I have "almost" finished installing a New Pioneer stereo in my 67. The radio has one lead that needs to be wired to a constant 12v source (battery) and another lead that should be wired to the ingnition switch.
My car does not have a light in the glovebox but it had the orange wire with a connector that is for the light. I used a tester and from what I could tell this wire is hot all the time. This is the wire I used for the first lead. For the Ingintion wire I connected this to the yellow wire that originally powered the factory am radio. The weird thing is that it worked fine when I tested everything switching the ignition key from ACC to off to on. It wasn't until I turned the key to start that the radio went off (normal) but when it came back on all the presets were gone and even stranger it wont switch to the CD mode :confused:. The other thing worth noting is that when I was feeling around to see if I had a wire disconnected the back of the radio was very hot. Hotter than I would think is normal. Can someone please help???????? This cannot be that difficult.

You should have an open fuse blade marked "bat" that is constant 12V from the battery. There should also be a "acc" and "ign" that are keyed 12V sources on the fuse panel underneath drivers side dash.

The BAT connection on the fuseblock will be powered all the time.

I "thought" the orange wire was too... Do your courtesy lights stay on or go out in "start"?

No explaination on why it would get hot, other than that's probably not good.

Thanks for the replies. From the wiring diagram it looks as though the orange wire should be hot all the time but I can not remember if I tested it while turning the ignition to start. I will double check tonight and report back. I want to get this resolved before I shoot pictures to post. I came up with a custom way to mount a stereo in the glovebox that is really cool. (at least to me) I have been wanting to share this with the Team camaro site but want it to work first.

Why didn't you just use all the wires that powered the original radio? That is how mine is wired? The radio is going to get hot. That is normal, but not so hot that it's going to burn you. What you have to remember is that radio were not meant to be mounted in a glovebox. They need air to dissipate heat and it can't get it if it's in a closed in area. Start over on the wiring. I would use the wires that are already there that were used to power the original radio. Also, it sounds like you have a ground issue.

Thanks for the input Charlie,
My original AM radio has only 1 yellow wire going to it and two wires going to the speaker. The new radio needs 2 wires, a constant power supply (presets, clocks etc.) and a power supply from the ingnition (the original yellow wire). It will not work with only the one wire. I tried this first. I have the ground wire from the radio mounted to the bracketry that is holding up the original radio. Do you think that is a bad spot? I will check and see. :confused: I wanted new technology Ipod etc. without cutting up the dash or mounting in view where it would take away from original look. I'll post pic's soon. If the glovebox turns out to be a bad spot I will have to start over. But half the fun is the journey not the destination....;)

Charlie and I must be drinking the same brand of coffee because I thought "ground issue" as well. aftermarket units usually have a designated (-black ?) wire marked as the ground, and sometimes, an extra protruding "tab" on the metal back which will accept a female terminal; construct a jumper wire and connect between the unit chassis and to a car body spot for additional ground as well. whatever the electrical accessory,, added grounds should only add to performance.
as for mounting in the glovebox: the unit should, in theory, perform.
I can't quote any brand-names, but I'm seeing more and more units being mounted either in the 'box, or the boot,, by those not wanting to cut the dash, and face it,, we're not exactly blessed with mounting options in a Camaro :(
post your results ? :thumbsup:

The orange wire should be live...the same coloue coding is used on most chevies and Aussie GM holden
the orange feeds the cigarette lighter
I use this to feed my sterio, I like to use it when I dont have my keys handy.
On many modern sterio units one hast to be carefull , they have 2 feeds, 1 to keep the memory and the other as the main power, the main power normally goes to the acc feed (when ign is on or in acc position) and if u connect up to the orange, leave the car for a long period, it will flatten the battery.
Some brands will flatten and others will not so check the current draw when sterio is turned off.

Okay, I checked the orange wire and yes it is hot all the time. I have this wired to the radio harness wire that is marked Battery. I also have the wire marked ACC from the Radio harness wired to the yellow wire that was originally the power supply to the Factory AM radio (this comes from the Ignition). I also have the ground wire from the radio harness connected to a bolt on the metal bracket that holds the heater controls and the factory radio. To me this should be correct. the radio works but it will not hold the presets and the clock etc. I'll try another ground connection as suggested and see what happens. the glove box is cut out in the back so the body of the radio is exposed so I do not think this should be an issue. The wife and kids are going to grandma's tonight so I should have plenty of time to get this sorted out. I am starting to think my radio is the problem. :confused::confused::confused::confused:

Thanks for all the support. This site is awesome...... I'll post pictures once my trouble shooting delima is over.....

