OK….well I got the stereo unit out, now can anybody help me wire it?
Basically, I’d like to just wire the “new” unit into the “old” harness (if that’s even possible), but first If somebody can help me understand WTF I’m looking at. I have my FSM open to the Electrical section “J” audio system, but I can figure out what these plugs are?

First, the obvious is the antenna…so I don’t need help with that one.

Second, this Blue wire….power antenna?



How about these? Blue/Green, Red/Green/White, and Light Green



Then you have this big Black Plug…..I don’t know…speakers? Is there a way I can slice into this and just hook up my speakers through it?



Then last we have these two cream colored plugs…the female wasn’t plugged
into anything, and the male has this cover on it.





Your assistance is most appreciated.

 

Here is my replacement....looks a little moldy, but works fine....

I wanted an new unit because my old one was starting to crap out on me, but I wanted it to look correct in my car.







Again....any assistance is very much appreciated.

 

Not sure, but I believe the wiring for 83 is the same as 84-85. So what I just posted in Slayer's thread should be true for you also.

J-03 is a three terminal plug with Red/green, Blue and Blue/Green wire. Red/green is for the illumination lights, Blue comes from J-04 and Blue/green goes to the power antenna relay.

J-04 is a 6 terminal plug with only 4 terminals used. Blue/yellow is constant 12V, Blue/white is switched 12V, Red/green is illumination lights, Blue is from J-03.

J-05 is a single terminal with Blue/yellow wire with constant 12v power.

The round plugs are for the low level signal from the head units. These signals run through the fader joystick and to the amps. The front speaker level output comes from the right side amp, through the main harness, back to the audio harness through plug J-10 (behind head units) and to the front speakers. Rear speaker level output goes from the left side amp, through plug J-13 (near the amp under the storage box) and to the rear speakers. You can plug into the speaker side of J-10 for the front speakers, but you need to run new wiring for the rear. You can run wire from the head unit to the area under the left bin and connect to the speaker side of J-13. I like to run new heavier gauge wires from the new head unit or amp to the each speaker.

 

To answer your questions, those two 6 pin round plugs are useless to you. The stock head unit does not have a built in amp, in any year of 1st gen RX-7. The signal from the head unit is sent back through one 6 pin round plug to the separate amp. I believe there was only one from 79-83, but I could be wrong. Both the 79 and 82 I have had only have 1 amp. It will be located under the storage bin behind the driver. As far as I know, there is no way to splice a new signal into this amp.

The easiest way to solve your problem is to run new speaker wires from your replacement head unit to your front speakers, then run two more speaker wires to the location of the amp. At this point, you can locate the wires on the plug coming from the amp for your rear speakers and splice into them. Its much easier to do it this way and it prevents you from having to run wires all the way to the back of the car.

 

^Agree, much easier to run new speaker wire than to try using the stock speaker wiring.

 

OK....going to run new speaker wire.....now the questions are: Can I still use the factory amps? According to my FSM, I have 2 - 25w amps...which I believe are beneath the seats, and are joined by the joystick.
And What is that single Blue wire coming out of the back of the Clarion unit? Is that the "constant power" as 74RX4 states? Because he says the wire is single terminal (which it is) J-05 Blue/Yellow (which it's not...it's solid Blue).

Thanks....I thought this was going to be sooo simple....so basic nobody need to do a write-up....

 

I don't think you want to use the amps. FSM has a pin diagram if you want to try. Most modern head units have almost that much power on their own. The blue wire on the Clarion should be constant 12V. It plugs into the terminal with the Blue/yellow wire from the audio harness.

 

Assuming your "new" head unit has a built in amp (most do) then no need for the factory amps, just get some decent speaker wire and run it right to the speakers.
As for getting power etc, you might want to look into a cheap multimeter, or at least a test light (they are only a few $ at walmart) then you just check the few wires that are there to see which has power. It's been so long since I did anything with the stereo harness on my 83 that I can't remember what color was what...

 

Ok....got the new speaker wire installed. Now it's time for the deck.....Can somebody help me identify these wires? I think 74RX4 had most of it, but I'd like to be sure.

