Stereo Installation

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deejay1272
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My tercel:: 1985 Navy Blue Tercel Wagon SR5 4x4 now with Weber 32/36!
Location: Portland, OR

Stereo Installation

Post by deejay1272 »

I bought my 1985 a few months ago and it came with some old Pioneer tape deck that was aftermarket, but mostly worthless since it couldn't host any music technology source newer than cassette tapes. I scored a used CD player and some new speakers on Craigslist so I thought I'd try to make a comprehensive write-up on the wiring/installation for the stereo in the T4WD. Here goes...

Existing speaker wiring:
FRONT SPEAKERS
Driver side (Left) - solid pink (POSITIVE) and brown with white stripe (NEGATIVE)
Passenger side (Right) - solid pink (POSITIVE) and pink with black stripe (NEGATIVE)

REAR SPEAKERS
Driver side (Left) - Blue with orange stripe (POSITIVE) and blue with black stripe (NEGATIVE)
Passenger side (Right) - Solid black (POSITIVE) and Black with white stripe (NEGATIVE)

POWER
Solid red

"ACC" (aka accessory or ignition) This wire is used to turn the head unit on and off with the ignition.
Pink with blue stripe
Last edited by deejay1272 on Thu Jan 07, 2010 10:34 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Beefsteak when I'm hungry, whiskey when I'm dry
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by Petros »

take a volt-ohm meter and find which wire(s) has continuity with a good ground, this would be the negative. And with the meter on volts, you put the pos terminal on the wire (key in "accessory" postion) and neg to ground to find which one is pos 12v. On modern stereos you will also need a source of 12v that is always on so you do not lose the settings and clock every time you turn off the ignition. You may have to run a new wire directly from the fuse box or battery with its own built-in fuse for this since the old push button stereo did not need power to keep the "programing" of the selection buttons.

good luck.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
deejay1272
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Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:20 pm
My tercel:: 1985 Navy Blue Tercel Wagon SR5 4x4 now with Weber 32/36!
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by deejay1272 »

Brilliant. I'll give this a go later on this week and report my findings for everyone. Thanks, Petros.
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Beefsteak when I'm hungry, whiskey when I'm dry
Greenbacks when I'm hard up, heaven when I die
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sdoan
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel 4wd DLX 2nd owner (sold), 1984 SR5 3rd owner (sold), 1984 with 4A engine and factory sunroof SR5 3rd owner.
Location: Bellingham, WA

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by sdoan »

I just did this recently. The stock am/fm tape deck had 2 gang plugs in the back. My recollection was that the larger one had wires for constant 12v and for ignition switchable 12v and 4 wires for the front speakers, while the smaller plug had the ground wire and the 4 rear speaker wires. Let me know if you need me to confirm this or need the wire color codes. It'll take a little time to dig it out.

Shawn
deejay1272
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My tercel:: 1985 Navy Blue Tercel Wagon SR5 4x4 now with Weber 32/36!
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by deejay1272 »

sdoan wrote:I just did this recently. The stock am/fm tape deck had 2 gang plugs in the back. My recollection was that the larger one had wires for constant 12v and for ignition switchable 12v and 4 wires for the front speakers, while the smaller plug had the ground wire and the 4 rear speaker wires. Let me know if you need me to confirm this or need the wire color codes. It'll take a little time to dig it out. Shawn
If you could provide me with a list of what wires are positive and negative for each speaker, then I will confirm this with my own investigation and post results and photos in the near future.

Thanks!
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Beefsteak when I'm hungry, whiskey when I'm dry
Greenbacks when I'm hard up, heaven when I die
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sdoan
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel 4wd DLX 2nd owner (sold), 1984 SR5 3rd owner (sold), 1984 with 4A engine and factory sunroof SR5 3rd owner.
Location: Bellingham, WA

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by sdoan »

This is what I have for a wire color codes for a 1984 Tercel with stock AM/FM cassette tape player. These colors match those in the 1983 FSM wiring diagram.

Constant 12V supply is RED and located in the small gang-plug with the rear speaker wires.
Switchable (ignition on/off) 12V wire is PINK with Blue stripe and brown hash marks. It is located in the larger gang-plug with the front speaker wires.
Ground is WHITE with Black stripe and it is located in the center of the larger gang-plug.

Front speaker wires are in the larger gang-plug. The colors are at the gang-plug, not the speaker.
Right front speaker wires are PINK and PINK with Black stripe.
Left front speaker wires are PINK with White stripe and Brown with White stripe.

