Stereo Help

[crikett]

An odd problem with a stereo install in an '85 Carrera...

Quick background: for a variety of reasons, was time to yank out the old stereo and get something a bit more modern. Once I dug into removing the old head unit and CD changer that was up front, also discovered an old alarm system and early '90s cell phone crap... alot of time tracing wires and getting it all out, until today I was finally left with just the HU wiring harness.

The problem: The new HU is in, and works... BUT, it doesn't power off. It turns off when the car's ignition is off, and comes back on when I start up, but hitting the power button on the HU does nothing. The stereo remembers anything in memory while the car is shut off, and everything seems good except for this (and likewise, everything else from lights to power windows in the car is working without a problem).

Specifics: The new stereo is an Alpine CDE-123, and it's replacing an old Eclipse unit. I basically just wired up the whatever was setup to the old Eclipse harness to the new Alpine harness - of which there are only a few things that made me wonder as I did it... first, the Illumination cable was/is connected to the Remote out (and both connected up to the amp power on... not sure why the illumination is run here); the power antenna is connected up, though not sure to what (suspect it may be some now disconnected alarm or cellphone element since the car doesn't have a power antenna, and other than the amp, there isn't anything that would be powered on with the HU).

I haven't tried disconnecting the above yet, but will probably do that tomorrow (late in the day and done for now). But thought maybe someone here might read this and go "ahh, that's obvious!" Anyone?

Thanks

[wwest]

You have wired the antenna power output to ignition main voltage source, back feeding voltage onto the switched side inside the radio.

[rusnak]

Can't understand the shorthand lingo. Too much background and not enough detail in the question.

Not sure what the problem is

[crikett]

wwest - thanks, will plan to try disconnecting that one first and see what happens.

rusnak - the problem is that the new stereo won't shut off. If I completely disconnect the battery, then it will power off, and power on as you would expect when turning on the power. But hitting the power again has no affect. It turns off once the ignition is completely off, but is then on again once the ignition is back on.

[rusnak]

That should be easy to fix. Make sure you follow the manufacturer's instructions, and use a test light to find a "switched" circuit - one that shuts off when the key is off. The stock radio circuit should be yellow, or yellow and red.

[crikett]

Update - no real success.

Everything tested as though I had the right connections (as far as not mixing up the battery and the ignition/switched), but tried it around the other ways and had the exact same results. When I disconnected the power antenna connection, then nothing would power on.

Not sure what else to try and may be time to accept defeat on this and let an actual installer take a look (and if so, not a loss since I did manage to strip out many pounds of unneeded crap and clean up the wiring quite a bit)!

Thanks again for the help and certainly open to any other suggestions if anyone has them.

[nineball]

have you tested the radio itself outside of the car? twist the constant and switched wires together, then attach them to a battery + and the negative to the -. try to operate the radio. if nothing else it will confirm or deny the problem lies in the car's wiring.