MK4 Wire HELP!!!

AKs_SlickPolo · Post by **AKs_SlickPolo** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:18 am

Right so i fitted 6x9s yesterday to my polo. i now just need to fix why my stereo doesnt turn off with ignition. thing is i cant find wire. i checked connections of all wires, its all gud. Just have two wires bare w/female bullet connectors one brown-red, and one brown blue. Any ideas wot these two may be for? there definetly not for speakers.

Both of these are thin cables I tried connecting the red wire from the stereo [the ignition power wire] to the brown-red, but no luck still. could this be the ignition wire but is dissconnected at other end? where would the other wire b? thanks 4 help in advance!

david burton · Post by **david burton** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:55 am

I think you have all the wires ok, (presuming it remembers the presets etc), it's just that your switched power supply is constant instead of turning off with the ignition.

you really need a multimeter, then test the VW harness at the point where it goes into your stereo - then you will know which VW wires are what, and you can sort it from there.....

AKs_SlickPolo · Post by **AKs_SlickPolo** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:45 pm

okay i may sound thick but what is a multimeter, where can i get one, and is it going to burn a whole in my pocket?

blake · Post by **blake** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:57 pm

Brown an red is the ignition live mate not sure what the blue is i dont have blue connected on mine?

bstardchild · Post by **bstardchild** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 8:29 am

AKs_SlickPolo wrote:okay i may sound thick but what is a multimeter, where can i get one, and is it going to burn a whole in my pocket?

You're not being thick - any car spares place or tool shop - start from about Â£5 and go to Â£XXX. (note I have seen them occasionally in poundland!!!!)

But for what you need cheap and chearfull will be just fine.

What does it do?

Well basically it measures voltage/resistance/amps etc

So from a car diagnostic point of view

Voltage (Volts)

Touch one of the leads onto a bare connector and the other onto the chassis and if the lead contains power it will show a voltage (you can do this with ign on and off and work out which wire is the switched live and which is the permenant feed)

Touch one lead on the battery +ve and the other on the -ve terminal with the engine running and it will show how many volts the alternator is putting back into the battery

Resistance (Ohms)

You can use the resistance function to check if you have a break in a wire - ie the circuit is broken

Current (Amps)

You can use the amps setting to see if you have a current drain when the car is not being used

Loads of other stuff as well - handy to have in your tool box

AKs_SlickPolo · Post by **AKs_SlickPolo** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 8:45 am

Cheers bstardchild, but the thing is i don't really know if i need this multimeter thing. As i have checked all my wires for speakers and all of them are fine, next the power cables:

I got one brown thick earth wire which is fine.

one red wire which has the yellow wire connected to it. however as the stereo wont work without the ignition wire connected to anything, its is also connected to this using a bullet connector doubler.

then there is two thin wires, thin as speaker wires but not speaker wires 4 sure - can thin wires b power wires?.

one brown/red - which is the only wire that could b ignition wire

one brown/blue - which i believe is the dash dimmer light wire.

both of these are unconnected. i connected the ignition red wire 4rm stereo to the empty brown/red wire, it did however to some beep thing like when u take a key off igition ( sony headunit people know what i mean) but it doesnt power up. im now thinking its the headunit

AKs_SlickPolo · Post by **AKs_SlickPolo** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 8:51 am

sorry forgot to mention the red wire is definetly constant feed. therefore this only leaves brown/red wire to be igntion wire???. any ideas on where the other end of the wire goes, i may test my headunit on another car 2 see if it works fine there.

Sparky (Iceland) · Post by **Sparky (Iceland)** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 3:08 pm

I have this problem also... damn!

James0121 · Post by **James0121** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 10:54 am

hey up

i have just checked mine and i have got

Front left speakers are :-

Blue/brown
Blue

Front Right are :-

Red/Brown (medium thickness)
Red (thin)

Thick Red wire = Always power regardless to the postion of the ignition

Thick Brown = Ground

Thin Red/Brown wire = is the electrical terminal controlled by the ignition switch 12V On/ Off

This is how my pioneer head unit is wired and turns off with the ignition.

Hope this helps

AKs_SlickPolo · Post by **AKs_SlickPolo** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 11:56 am

Hi thanks very much James0121 for that, this is just what i needed really. I think this now confirms that the thin red-brown wire is infact the igntion wire. But i dont think its letting out any power. i need to know where the other end of that ignition wire goes to? my guess is ignition barrell?? am i correct?? About the blue-brown wire, well is that a thin or medium thick one. I dont know what i got in my left speaker but i know that when listening to the radio i get a distrubance whe engine on or signaling in the left speaker. So the thin blue-brown wire may well be the speaker wire and may kill this annoying disturbance. Im getting a Panasonic headunit i will try it in this and see how it goes. it might just be the headunit not the ignition wires fault cos my sony headunit tends to malfunction occasionally. cheers

James0121 · Post by **James0121** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 2:49 pm

ummm the blue brown speaker wire should be a very similar size to that of the red/brown speaker wire.

I would have thought it went to the ignition barrell but im not sure. You may have to do some investigating.

James

AKs_SlickPolo · Post by **AKs_SlickPolo** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 5:58 pm

Right i checked by stereo and ignition barrel for the acc ignition wire. i connected the red wire of the stereo to that thin brown/red wire and it doesnt turn on still wid ignition. The screen has no power though but u can eject cd - just like how it should be when u turn the car off. I went to have a look at my ignition barrel and found a whole range of wires going to the steering wheel i think and only two brown wires to the ignition i think?? any1 know whats going on?? i want to check if the acc wire is there but im scared of pulling out the wrong wire and the airbag might fly out or something

any1 wid a haynes that can tell me if its in there, or any1 done it b4?? or is it probably best to take it to a stereo fitting place! the ignition did look tampered with as there were many wires about some with insultating tape of cutted wires possibly of the previously installed alarm in my car!! ideas on the ignition???

AKs_SlickPolo · Post by **AKs_SlickPolo** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:20 am

I went to my local alarm/radio fitter, and he said it could be possible for the ACC switch that could have been gone. Or it may just be the wiring wrongly placed or snipped off. he wants Â£35 to do this plus parts, and i dont have this kinda money floating about in my pocket.

Any1 know where the acc switch would be??