Does anyone know how to run a hotwire for a car stereo?

Question

I have a Saturn and need to run a hotwire for my stereo to operate. The guys at Dr Dashboard checked my stereo & there's nothing wrong with it (Just a cheapie). They said the problem is in the wiring harness in my car & that I should run a hotwire for it.

I'm not too mechanically inclined & am having a hard time getting the guys in my family to help me figure it out, so please make sure your answers are not too technical.

Thanks a bunch!

Answer 1

just run a wire from your red positive battery terminal to your radio. thats it then make sure your ground wire is good to. it just had to be attached to any bare metal (no paint) part of the car that connects to the frame so usually under the door or if u lift up the carpet or something. thats it.

if u want u could run the wire through a cool toggle switch u could buy at radio shack and that way when u turn the toggle on the radio comes on. i did this for my subwoofer in the back of my car.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 2

all radios require two power wires- one that is hot at all times to keep the time and setting on your radio, and another one that tells the radio when to turn on and off so that it does not kill your battery

buy a test light (about $5 from radio shack, light comes on when it sense power/electricity) and at the fuse box find a fuse that is hot ONLY when to car key is in the on position- this is where you would run your IGNITION wire from

then you need the constant hot wire, find a fuse that is hot at all times regardless of the ignition position, even when off (or you could go directly to the battery- but i don't recommend that route) and that will be your memory wire

both power wire must be connected separately at the radio or you will drain the battery, if not hooked up correctly every time you turn the car off and on you will need to reset all of your settings

Answer 3

When running this wire, it's very important that there's a fuse between it and the battery. So you want to make sure that the hot wire has no power when the fuse it's connected to is removed. If the connection is not fused, one electrical short could start a fire. On older vehicles, a good fuse to choose is the cigarette lighter fuse. Your problem could very well be that you just have a blown fuse. Any vehicle manufactured in the past 20 years should have such a hot wire available if you use the proper wiring harness.

Answer 4

first off i would check to make sure you were told correctly...about the wire harness not working.

check the radio first to see if its worh the hassle of running a wire. take the radio out and connect the red and yellow wire to the + on the battery, connect the black to the - on the battery. at this point it should come on and play (no sound though, you don't have speakers hooked up it to) if this works, then a hot wire is needed.

as for hooking up the hot wire...the guys above pretty much said it.