Where do these Radio wires connect???

[mally002]

Hey Guys,

I'm trying to install the factory radio on my 1973 Z but can't figure out the wiring. I'm assuming the PO could have made some changes so here's what I got so far.

Coming out of the radio I have the following:

Blue wire...........?

Gray.................speaker?

Gray/Blue..........speaker?

Red..................?

Coming out of my car I have the following:

Yellow with 1A..............?

Blue with 5A.................?

Black...........................Ground?

L and R speakers............To Gray and Gray/Blue from Radio?

When I connect the ground to the radio, the Blue 5A to the Blue radio wire, and the Yellow 1A to the Red the radio comes on.....and stays on, you can't turn it off. When I reverse the Blue and Yellow nothing happens.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Randy

[Walter Moore]

The red wire is power. (+12V) The Blue wire goes to your antenna. (raise signal) The gray wires are speaker wires.

[xray]

Hi Randy....

I enclosed a few pics of my radio (with dash extricated from my Z) as it attaches to the wiring harness of the dash. As you can see, two power wires exit, both blue. One, along with the speaker wires (gray and gray/blue) goes to the 20A spot on the fuse block as you can see on my 1973 FSM wiring diagram (page BE-5, for those following along at home...) and connects to the power asntenna. The second connects to the red/blue wire and has an inline 2A fuse. The red/blue wire appears to be along the same wiring backbone as the gauges and illuminator rheostat, probably providing power and lighting to the radio.

I see no reference to a yellow wire, so I wonder if you need to dig a bit further into the harness? (yikes!) Big black wire is the antenna lead.

It's been 18 months since my car last ran, so my memory is a bit foggy...I think my radio was powered regardless of the ignition switch position--is that what you mean by "won't turn off?"

Good luck,

Steve

[mally002]

Thanks guys for the information,

Steve, when I was playing around with the wires and got power I couldn't turn the radio off without disconnecting the wires, in other words by pushing the knob in to turn it off, it didn't turn off, the light continued to illuminate.

Also, is the Blue wire the Antenna even though I have a completly seperate antenna switch? I didn't show it in the picture, but on the top right side I have another switch with three blue wires extending out.

Thanks for the replies.

Randy

[xray]

So I looked a little closer and have to amend what I said earlier. The blue wire from the back of the radio is NOT for the antenna switch (at least not on my radio). My radio (5/72 build) has a trio of wires coming from the front left of the radio right behind....the antenna switch! Blue (main power) with blue/red and blue/white for up/down circuit (section BE page 29 of the 1973 FSM).

I'm no electrical guru (obviously) but it looks like the blue wire from behind the radio provides power while the red/blue wire provides dash illumination along with the other gauges....

Steve

[xray]

Randy,

If you can't turn off the radio at the radio power knob, have you tried cleaning the contacts?

[Walter Moore]

Ignore my first post.

My memory must be getting bad. I remembered two blue wires going to the antenna, but they are from the antenna switch, not the radio.

The blue wire is shown on the wiring diagram as the power wire for the radio.

The red wire must be the unlabeled wire (on the schematic) that connects to the dash lights.

I have no idea why the radio will not shut off, unless it has an internal problem.

[sblake01]

Just a thought, and forgive me because I've not tinkered with a 240Z radio in years but doesn't the illumination stay on unless you turn the key off? In other words, the radio itself goes off when you press the button but the light stays on unless the key is off. Connect the speakers and see if my recollection is correct or not.

[DougN]

You are correct, my factory radio light is on even when the radio is off. Don't know if it is on when the lights are off, as it is not bright enough to notice in the daytime. I can check tonight when it gets dark :classic:

[mally002]

Thanks Doug,

Let me know...

[mally002]

Hurray.......................The radio is in and works great..................

However, The radio light stays on ALL the time, when it's running, when the keys out, it's always on, why????

I do have a battery disconnect switch that I sometimes use when the car is going to sit for awhile, so for now I'm just cutting all power to the car. Any idea why this light is always on?

Doug, have you checked yours yet.

Thanks,

Randy