for a dud, ~50 for a runner. It's only a casette deck but a NICE one... removable faceplate (even still have the case!), that sort of thing

[aaron7]

Is this the powder blue one with retarded sticker graphic all over it? If so, I got the side skirts and the rear window visor last October!

[Red October]

Yeah that's it. I don't like that paint job per say but I'm collecting images of various MR2 Paint Jobs to see what works and what doesn't. It's cool but I think it just overwhelms the car. Would have done better on a van IMHO; MR2 is just too little for graphics that big.

So I've got the harness adaptor but I'm not sure it's gonna work properly since it's missing a couple connectors; does anyone know the FULL pinout of the damn thing because I've got a diagram and it's got a couple pins that just say "Do not use"... how do I get the factory sub to work with the Cressida radio, anyway? There are three "Do not use" on the MR2 harness, one on the Cressida harness... Can this be made to work?