follow the wiring loom, it should go to a small external amp under the dash which has the connectors you need, at least thats what my setup had. i ran into the same problem as you did, pulled the dash and went what the f is this?

 

Hmm,thanks, i'll check that when I get home- Can I ask if the thing you found went directly into your head unit, or what? Either way, if this doesn't work I'll post some pics, hopefully it isn't some proprietary connector...

 

yes it went directly into my head unit, same connector you are describing, went to an amp just behind where the head unit was situated. i would send pics but i have since put the head unit and amp in my corolla.

 

Thanks man, I am headed home in about 5 minutes and will post pics if I can't find the amp, but thanks again and if you don't hear from me that means 1 of 3 things; 1.) It worked 2.)Fiance is angry with me 3.)Fiance is happy with me

 

From what I can tell it looks like some definate butchering- But what would be compatable with that I don't, I'd really like to avoid having to go through all of those wires manually, but if need be...

 

yeah that looks pretty hacked up to me, good luck on that one i just dont understand why people do that, the harnesses cost 5 farkin dollars do it right the first time!!! IDIOTS!!

 

That looks a lot like the stock 14 pin premium connector, oddly enough. I can't imagine why someone would splice in one of those, though. The only route I can think of is they bought the car without the premium sound, later wanted to upgrade to the stock premium unit, and spliced in a stock connector...but I'm not even sure that would work. Maybe it didn't, and they gave up and got rid of the stock premium unit, but left in the hack job. Did the radio work at all when you bought the car?

Simplest route forward from here would be to remove the 14 pin connector and splice in an aftermarket-compatible connector at the same point. Hopefully nothing else is butchered.

-Stephen M

 

Hey can someone post a pic of the Premium head unit? If that is the case then I can get my $110 back from Best Buy and use it to buy (hopefully) a double DIN premium CD player.

EDIT

The back of the unit I mean, with the connector.

 

Someone may have spliced that in because the previous one was cut with the stereo it was attached to during a theft.

-Nathan

 

Or the entire car could have been stolen and the thief ripped the stereo out and left it on the ground just to be ironic.

 

Yeah, that's definitely a premium stereo connector, and you'll be having difficulties trying to wire a new headunit in. What are your intentions now? Stay with a stock premium HU or still go aftermarket? Do you need any guidance as to what needs to be done to go aftermarket?

 

Well I'm not staying with the HU that was in there when I got it, no way. What was in there was nothing more than a radio/casette player and I'd really like to be able to play CDs, I know that's a fancy new thing nowadays but...

No, but seriously if my HU could play mp3s I'd really love that, RW compatable would be great too, but now that we know its a premium connector to they make a harness for that? I can tell you I already have an aftermarket HU thats simple, looks great with the interior and does everything I need so if I could get a harness for that I would love you or whoever got me hooked up with one...

 

Well, the bad news is that there's only one (that I know of) connector that will connect to the stock connector. The problem is that's it ~$50 and only availabe in European online stores. First off, are you sure you don't have the premium sound system? Just because you have a radio and cassette doesn't mean you don't. I had that too, and I assure you I did have the premium system.

 

I also don't have subs, or an amp under the seat... Any other way to tell?

 

The lack of a sub is somewhat indicative, but check to see if you have any amps behind the driver's side rear plastic panel. It's the one where the seatbelt goes into.

 

Nope, the seatbelt was busted so I have been in there quite a bit, nothing even resembling an amp... And what did you say about that harness? Why would it be $50+?

 

The harness is expensive since it's not availble in the US and you'll have to pay for exchange rates and international shipping. For whatever reason, you have a non-premium stereo with a premium stereo connector. The only way to get something aftermarket in is to do some custom wiring, although not as far as "rewire the entire car, speaker-to-speaker."

 

Alright, that shouldn't be so bad then, I'll do some searching for wiring diagrams, but all the one's I've seen so far are a bit on the "WTF?" side. I should be able to get this though.

 

If it's already been hacked up, why are you trying to save that connector for use with a different stereo? Just cut it out and splice in the stock internally amplified harness, and go from there. That's a little more work, but getting connectors to work with it, will be alot easier and cheaper. Or the other option is if you're going with an aftermarket stereo, just wire it's harness directly into the existing wires and forget about it. If you don't have any stock amps that harness makes no sense anyway.

-Nathan

 

Yeah, I know, but I am lazy to I just asked to avoid messing anything up, but I suppose you saw the pictures and know it can't get much more butchered so I may as well have a crack at it.

 

Alright, I had about a half hour today and decided to take a look at my stereo situation, but when I got down in there and disconnected the connector that was taped on there I realized all the wiring diagrams I had didn't fit the wires I saw. People had told me to use the diagrams for the 90-93 Celica and that is waaay off from the wires I have in there, anyone have any ideas on diagrams? Take a look at the pictures.

 

Alright, I had about a half hour today and decided to take a look at my stereo situation, but when I got down in there and disconnected the connector that was taped on there I realized all the wiring diagrams I had didn't fit the wires I saw. People had told me to use the diagrams for the 90-93 Celica and that is waaay off from the wires I have in there, anyone have any ideas on diagrams? Take a look at the pictures.

I think you need wiring diagram #18 from the MR2 BGB, "Radio and Player w/o CD". The wires visible before the splice (violet, pink, blue) in the pic you provided are all present in this diagram. I'm fairly certain you have a stock, non-premium harness to which someone spliced in a bunch of short extensions (the red, green, brown wires in the pic above); and then they spliced a premium 14 pin connector on the end of that. Get rid off the connector and extensions, and the colors should match the diagram. Again, this is all assuming something isn't butchered elsewhere.

Hope this helps,
-Stephen M

 

Oh god... You sound so right... oh god... So he has non-factory wires attached to the wires, then a connector spliced to that... Those wires are so damn short, this is going to be impossible... Thanks though, any links for that specific diagram?

 

http://stephenmason.com/cars/mr2audio.html#huharness
Okay, that picture is definately what I have- is there a name that I can search for to see if there is a harness for that?

 

Thanks though, any links for that specific diagram?

Here's a link to a PDF version of the wiring section of the BGB...it can be a bit slow due to all the graphics, but it will come up. I think you need diagram #18, which is on page 228. If you're going to be working on your car with any regularity, it's well worth it to pick up a paper copy of the BGB as well.

http://www.brumund.ca/mr2/Electrical Wiring Diagrams.pdf

http://stephenmason.com/cars/mr2audio.html#huharness
Okay, that picture is definately what I have- is there a name that I can search for to see if there is a harness for that?

There is a harness for it...but I really don't think it would do you any good. You have the premium plug, it seems, but NOT the premium system, given the absence of subs and amps. At least, that's the way it looks. The only adaptor I'm aware of for the 14 pin premium plug is made by a company called Autoleads in the UK, called the "PC9-406". There's a thread on this board about it, last I heard no one had located a US distributor for it.

Hope this helps,
-Stephen M