altezzaking

Before I start, let me be clear that I have searched and searched similiar questions and am not trying to be lazy when asking this question. I foolishly bought a 1994 Acura Integra that appears that whoever owned it before me started replacing everything then midway through said it appears I don't know anything about this car and sold it. Then I bought it off the girl that bought it after him...Now to my question. I bought the car with no radio (figured no big deal ill just put one in.) Also, the clock doesn't work and the gauge cluster lights come on but the dimmer will not work so they are constantly dull. I went to the junkyard and purchased a new dimmer switch, and it still doesn't work. I bought a brand new pioneer headunit and wired it correctly (I have installed plenty of headunits) and plugged it into the car and nothing. I replaced the fuse in the car that is marked radio/cigarette lighter (cigarette lighter works fine) and I also replaced fuse under the hood marked backup which controls the radio/clock. I also replaced the bulbs in the gauge cluster and they are still dull and dimmer still doesnt work. Car had a tan interior and now has a black dash...my guess is that when the kid did the dash, it may have been out of a different year and he could have possibly not switched from his old wiring harness and just left the new one that came on the new dash? Are the wiring harnesses different in 94-01 integras? If so,how do I fix this problem? Buy a 94 integra wiring harness off ebay and pull the dash and rewire to see if that works? Or is there another solution here or way for me to figure out what plug or wire is wrong somewhere? Sorry for the long post and thank you for any feedback.

fcm

Does the stock radio harness have a plug, or did you have to "hard-wire" your Pioneer harness to it?

Either way, the radio harness will have a red/black lead, [illumination power] but does it also have a red lead, [illumination ground from "Dash Lights Brightness Controller" (dimmer)]?

If so, was the red lead used for anything?

Have you checked to see if the your Pioneer HU has 12V+ constant, [yellow on Pioneer harness, white/blue on OEM harness ] and 12V+ switched, [red, on Pioneer harness, yellow/red on OEM harness] and a ground, [black on both harnesses].


Dash lights are powered direct and the ground is supplied by the DLBC through resistance.

Because you have changed the DLBC you will need to pull it and test for voltage on the red/black lead, should be the same as batt. voltage, around 12.5V, [engine not running].

If good, check the ground, [black] for continuity to chassis ground, should be full continuity to chassis ground.

If good, use a jumper to connect the black ground lead to the red illumination ground lead, [with the park light switch on], without the jumper you should have no dash lights, with the jumper you should have full bright dash lights.

Let me know what you find.94

altezzaking

I thought I posted this yesterday but apparently it did not post. My radio is not hard wired to the car. I wired it to an adapter. The Pioneer headuint only has 12 wires which are the 8 speaker wires (wired into the adapter to the respected colors), red (which was wired to a 12 volt/switched), black (which was wired to the black wire on the adapter),yellow (which was wired to a 12v constant), and blue/white (which was wired to the blue power antenna wire on the harness. The only wire left was an orange illumination wire on the harness. I am going to try and get my hands on a cicuit tester and see if the car's wiring harness is getting power. I am not the best with diagnosing wiring at all. Any other suggestions?

fcm

All ypu need is a cheap 12V test light, [under $5 at any car parts store] Don't get the LED type. 94

altezzaking

Ok I was finally able to make it to the parts store and purchase a test light...I tested the dimmer switch first and I'm getting no power in any of the wires. Suggestions? Then, I tested the radio...I am getting power in pin 4 (12 volt power-yellow/red wire) I tested it at the car harness, the wiring adapter, and on the headunit harness. I am getting power throughout the entire wire. Does that mean the brand new headunit is bad? Should I be getting power in any other wires? Because the 12 volt power wire is the only wire that I got any power from.

fcm

At your DLBC, [dimmer switch] the red/black lead should have power, [12.5V+] when park/head lights are on, if not check dash light fuse, test for power at the fuse with the lights on.

The radio harness has three (3) power leads, the switched power that you found, [yellow/red] with ign. switch on, the white/blue lead, [hot at all times] and the red/black, [hot when park head lights are on.

Again the radio harness yellow/red switched power should be connected to the aftermarket HUs red lead, [acc. power] the radio harness white/blue lead should be connected to the aftermarket HUs yellow lead, [constant power], the radio harness red/black is not needed for the HU to work.
Question, is there anything wired/connected to the red/black lead in the stock radio harness, if so,what?

If the white/blue, yellow on aftermarket HU] does not have power, check the 7.5A backup fuse in the engine compartment fuse box..

Now with that said a better way to wire the aftermarket HUs yellow constant power lead is not to use the stock radio harness constant power, [white/blue], it is only a 7.5A circuit, instead run a fused, [20A] 12ga lead from the batt. to behind the HU and connect the HUs yellow lead to it, [just like you would power an amplifier, directly off the batt.] don't forget to cap off the white/blue lead so it can not short out.

If the 7.5A fuse is blown, replace it, it is also for ECU/ECM memory, DO NOT install a bigger fuse, 94

altezzaking

First off let me say thank you very much for continuing to help me try and diagnose this problem. I went out today and bought a fuse tester just in case my eyes were diseiving me. I checked EVERY fuse under the dash AND in the engine compartment. I checked the 15amp radio fuse and 7.5amp back up fuse 10 times just to make sure the light was definetly coming on which it did everytime. So, it is not the fuse. I AM getting power to the red/black lead on the dimmer but it is still not working. does that mean that both my dimmer switches are bad? Or could it be something else. I AM getting power to the red/black radio harness and still getting power to the acc power but no the red/black lead is not wired/connected to anything. Just to check the headunit itself...I wired the yellow wire off of the wiring adapter (12v constant) to the red wires (12v switched) and the radio DID come on. None of the speakers worked and it didnt play any music but it definetly came on. Im at a total loss as to what my next step should be. I could re-wire the yellow your way but still would like to know why I am not getting power to the white/blue lead and why none of my speakers are working.

fcm

For the dash lights, unplug the DLBC and use a jumper, [paperclip] to connect the red lead and the black lead together and try the dash lights, that takes the DLBC out of the dash lights circuit.

If you have power on the red/black, [illumination power] when the park/head lights are on, then the problem for the dash lights must be no ground, it is the DLBC that supplies that ground, if it is defective and you bypass it, the dash lights should work.

If the dash lights still do not work, then I would check the ground going to the DLBC plug, [black lead].

To test, instead of jumping from the black lead to the red lead in the DLBC plug, supply a ground to the red lead directly from a ground point, you may need something longer then a paperclip, [a length of wire].

Back to the stereo, sounds like you may have two (2) problems.

I would start by confirming that the aftermarket HUs wiring harness is correctly wired to the cars radio harness, in your case, [because you used a radio harness adapter] confirm pin-out of the adapter wiring, I have seen more then a few of them mis-pinned.

Start by confirming that the yellow lead in the adapter is pinned to the white/blue, [or white/yellow sometimes] also if any speaker lead in the adapter in mis-pinned it can result in no sound at all, your aftermarket HU has a "protection circuit" in it that turns off the HUs amp if it "sees" a short of any kind on any speaker lead, pos.(+) or neg.(-). 94