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  #1  
Old 05-23-2011, 07:03 PM
1979 240D 'Old Blue'
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 47
Once again, trouble replacing stereo

Once again I tried to replace the Becker Europa in my car with a basic CD/iPod player. This time I went to the 'experts' at Crutchfield. They sold me the wiring harness and everything. I asked specifically would I need anything more or need to do anything odd. No.

Well, going to hook it in today and apparently I need a constant power source, they suggested hooking it up to the ignition wiring. I have no idea how to do all that. Is there any easier way?

I'm not much good at this stuff, but I hate to go pay Best Buy $300 for what should be a simple job.

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  #2  
Old 05-23-2011, 07:39 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern FL
Posts: 227
If you need a constant power source even when the car is off, it should go directly to the battery. That's the red cable. Be SURE you have a fuse in that line otherwise you will fry the radio.
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  #3  
Old 05-23-2011, 08:05 PM
1979 240D 'Old Blue'
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 47
That's just it, I have no clue how to do all this.
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  #4  
Old 05-23-2011, 08:24 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern FL
Posts: 227
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdg9 View Post
That's just it, I have no clue how to do all this.
OK, so exactly what is "all this"? Is it just the power cord that you need to hook up? Usually radios have digital clocks incorporated into them so they need a constant power source for that. That would be the red wire coming out of the radio. You will also need the radio to turn on with the ignition switch. The wires on the radios are often tagged. You should have one that is tagged "ignition" or "ign"... That one cannot be on all of the time like the red power cord needs to be. The red one can be run directly to the battery or tapped into a know source that has power even with the ignition off.
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  #5  
Old 05-23-2011, 08:33 PM
1979 240D 'Old Blue'
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 47
I see only one power line going into the original becker, not two separate, ala one for constant and one for switching. I am probably missing something?
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  #6  
Old 05-23-2011, 08:42 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern FL
Posts: 227
OK, I guess I didn't get the whole idea of what you're doing. When I install stereos I run all wires new and independent of anything there. That is, I don't splice into the old radio harness nor try to use and update a new one that supposedly works with the original harness in the car. I run all new speaker wires, power cords, ground wires... That's how I get the best installation possible. And I never have problems with alternator whine and other mysterious interferences.

I'm sorry that I'm not familiar with the exact radio you're trying to replace and the harness assignments. That is, I don't which wires from the harness you purchased go where. It should have come with instructions detailing the proper splices between old and new.

Someone else will come along and help you with the route that you're going. I just never do it that way, so I'm useless for this task.
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  #7  
Old 05-23-2011, 09:00 PM
1979 240D 'Old Blue'
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 47
No problem, thanks for your assistance though! I'm just frustrated. I know I'm not very handy with things as easy as a stereo, but I read loads of threads on them and still find myself, like an idiot, stumped.

I was really hoping to get this player installed by the weekend since I have a long drive ahead of me.
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  #8  
Old 05-24-2011, 12:59 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 120
My adapter from crutchfield plugged right in and was a color for color connection. I had my alpine working in under 5 minutes. It gave me two power wires directly out of the factory harness. One constant and one switched but again they were color coded I didn't even need to meter them
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  #9  
Old 05-24-2011, 01:03 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 120
If I wasn't clear. I unplugged the becker, plugged the adapter into the harness then spliced the alpine to the adapter. Probably should actually splice the alpine to the adapter then just plug in. It even had wires labeled for the power antenna
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  #10  
Old 05-24-2011, 08:38 PM
Yak Yak is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 1,711
Best Buy would hack it up, short out your dash lights, then say "your car is old..."

For the older 240's that did not have a "solid state" radio, there's no steady +12v in the OE harness.

A few questions: how many wires in your factory connector, 2 or 4? I'm guessing 2, one red (switched +12v) one brown (ground).

Does the Crutchfield connector mate up to your OE connector? Probably not?

Do you have a power antenna?

The nearest source for unswitched +12v in the 79 240 should be a thinnish red wire in the dome light switch. You could run a wire from the radio snaked up behind the AC panel and use a scotch-lok splicer. See this thread for more info: New Stereo Install 1979 240D

If you've got a power antenna on your Becker, that should be a single Blue-Red wire in the dash. You should connect that to the blue wire on your new unit.

The thickish red-wire from the car should go to your switched input, probably red on the radio
Brown from the car to black on the radio
The new red wire from the dome light should probably go to orange or yellow on the radio. Check the instructions. Sometimes steady +12 is orange, sometimes yellow on radios.

If you want the dimmer function to work, you'll need to tap off of the gray/blue wire that goes to the light bulbs in the A/C controls. That wire may be orange or yellow on your radio.

Use at your own risk. Be careful of incorrect wire colors. Use a meter. Post pics of your radio and/or the instructions if you're not sure.
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  #11  
Old 05-24-2011, 09:33 PM
1979 240D 'Old Blue'
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 47
Yak,

Thanks for the response. I searched the forums and read some of your previous posts on this topic.

I have a 79 240D with a standard Becker Europa. The car does not have a power antenna. It does not have a clock, and the presets are push button, so it doesn't use a steady 12V. two wires in factory set up - brown (ground) and red.

I have the brown wire, the antenna and then the two speakers, front left and right. I don't have rear speakers. The Crutchfield harness enables me to hook up the two speakers to the new unit (after I do some soldering of course).

The other wire is of course the power cable, with can only be switched power, correct? So I need to run the new unit power to the steady wire (near the dome light) to get the radio clock to work and save presets I take it.

I suppose I could tie the ground cable from the new unit around the original brown grounding clamp? Seems like not the best idea though? Or just snip, the old brown wire and splice it with the new ground wire, solder together and go that route? ( yes this is my first attempt at doing even simple work like this)
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  #12  
Old 05-24-2011, 10:29 PM
Yak Yak is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 1,711
You've got a few options, but you're going to end up splicing or soldering at some point.

Since your OE set up is pretty bare bones, there's not much value in preserving the old harness. Does the Crutchfield harness set include purple/grey/white/green wires with cylinders on them and small T-connectors? Those should just plug into the existing L/R front speakers and then crimp connect onto the respective FR and FL wires out of the head unit adapter-thing.

Post a pic of your in-car fitting and the Crutchfield harness.

My recommendation for you would be to cut the old two-wire plug off and ignore using the Crutchfield harness (use a meter first to verify red switches on/off with the ignition, then disconnect the battery terminals). The harness will be more trouble than it's worth for only two wires and a non-plug-play install. I used a harness on my 300CD and it made the job easier, but that's a four wire from the car.

Crimp the red from car to the switched +12v for your radio (use the instructions for the radio).
Crimp the brown from the car to the ground for the radio (ditto)
Use the scotch-lock (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAgrevpkKJs) with the switch for the dome light.

Carefully pop out the dome light switch - you should see maybe 6 wires: 3 red and 3 gray, hopefully. Get an extra piece of red wire about a foot long and snake that from the radio hole through the switch hole. Use the scotch-lock to connect your new wire to one of the red wires on the switch a few inches or so away from the switch so you can fit them back in. This may be easier if you remove the switch panel. This assumes you have a rear dome light switch on your cluster. In a really bare bones car there may not be one.

You've now got steady +12v at the radio. Crimp that to the steady +12 at the radio.

Cap off all other unused wires. You don't need to connect the dimmer wire to the radio, the radio will just never know your headlights are on and will be bright. I'd cap the other wires too, rather than cut. You may want to install rear speakers.

Your radio should now run off fuse 4 (switched) and fuse 2 (unswitched).

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