In this first picture, I believe this is the J-05 plug it came directly out of the old deck and has a Blue/Green stripe and a Red/Green stripe, and a Light Green/White stripe wire (the Lt Green wire was fused on the old deck).


Then we have this plug, which was plugged into a "dummy" plug on the back of the accessory bin, it has a Blue/Red stripe, two Red/Green Stripe, and a Lt Green/White stripe.


Then, last I have a single Blue wire (also fused) which I believe is for the power antenna.

As always....your help is appreciated!

 

So I did a little legwork for you here in the FSM. According to the wiring diagram in the 83 manual, the blue wire with green stripe on the 3 pin connector is the power antenna activate (must be grounded to activate the antenna, opposite of what your head unit likely does), the red wire with green stripe is illumination (on with headlights), and the green with white stripe wire is switched power (on with the key). The last wire with its own fuse is constant power.

Any aftermarket headunit I have seen activates the power antenna by providing 12V to the antenna relay. This is the opposite to what you want. You want the headunit to provide a ground when it is on to operate the antenna. To do this, you need to wire in an extra relay. Any 4 pin automotive relay will do and are only about $5 from a automotive supply store. For wiring this, 12V from the headunit power antenna wire will activate the relay, closing the contacts. You can wire one side of the contacts to a ground, and the other to the old power antenna wire. So wiring of the relay is like this (pins on the relay are numbered):

pin 36 - power antenna wire from aftermarket headunit
pin 85 - grounded
pin 86 - grounded
pin 87 - power antenna wire from the original wiring harness 3 pin plug.

You don't need to worry about the 6 pin connector if you plug it back into the "dummy" plug. If you don't, there won't be the proper power at certain spots on the 3 pin connector. Basically all you have to do is connect the blue/yellow wire on the 6 pin to the blue wire on the 6 pin. This plug was originally used for a factory tape deck, and I believe when you turn the deck on, the power is interrupted between the blue/yellow and blue wires on the 6 pin and turns the radio off, using the radio simply to control volume. When the tape deck is off, power passes through from blue/yellow to the blue wire.

 

To summarize, for 83 per the wiring diagram the stereo power plugs are...

J-05 is a three terminal plug with Red/green, Lt Green/white and Blue/Green wire. Red/green is for the illumination lights, Lt Green/white comes from J-04 and Blue/green goes to the power antenna relay.

J-04 is a 6 terminal plug with only 3 terminals used. Blue/red is switched 12V, Red/green is illumination lights, Lt Green/white is from J-05.
If you plug this into the "blank" plug or the separate "Stereo Deck" it connects Blue/red (switched 12v) to the Lt Green/white wire.

J-06 is a single terminal with Blue/yellow wire with constant 12v power. This wire is Blue instead of Blue/yellow?

 

Thanks to all!

Perhaps next time you could write this in crayon? Might be easier for me to understand....

I don't have my car with me today, but I'll be back "finishing" this install tomorrow.

Again, I appreciate the help and patience

 

Cheering you on, Pat.

 

Pat....all JI have to say is take notes....I will more than likely be doing the same thing soon and may need some tips from ya... The guy I bought my 83 back from (he has had it since 88 when I sold it to him) claims he has the stock radio packed away,,,,and of course its the 3 piece clarion w/equalizer and joystick....

 

FINISHED!!!
Sounds great (4 new speakers and wires) and still looks period correct....only wish I could run mp3's

Thanks again to everyone!

83 Limited....drop me a line any time, I'd be glad to share my (limited) experience!

 

Get you an MP3 player with a built-in FM transmitter; I have one from Archos, and I use it both in the car and all day at work, transmitting to the stereo I have behind my desk. WiFiHiFi!

 

did you end up being able to use the joystick? If I can get that and the Mr. Fusion working it would be a total creamdream.

 

Was not able to keep the joystick in the loop. Right now it's just sitting there....eventually I'd like to make up some sort of plate and maybe mount up a fog light switch or something,