A lot of the "power" wires cut off their power when the engine is cranking. I think a relay controls this. It is best to run wires to your fuse box. I would also find a better place for the ground wire.

Thanks Tom,

Here is what I plan to do tonight.
1. Reposition the ground to a better location.
2. Test.
3. If problem still exists I will wire from the prongs on the Fuse box directly to the radio. This makes sense to me. I did test the orange wire when cranking the engine and it does stay hot but who knows.
4. If problem still exists I will take the radio in and have it checked out to eliminate that.
Is it just me or do the simple jobs allways become a major pain! :mad:.
I think I'll document with pictures and post this weekend so that others will have a good reference when doing this.

Ok, here is another scenario. It is very possible that the memory wire(battery wire) is bad, either on the radio itself, or the car harness. I have had this happen on numerous occassions. I am sure you have a stereo installation shop near you, right? Take the radio out and take it to them. They can "bench test" it. They will be able to tell you if anything is faulty with the radio. The wire that runs to the battery or has 12v all the time is the one that is used to maintain presets and the clock. Usually it's a yellow or orange wire. The ignition wire is usually red. Here is what I would do. Use your car fuse box, not wires hanging around. That is what the fuse box is for. Run the "battery" wire to the battery terminal in the fuse box and do the same with the "ignition" wire. Run it to the ignition terminal in the fuse box. Then, run a separate ground wire from the radio to the negative terminal on the battery for testing purposes. That way you are assured of a good ground. If you have success with it wired this way, then you know something is up with the car harness, but I would take it to a stereo shop first. That will give you peace of mind.

One thing I was thinking. Some radio's have to have the cage grounded. They will not work unless the unit body itself is grounded. That is what may be happening to you. By mounting it in the glove box, the sleeve or cage is not getting grounded. The wire you have run to ground may not be enough. I mounted mine in the standard location, but I can atest to having 1st hand knowledge about this particular scenario. I have had radio's out to test them before and had to have them slid into the cage a bit in order to have it sufficiently grounded. Is there any reason you don't want to install it in it's original location aside from cutting the dash? You know you can always repair the area that gets cut very easily, right. All you would have to do is save the two pieces that get cut out and if you ever want to go back to the way it was, just weld them back in place. It looks much better with a new age radio in a classic car in the original location anyway, IMO. Plus, if you do it right, or you take it to a reputable place, you won't even be able to tell that any cutting was even necessary. Unless the person looking knows that the car came with a shaft style radio, they won't even know, trust me. I had reservations about cutting my dash, but after I did and everything was installed, I can't even remember why I hesitated.

Thanks again Charlie,

The cage is mounted to a 22 ga. metal bracket that is monted with the same screws that mount the cardbord insert. I basically made a metal insert that fits inside the cardbord piece. So that should be grounded to the dash (assumption on my part). I'll post pictures tonight so that everyone can see what I am talking about. There has to be something wrong with the radio. I do not have a ton of money to do everything I would like to do to the car, and seeing that it is a plain jane 6 cyl. I was just looking for something "different" to do. I'll take your advice and see what happens.

Thanks again,

Chris

Well, I'm right back where I started. I hooked up the radio using the fuse box connections and wired the ground directly to the chassis. and the same results. No matter what connections I used, they were the same. The Battery connection is hot all the time. The ACC is on at the ACC position, Off at the off pos., On at the on position and it turns off momentaraly between on and Start and then On when the car is started. This is all normal. So this tells me the initial wiring was correct. I can only assume that something is wrong with a brand new radio wiring as suggested by "67CamaroRS/SS". I will be taking a trip to where I bought the radio and see if they will bench test it or just return and get a new one. It is a pioneer which from what I have heard is a quality radio. (my luck as always)... I hope I can resolve this this weekend. I cannot tell you how many hours I have into this afternoon project...:mad:

There is one last thing to check. I have a Kenwood radio down stairs that has an internal fuse to it. Well, not internal, but it's in the wiring that connects to the 12v wire. It has been a while since I have worked with Pioneer(and yes they are a good brand), but if I remember correctly, some of them do in fact have a fuse in the wiring. Did you disconnect the negative battery cable when you were installing the unit? If not, then it is very easy to blow a fuse. Be sure to check the fuses in the fuse box also. Don't just look at them. You have to pull them and shake them. I had a fuse blow on me and when I looked at it, it looked good. I spent 2-3 days looking at other components before I removed the fuse and physically inspected it. It would have saved me 2-3 days and a lot of head ache had I just pulled it and looked at it. If in fact all the fuses are good then definately get them to test it. You want to be absolutely sure that it is the radio and not the wiring. Next, take a test ligh and attach the lead the to the battery. Take the pointed end and touch the cage you made in the glove box. If it lights then you know you have a good ground. I would still think hard about mounting it in its original location. Like I said, when you cut out the two side pieces, save them and if you ever want to go back to a shaft style unit, you can simply weld them back into place. You will be happy you did. It's going to get to be a pain in the a&& to keep having to reach into the glove box to load the cd or tape or take the face off for security purposes.

