280z radio pinout?

[ea6driver]

And here's the car-side connections of the radio sub harness.  According to my FSM the speakers are the wires that are Black & Black w/ Red stripe....although I haven't tried to confirm this in my car

[ea6driver]

And just so there's no confusion over which radio connections we're discussing here....here's a pic of the front side of the radio...Hitachi KMS-2411Z

[240260280]

WOW  First Class Posts Bob S.!  BIGGGGG THANKSSSSS

 

Here is Schematic... (not exact match but they are known to have differences)

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by 240260280

[ea6driver]

Thanks for the compliment...I also saw that same schematic in my FSM....but I was somewhat confused since the schematic didn't exactly match the actual configuration in my car...and I know my car hasn't been altered from original...so I thought it would just be more useful if I posted what was in the car.  Specifically, notice how that schematic shows the connections at the radio as a 6 + 2 plugin vs. the 5 + 3 config. in my car.  I'm not sure why the difference....maybe the clarion radio setup was different?

Anyway, hope all this helps...good luck!!

 

[Captain Obvious]

I think the schematic matches the car fine. The connectors shown on the wiring diagram are a six position spade and a pair of bullets. On the car end of that sub-harness, you've got a six pin spade and a pair of bullets. Just like the diagram.

The confusion comes from the fact that the connectors built into the back of the radio are not shown on the diagram at all. The diagram shows it as if the wires were hard-wired coming out of the back of the radio (just like they did on previous years). So if you plug that little sub-harness into the back of the radio and pretend it's all one piece, then the wiring diagram is spot on.

The problem you're having with 6+2 or 5+3 is that the 5+3 is completely ignored on the diagram.

[Captain Obvious]

And forgot...  Yes, the real solution to the confusion is to actually show both ends of that little stub harness on the diagram. It's really Datsun's mistake, not yours.

[ea6driver]

Thanks for that...I see your point....at least now, with the photos I posted in this thread, forum members can clearly see the wire scheme/colors on the two connectors on the radio-side of the sub harness (I've also heard it referred to as a radio pigtail harness). Too bad I still couldn't figure out what the function of each of these colored wires is...

Edited October 19, 2020 by ea6driver

[Captain Obvious]

What do the wires do? I think I can help with that:

Blue is +12V power in. Hot when in ACC and ON.
Blacks (two of them) are grounds The one on the 6-position connector is used as the low side power for the radio, and the bullet is used as a speaker ground.
White/Black is also a speaker ground. I think it just gets connected to the black ground wires in the car harness.
White is right hand speaker output.
Black/Red bullet is left hand speaker output.
Green/White is panel illumination high side. Goes to the headlight switch.
Red/Blue is panel illumination ground side. Goes to the rheostat.

Does that make sense?

[Dave WM]

make sure your volume and  tuning controls are on the sides you want to match the face plate you have.

[ea6driver]

So White is right side speaker out and Black/Red is left side speaker out. Thats interesting. And it would make sense I guess that each speaker would need its own wire driving it for a stereo system. However, that setup doesn't match the FSM wiring diagram description.  The 78 FSM wiring diagram shows both speakers being driven by the Black/Red bullet connector wire. In fact, it doesn't even show the White wire.  I'm guessing this is another example of a diagram not being updated to reflect system upgrades from the original configuration.

[Captain Obvious]

That diagram is correct. It's just more of the same issue as before where they didn't show the stub harness on the diagrams. The documentation just assumes the wires coming out of the back of the radio are hard-wired.

I added the colors to your diagram to show what I'm talking about. I stand by my previous identifications of the wire colors (IN THE SUB HARNESS). They change some of the wire colors at the six position spade connector, so on the CAR SIDE of that connector the colors are different:

Note that they don't show the illumination wires on this diagram because they are shown on the dash lighting page instead. But the rest of the colors all work out.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Captain Obvious
Added some detail

[ea6driver]

Ok..thanks for clarifying that.  I do see what you mean.  I just guess that interpreting wiring diagrams is not one of my strengths.  Lots of good info you (and others) have posted in this thread.