Installing aftermarket radio in 81 rabbit, need wiring help!!!:)

[rallydiesel]

Try connecting the acc and pos radio wires to the + battery wire and the connect the grounds. If this doesn't work, check you ground. Make sure there is continuity from this wire to the battery -.

[Vincent Waldon]

Ok, so for the record here's the Pioneer wiring color code:

Orange: constant 12v+
Red: switched 12v+
Black: ground

Green: left front +
Green/black: left front -
Gray: right front +
Gray/black: right front -
Green/red: left rear +
Black/green: left rear -
Gray/red: right rear +
Black/gray: right rear -

Blue: control output for amp or power antenna

There's a very very good chance that the original "red" wire that used to go to your Rabbit radio is *not* switched on the key... as a test per Rallydiesel to confirm that your deck works you can try:

Pioneer red + Pioneer orange  --> your temporary wire to the 12V terminal... it's not fused so be careful!
Pioneer black    -->  a good ground

If that works you know your deck is fine... you'll then likely need to find a source of switched power for the Pioneer red lead...the power to the rear defroster switch on the dash is usually on the key.... a test light or multimeter will be needed to confirm.  You'll also want to confirm constant power to the original Rabbit red lead... if not, could be a blown fuse.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

1. Was the existing am-fm working in the car ?

2. Is the Pioneer new - or used ? (might be dead unit)

The red wire from original plug is switched power, with key on, if fuse or wire is not bad.

The grey/blue is hot when parking lights or headlights are activated.

I checked this with test light before originally posting.
 
Strange you had just one set of speaker wires though.
My A1's have a preforated section on top of dash like where a speaker "could" go. But neither have/had one there. Both have speakers at each side of dash. Maybe your car came factory with a Mono radio and single center dash speaker, not Stereo radio (red-dot) with 2 or 4 speakers.

Without a harness adapter, I (just me) would have left the plugs untouched and ran my own new wires from scratch. But i'm a stickler in that respect.

[Rabbit on Roids]

he cut the pig tails off the stock deck and spliced them onto the pioneer. thats the closest thing you could do to buying an adapter kit. i was going to mention cutting the stock harnesses off the stock deck. thats what i did..

[tkisling]

Here are some pics of the wiring situation.

1. Factory radio wires for radio: red, brown, and blue/gray
http://img413.imageshack.us/i/img0829yb.jpg/

2. Factory speaker wires: brown and white/black
http://img404.imageshack.us/i/img0832m.jpg/

3. Pioneer radio wires: orange, red, black, and blue
http://img32.imageshack.us/i/img0839r.jpg/

I just can't figure out how to get this to work. Anyone have any ideas?

[Vincent Waldon]

What happened when you did this:

Pioneer red + Pioneer orange  --> your temporary wire to the 12V terminal... it's not fused so be careful!
Pioneer black    -->  a good ground

[tkisling]

I hooked the radio as you said to the positive battery terminal and the ground of the radio to the negative battery terminal but nothing happened. Note that I only hooked up the orange wire on the pioneer deck to the positive terminal on the battery.

[Vincent Waldon]

Note that I only hooked up the orange wire on the pioneer deck to the positive terminal on the battery.

You gotta hook up both the orange and red wires to a source of power... both Rallydiesel and I have suggested you ignore the factory wiring for the moment and just hook both orange and red directly to the battery... to confirm if the deck works or not.

[tkisling]

Can I use the negative battery terminal as a good ground?

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Yes you can ground to the negative battery terminal - while you have both the orange and red wires connected to positive.
Then turn the unit on.

And also, the speaker wire i called tan/black stripe - is actually a dingy old white/black stripe wire in the daylight. I was viewing it with a flashlight at night...ooops. 

[tkisling]

I will try this after work and see what happens. Thanks guys

[tkisling]

I hooked the orange and red wires on the pioneer deck to the positive battery terminal and the black wire to the negative terminal and nothing happened. No luck I think maybe this pioneer radio deck is dead. Kinda strange since it worked in my brother's car before he gave it to me.

[Rabbit79]

I have seen a few radios that have a fuse on the radio itself. Usually they plug into the back somewhere. Might want to check for that.

[tkisling]

Fuse is a okay

[Rabbit on Roids]

after you hook power to the red and yellow wires, push the source button and watch it come to life. the orange is for dimming the deck lights when you turn on the dash lights.

Yellow - constant 12v +
Red - switched 12v +
Black - Ground

with those wires hooked up, it will work fine.