Rear speaker wires are in the smaller gang-plug. The colors are at the gang-plug, not the speaker.
Right rear speaker wires are BLACK and BLACK with White stripe.
Left rear speaker wires are BLUE with Black stripe and BLUE with Orange stripe.

It turns out I don't know for sure the polarity of the the speaker wires - the speakers and the wiring diagrams don't have polarity markings that I can find. I started with the front speakers and assumed that PINK and PINK with White were positive and that PINK with Black and BROWN with White were negative. This followed a pattern in the FSM wiring diagram that I followed for the rear speakers - but this is extremely weak evidence so let me know if I'm wrong. For the rear speakers I connected BLACK and BLUE with Black to positive and BLACK with White and BLUE with Orange to negative.

So I might have the speaker polarity screwed up, let me know if you know how to determine speaker polarity.

Cheers,
Shawn
deejay1272
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Posts: 403
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My tercel:: 1985 Navy Blue Tercel Wagon SR5 4x4 now with Weber 32/36!
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by deejay1272 »

I went ahead and listed the polarity of each speaker cable on my first post. Everything is connected and working beautifully. Enjoy!
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Beefsteak when I'm hungry, whiskey when I'm dry
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twleung
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Re: Stereo Installation

Post by twleung »

i missing one wire..

the green with brown stripe or dark red stripe can't really tell what color it is. what is this used for?

Image

top small-gang plug red = constant power? (circled in image but txt wasn't big enough, sorry)
deejay1272
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My tercel:: 1985 Navy Blue Tercel Wagon SR5 4x4 now with Weber 32/36!
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by deejay1272 »

If it isn't listed in my first post, then I didn't need to use it. I don't think that this wire is of any consequence.
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Beefsteak when I'm hungry, whiskey when I'm dry
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by dlb »

i've found later tercels to use different colouring for stereo wiring. the '87 i'm working on now is

Radio Battery Constant 12v+ Wire: Blue/Yellow
Radio Accessory Switched 12v+ Wire: Gray
Radio Ground Wire: Brown
Radio Illumination Wire: Green
Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Pink
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Purple
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Green
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue
Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Black
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Yellow
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Red
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): White

and the '86 i last worked on was different too, though i don't have the wiring written down and can't remember it. incidentally, this is the site i've used before for stereo wiring. pretty good resource.

http://stereowiringdiagram.info/1987-toyota-tercel/
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ARCHINSTL
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My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Here is a thread, w/pix, from my '86 when I installed a new (to Goldie) radio: https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... dio#p51699
Tom M.
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jlabatch
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Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:42 pm
My tercel:: 1983
Location: Littleton, Colorado

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by jlabatch »

I have an '83 and the wiring is as described above, when putting in an aftermarket head unit, what wire should go to the switchable (Pink w Blue stripe and Brown hash marks)? I have all of the other wires described below connect.

I do not have the remote (blue) wire connected, the illumination (orange) wire, the Tel Muting (brown) wire or the Battery (yellow) wire from the head unit.

The remaining wires I have from the car are the switchable (Pink w Blue stripe and Brown hash marks), the Green w/ Red stripe and Brown hash marks and the Blue with Red stripe and Brown hash marks.

I can not get the headunit to turn on. Can someone help me out?

Thanks,
Josh
sdoan wrote:This is what I have for a wire color codes for a 1984 Tercel with stock AM/FM cassette tape player. These colors match those in the 1983 FSM wiring diagram.

Constant 12V supply is RED and located in the small gang-plug with the rear speaker wires.
Switchable (ignition on/off) 12V wire is PINK with Blue stripe and brown hash marks. It is located in the larger gang-plug with the front speaker wires.
Ground is WHITE with Black stripe and it is located in the center of the larger gang-plug.

Front speaker wires are in the larger gang-plug. The colors are at the gang-plug, not the speaker.
Right front speaker wires are PINK and PINK with Black stripe.
Left front speaker wires are PINK with White stripe and Brown with White stripe.

Rear speaker wires are in the smaller gang-plug. The colors are at the gang-plug, not the speaker.
Right rear speaker wires are BLACK and BLACK with White stripe.
Left rear speaker wires are BLUE with Black stripe and BLUE with Orange stripe.

It turns out I don't know for sure the polarity of the the speaker wires - the speakers and the wiring diagrams don't have polarity markings that I can find. I started with the front speakers and assumed that PINK and PINK with White were positive and that PINK with Black and BROWN with White were negative. This followed a pattern in the FSM wiring diagram that I followed for the rear speakers - but this is extremely weak evidence so let me know if I'm wrong. For the rear speakers I connected BLACK and BLUE with Black to positive and BLACK with White and BLUE with Orange to negative.