Camarojakes, Pioneer is a great brand, I have destroyed several.Simple jobs become major pains, boy is that true.I have been putting a Custom Auto Sound into my 67 for almost 2 weeks now.Everything works now, except the gas gauge, go figure,Good Luck and don't forget the pics.

Charlies advice is right on.
If the unit puts out heat, you can cut vent holes in the top and bottom of the glove box cardboard insert. You can even install a little computer fan in it if it is really hot.
Also, you can do a bench test yourself with a battery, some wire and a speaker. Don't forget the bench !!!!!!!.
Very rarely do you get a bad radio. Is possible. I would test outside of car and know that I have a problem before I take it in for a repair. Sounds to me like a bad fuse or a bad connection somewhere.

I have a feeling it has something to do with its mounting location. As I stated earlier, I have had issues with units not wanting to work unless they were making contact with the cage. Even if it was grounded, it was sufficient enough. Dale has a good idea. Take a battery, some wire, and any generic speaker and do a preliminary test yourself. You will need to run both the red and orange wires to the positive terminal of the battery and of course the black wire goes to the negative terminal.

You know, one other thing I forgot to think of? The ignition switch itself could be an issue, but I would just keep it in the back of your mind. That is a last resort. The fact that it won't hold presets or clock tells me that the issue lies around the constant 12v source and if I remember correctly, that is the wire you have connected to the wire that originally operates the glove box light, but then again, you said you have the same results when you ran the wires to the fuse box, so that leans me toward a faulty unit. Technically, the only reason the radio has a switched 12v source is so the unit will go off with the key. You can wire both the red and orange wire to a constant 12v source, only you will have to turn the radio on and off EVERY time you use it.

Please don't take this next statement as being an a&&hole, but I just want to make absolutely sure you have everything hooked up correctly. The wiring harness should have a wire that is marked antenna. Most of the time it is yellow. This is the wire used to activate the power antenna. Sometimes is the wires are not labeled(if radio is used), the yellow wire can be mistakingly used instead of the orange and that would explain why the presets and clock are not holding. Did you use the instruction manual when you installed the unit? What leads me to the radio is; you said you ran the wires to their appropriate terminals at the fuse box and the issues remained. That eliminates the possibility that it could be the wires you previously used and also by running a ground wire directly to the battery, that eliminates the inferior glove box grounding possibility. Do the "bench test". That will rule out all the vehicle wiring and will let you know positively if it's the radio or the car harness.

Charlie,

Believe me I have had my share of "are you sure its plugged in moments" so no offense taken. I am happy to say I'm finally done :hurray:. I ended up taking the radio back to have it tested. The tech verified it was a bad unit but did not give me a detailed description of what was wrong with it. They did exhange it for a new one. I installed over the weekend and everything is working fine. I also checked the cage and it is grounded as well so It should be just fine. I will take pictures tonight when I get home and post. Thanks again to all who provided support. Since I can't buy you guys a beer this will have to do...:beers:

One last thing. As Dale suggested, make some holes in your glove box to allow heat to escape. You obviously have good abilities when it comes to fabrication, so I would invest in a small 12v fan and fabricate a mount for it so it sits just above the radio housing. Something like this:
http://glacialtech.manufacturer.globalsources.com/si/6008809137352/pdtl/CPU-cooler/1007679816/CPU-Coolers.htm

Did anyone suggest you may have connected the 2 radio wires ( power & memory ) backwards ? If you didn't, then the wires may be labeled backwards ??? Switch them up and see what happens ...

I posted a couple of pictures in the interiors forum. Please take a look and let me know what you think......

It looks very nice. I wish I had fabrication skills like that. I can take apart an engine and rebuild it and stuff like that, but when it comes to fabricating, I suck. I like how you left yourself some space at the bottom for a pen or cd. I do have one question. What is the forth picture of? It looks like it's a plate to cover up the speaker hole in the rear deck.

Is this radio mount just a plate or is it an entire enclosure? If it's an entire enclosure, then like Dale suggested, you may want to make some holes in it to allow some air circulation or you can install a small fan like the one in the link I provided you.