ETR clock is always on

[Milblazer]

After swapping the military harnesses out of my CUCV for civilian counterparts I found an ETR cassette radio that wound up in my dash. Its not the best working but it works. Out of curiousity I asked RetroC10Sport if my clock being on all the time was normal and it, in fact, is not. He directed me to the yellow wire on the black power connector on the dash harness. As soon as I went to test the yellow wire with a multimeter the radio fuse blew so I confirmed that the yellow wire is getting constant power. Now I have to figure out how to fix this. If anyone has any ideas on how to work this out I'm all ears. I'm going to go put my nose in the wiring schematics. Thanks all!

 

[chengny]

1983-86 GMC Jimmy (fullsize) Stereo Wiring
Constant 12V+ Orange
Switched 12V+ Yellow
Ground Black
Illumination Gray
Dimmer Brown
Antenna Trigger Pink
Antenna Right Front
Front Speakers 3 1/2" Dash
Left Front (+) Tan
Left Front (-) Gray
Right Front (+) Light Green
Right Front (-) Dark Green
Rear Speakers 6 1/2" Rear Sides
Left Rear (+) Brown
Left Rear (-) Yellow
Right Rear (+) Dark Blue
Right Rear (-) Light Blue

 

[Milblazer]

So how would I get the orange and yellow switched?

 

[MrMarty51]

So how would I get the orange and yellow switched?

Do`nt aks Me how but it is easy todo.

 

[chengny]

They should already be wired to the appropriate taps on the fuse block.

If not, use the diagram below for reference:

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Tapping the yellow wire into the "I" group (ignition) will only allow radio to power up when the key is in the "RUN" position.

On the other hand, if the yellow is fed from the "A" group (accessories), the radio will be able to be used when the key is in either the "RUN" or the "ACC" positions.

 

[Milblazer]

I'll have to see if the previous owner of the wiring moved bits around. If not I have another interior harness I can swap in. Does it matter if I do not have that style of fuseblock? That looks to be 85 and up. Mine is 84

 

[RetroC10Sport]

There should be a spot on yours for "accy" power that will work fine. The 1983 wiring manual I sent you would show where it is if it's worn off on your fusebox.

 

[Milblazer]

Ok, I'm starting to see what is wrong now. Orange wire from the fuse is supposed to be constantly hot, yellow wire is supposed to be switched hot but is getting constant power some how. Hmm. Could this be because of a bad steering column? Mine is on its last legs and the igntion doesnt always work properly. Its probably not the ignition switch as that is new.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

Is anything else staying on? heater? gauges? or just the radio?

 

[Milblazer]

Nothing looks to be on. Except when I hit the brake pedal I can see one of the instrument lights turn on, the right turn signal light, and the light in the transfer case cover comes on. Dont know if that means anything.

 

[Milblazer]

So I have an update to this. Seeing as how I learned that the yellow and orange wires were most likely in the wrong place according to the radio wiring diagram I decided to pull out my dash harness instead of having to work upside down under a dash all day. While I was at it I also pulled out the radio that was installed. Seeing as how I hate to waste time I reinstalled a different dash harness I had so I could run the truck to clean out the cooling system while I tinkered with the faulty harness. After reinstalling the dash harness I decided to throw in a junkyard ETR radio I found to see if it worked. Got everything together and what do you know, does the same thing. Different dash harness, different radio, same problem. I am absolutely lost.

Could the light switch be the problem? While messing around today I remembered reading something about there being two different light switches, one with seven terminals and one with eight terminals. I have the seven pin. Anyone know if the one with eight is needed?

 

[Milblazer]

Another update. I found a suburban in a pull and pay that had an ETR radio at one point and it had seven terminals like my truck so that was not the issue. I replaced the steering column to fix another electrical problem and I cold finally drive places. Along with this issue I was having issues with the turn signals as well. One was always on due to a bad bulb and the other didnt blink properly because I had a single filament bulb where a double filament bulb should have been. After fixing the bulbs the clock on my radio is no longer on constantly.

 

[dhamp]

I've heard talk of weird things happening when using the wrong type of bulb, but never heard it mess with a radio before. Interesting......