280z radio pinout?

[Captain Obvious]

Glad to help.  None of this would be so confusing if they would have just shown that sub-harness on the wiring diagram.  Haha!

[Barneville]

ea6driver, I'm looking for a KMS-2411Z radio for a 1978 280z that I just purchased. Do you happen to still have and want to sell your radio? I also just messaged you.

[240260280]

Did you get Stefan's 280z on BAT?  I found a radio for him on Kijiji.  Maybe pester him about it.   They come up often at good prices.

[Barneville]

Yes, I did get Stefan's 280z on BaT. I also bought the radio he purchased online, but he hadn't installed it yet and I'm not sure it's fully functional. So, I'm also looking for other options. 

[240260280]

This thread was to help him get the car ready to sell.

[Barneville]

Too funny! So you were asking for these details on his behalf?

[240260280]

Yup.  The first thing to do with your car is to see if the adapter harness is tucked behind the existing radio. I don't think Stefan looked behind to check. If it is not there then you need so source it.

 

[Av8ferg]

I know this thread is 2 years old but it the best one I could find to discuss the radio wiring .  I need a little help to get my radio properly installed.   So I’m trying to marry up the proper wires on the harness with my modern radio.   I don’t want to snip the stock 6 pin connector.  I’d like to use the other side of the connector which already had a bunch on loose wires.   
 

I’m just trying to figure out what the colors mean so I can properly tie them into the radio.   I know not all are required.  
There are 6 wires on the radio connector . (This isn’t the connector that went directly into the radio).  This is the next one down the line.  It’s circled in red in the wiring diagram attached pic. 
I’ve tested the blue wire which Captain Obvious stated was power with the ignition switch in ACC.  I’m getting no voltage on this wire with the ignition in ACC. 
I’ve confirmed the Green/White is the illumination wire.  When I turn on the lights I got 12v here.  This wire won’t be required on the new radio I’m guessing because backlighting is not used on modern radios but now part of main power supply.   I’ve figures out what we’re the stock wires to the one speaker.  
What I have left is a black wire…..this logically should be a common ground right?   
So what is the Red/Blue wire?  In the schematic it seems to go to other lighting items like the horn relay and low fuel light etc.  

 My guess to connecting my radio are as follows:

- Harness Black to Radio Black (COMMON GROUND)

- Harness Blue to Radio Red (SWITCHED IGNITION POWER)

The route a dedicated wire that puts the Radio Yellow to the fuse box.  (POWER FOR CLOCK, RADIO MEMORY SETTINGS)

Not sure why I’m not getting voltage on the blue wire with the key in ACC.   I guess I could start the car and see if It has power then.  

Thank for the help. 

 

[Captain Obvious]

They changed some of the wire details over the years, but for 77...

The blue is +12V power in. It should be hot when in ACC and ON. If it's not, you'll need to start poking around upstream and find out why.

The black is ground. Should be hard ground at all times.

Black/red is the original speaker output.

Green/White is illumination bulb high side. Goes to the headlight switch. It should go to +12 when the parking lights or headlights are on.

Red/Blue is illumination bulb ground side. Goes to the rheostat. It should read a variable voltage depending on where you have the dimmer knob turned. At full brightness, it should read zero volts, and at full dim, it should read close to 12V.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Captain Obvious

[Captain Obvious]

And some of the aftermarket radios do make use of some of the illumination stuff in some way. I don't see any mention of it on the wiring diagram from Kenwood above though.

What Kenwood are you using? I'll see what I can dig up to be sure.

[Av8ferg]

Okay, so first rule of troubleshooting is to target the obvious first.   Well I failed to do this and would classify myself as an idiot on this one.   So the blue wire had no power because the fuse was blown.   I just dismissed this because I had cleaned the fuse box and replaced all the fuse about one month ago.  I made the wrong assumption the fuses were good, but after a friend told me to check the fuse it was in fact burned out.   Radio is working.  Ran the constant 12v power source from the cigarette lighter.   

[Captain Obvious]

Well I think you're being a little too hard on yourself with the dunce moniker. You had a problem, searched for the root cause, and found it. Right? 

Note that I was going to suggest you check the fuse, but instead suggested the more general "you'll need to start poking around upstream". Of course, the fuse is part of that investigation.

But whatever... Your radio works now. Good deal!