Constant hot wire

[Doug13]

Hello everyone, i'm hopeful someone can give me direction. I have been rewiring under the dash of my suburban since I've got it . I now have dash lights and all external lights working but it came with a decent radio but the stations will not stay programmed. I know the yellow wire is whats supposed keep them programmed. But here is my problem I can't find a [Constant power] source under the dash most of the wiring has been hacked to badly should i just ran a wire straight to the battery.

 

[bucket]

The fuse box will have a couple extra BAT terminals that you can hook to with a spade connector.

 

[Doug13]

The fuse box will have a couple extra BAT terminals that you can hook to with a spade connector.

Yes Ive tried that , now I'm wondering if the radio is any good . Thanks Bucket

 

[Crispy]

You can do as bucket mentioned or you can test (or look for) the yellow wire behind the radio. Supposed to be the 12v constant. If you run right to the battery use a fuse.

 

[Doug13]

You can do as bucket mentioned or you can test (or look for) the yellow wire behind the radio. Supposed to be the 12v constant. If you run right to the battery use a fuse.

Thanks I've got one wired up ready to go it just got so cold outside...lol i had to stop and tackle it in the a m.

 

[chengny]

Hello everyone, i'm hopeful someone can give me direction. I have been rewiring under the dash of my suburban since I've got it . I now have dash lights and all external lights working but it came with a decent radio but the stations will not stay programmed. I know the yellow wire is whats supposed keep them programmed. But here is my problem I can't find a [Constant power] source under the dash most of the wiring has been hacked to badly should i just ran a wire straight to the battery.

There are three ORN (40, 140 & 240) circuits that are always hot and supply tons of stuff. You should be able to find a number of places to splice into one of them.

For example:

1.The ORN 40 feed goes to the tail light terminal on the headlight switch and then to the courtesy lighting.

2. The 140 circuit feeds the dash clock, dome/cargo lighting circuits, hazard flasher, seat belt warning buzzer and brake light switch.

3. The 240 supplies the control side of the horn relay and the cigarette lighter.

A good place to tap in would be the cigarette lighter. Just reach under the dash, yank the orange lead off the lighter body and there should be enough slack to just run it over to the radio bay.

 

[Doug13]

There are three ORN (40, 140 & 240) circuits that are always hot and supply tons of stuff. You should be able to find a number of places to splice into one of them.

For example:

1.The ORN 40 feed goes to the tail light terminal on the headlight switch and then to the courtesy lighting.

2. The 140 circuit feeds the dash clock, dome/cargo lighting circuits, hazard flasher, seat belt warning buzzer and brake light switch.

3. The 240 supplies the control side of the horn relay and the cigarette lighter.

A good place to tap in would be the cigarette lighter. Just reach under the dash, yank the orange lead off the lighter body and there should be enough slack to just run it over to the radio bay.

 

[Doug13]

There are three ORN (40, 140 & 240) circuits that are always hot and supply tons of stuff. You should be able to find a number of places to splice into one of them.

For example:

1.The ORN 40 feed goes to the tail light terminal on the headlight switch and then to the courtesy lighting.

2. The 140 circuit feeds the dash clock, dome/cargo lighting circuits, hazard flasher, seat belt warning buzzer and brake light switch.

3. The 240 supplies the control side of the horn relay and the cigarette lighter.

A good place to tap in would be the cigarette lighter. Just reach under the dash, yank the orange lead off the lighter body and there should be enough slack to just run it over to the radio bay.

Dang why didn't i think of that . Thank you so much . There is plenty of place to power from .

 

[Matt69olds]

Just to clarify, the yellow radio wire is switched power with the key. Orange has always been hot at all times, on a few different fuses (dome/courtesy lamp, cigarette lighter, horn, etc) gray is dash lighting controlled by turning the light switch knob, pink is ignition hot. GM has used the same wiring colors for as long as the 12 volt system has been around.

 

[Matt69olds]

I had a friend who ran a auto repair shop, he was known as the sharpest electrical troubleshooting shop around. Sometimes I would help when things got really busy. With ford and Mopar vehicles, if the wiring colors didn’t match whatever you were working on, go one year older or newer in the wiring schematics. Apparently, it was not uncommon for ford or Chrysler to change venders on who build their harnesses, sometimes in the middle of a model year. I told him I wanted no part of the import stuff he would sometimes get in, the domestic stuff is confusing enough!! GM has always kept those things simple and unchanged.

 

[75gmck25]

I would have to work thrugh the wiring diagram to be sure, but be cautious when using the orange wire circuits under the dash, because it may work differently when you tap some locations.

- One orange wire provides a constant 12 volts for the dome lights, and it is always connected to one terminal for the lights (no switch).
- The other terminal of the dome lights is connected to a white wire, which is grounded by the door switches and/or headlight switch to make the lights come on.
- It works the opposite of most other ciruits, since usually the ground is constant for a device and you switch the power on and off. The dome light circuit switches the ground.
- If you tap into the orange line running to the dome light, and it finds a connection to ground through the radio, your dome light might also go/stay on. However, I'm not positive it would work that way in all cases.

Bruce

 

[bucket]

It's an aftermarket radio that has been wired in.

The standard aftermarket colors are yellow for constant power and red for switched power.

 

[chengny]

I could very well be wrong, but the way I read his original post was;

That he was all set with the switched power (YEL from the truck's harness to the RED in the radio's harness). What he needed help with was, where to find a nearby uninterrupted 12 volt source. So he could splice it into the radio's YEL and maintain the preset stations memory.

IDK, maybe I misunderstood.

I know the yellow wire is whats supposed keep them programmed. But here is my problem I can't find a [Constant power] source under the dash most of the wiring has been hacked to badly should i just ran a wire straight to the battery.

 

[bucket]

He said it was a decent radio that wouldn't keep the presets. I took that as meaning an aftermarket radio of decent quality. The stock radio wouldn't have had electronic presets. I don't think the digital Delco was available yet in '84 and it appears to be a low-option Burb anyway.

 

[Doug13]

I could very well be wrong, but the way I read his original post was;

That he was all set with the switched power (YEL from the truck's harness to the RED in the radio's harness). What he needed help with was, where to find a nearby uninterrupted 12 volt source. So he could splice it into the radio's YEL and maintain the preset stations memory.

IDK, maybe I misunderstood.

I know the yellow wire is whats supposed keep them programmed. But here is my problem I can't find a [Constant power] source under the dash most of the wiring has been hacked to badly should i just ran a wire straight to the battery.

Hey Bucket i used the orange wire under the dash to yellow wire on the radio it worked my presets all worked . One more thing done . Thank You .

One other thing i noticed behind the ash tray there is a thicker yellow wire thats been cut and there is thicker black wire that has also been cut by the way its has been cut its obviously they where connected what would that be ???