So I might have the speaker polarity screwed up, let me know if you know how to determine speaker polarity.

Cheers,
Shawn
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
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Re: Stereo Installation

Post by dlb »

jlabatch, i'm not cquite clear on your sitch but i can see a few things already.

the yellow constant power (aka battery) wire from the head looks like it should go to the red car wire.

the switched power (aka ignition) wire from the head looks like it should go to the pink w/ blue strip car wire. it sounds like you have this one connected to something else, which would explain why you can't get the unit to turn on so double check the rest of your wiring. also look for wires that a previous owner has cut really short that might be hidden a little bit. you can always just splice a length of wire on if you find this.

the remote wire from the head unit is only used if you have an amp and subwoofer. if you do have these, the remote wire goes to the remote port on the amp. if not, just tape up the end of the wire since it will not be used.

not sure where the brown tel muting wire goes. that's for bluetooth-type stuff. i've never used it. if you don't have bluetooth stuff, again, just tape the end of the wire and leave it.

according to this

http://stereowiringdiagram.info/1983-toyota-tercel/

the orange illumination wire from your head unit should go to a green wire from the car. all this is for is dimming the lights on the face of the head unit when the running lights are turned on. that way you can see the stereo screen in the day and not be blinded by it at night. i'm guessing that this would be the green w/ red stripe wire on the car but i'm not sure. the information in the above link is quite different from the info sdoan has posted so you might have to do some trial and error here. i would twist the orange head wire with the green car wire, turn the stereo on, and then turn the running lights on. if the stereo dims, it works. if you don't have a green wire from your car, (you guessed it) just tape the end of the wire.
jlabatch
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Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:42 pm
My tercel:: 1983
Location: Littleton, Colorado

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by jlabatch »

Thanks a lot dlb, I need to try hooking it up according to this link first to really see what the issue is.
I will be sure to fill in everyone when I am done.

Thanks again.
TURTCEL
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My tercel:: 1985 4WD SR5 Wagon, Brown (TURTCEL)
Location: Everett, WA

Re: Stereo Installation

Post by TURTCEL »

I also just installed a new aftermarket deck in my Terc. I bought the car with an aftermarket deck already installed and a new Sony Xplod deck with a front aux port for an Ipod came with the car as well. I really wanted the front aux port so I wouldn't have to run an accessory cable out of the back of the deck like the one that was installed.

The problem I ran into when I installed the Sony deck was that whoever installed the deck that was in the car just hacked the wires up something fierce. I was very particular in how I wired in the new deck making sure that all the wiring was done up really cleanly and any unused wires were butted.

The only wiring that I did not connect was the dimmer wire for the deck. I would have liked this to have been wired in but I wasn't sure how to properly do it and it really wasn't that important.

It really frustrates me when people install an aftermarket deck in a car and just hack the heck out of the wiring when they put it in. Especially like whoever did mine and thought that twisting wires together and wrapping them in electrical tape was an ok way to do the job.

When I was younger my Uncle installed a stereo in my '69 Impala as a graduation gift from high school. He worked for a stereo shop and instead of cutting the factory wires he was able to make plug assembly that adapted the stock plug to whatever aftermarket deck you were installing. This eliminted cutting any wires and istallation and removal was 10x faster. I kept my stock radio in case I ever sold the car I could just unplug the adapter and plug the stock deck back in. The Sony deck that came with my Terc had one of these plugs made up for it but I could not use it because the factory plug had already been cut out.

These plugs are available for almost any car and all that you need to bring in to the shop is the stereo plug for the deck and the shop can make you the adapter. It has been many years since I had mine made but it cost me right around $20 back then so now I would guess it would cost around $30 or so.

This is a nice way to keep the car as factory as possible and still be able to have nice aftermarket tunes. Look into this as an option the next time you want to install a new deck. Time is money and money is time. This is one of those work smarter not harder situations.

Obviously this would only make sense for someone that was only interested in a basic stereo upgrade. Anyone looking for higher sound performance obviously would run all new wiring of better quailty in order to achieve better sound quality and performance that stock wiring can not accomodate.

Peace
1985 Tercel 4wd SR5 Wagon, WEBER Carb, Brown (TURTCEL)
1988 Corolla DLX All-Trac Wagon, 4 speed AT, Silver (Wife's new car)
1993 Ford Escort Wagon LX, 5 Speed, Smurf Blue (Smurfette)...selling
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