SW20 stereo connector pins?

[ansys]

I'm in the process of swapping out the aftermarket stereo that came with the car back to the factory unit. Thankfully, the previous owner left behind the OEM 14-pin connector. Unfortunately, they chopped the wires too short for me to splice wires back to the OEM connector...

I've tried looking on amayama, toyodiy, supercheap, repco, jaycar for just the connector pins so that I can de-pin/ re-pin the connector. Does anyone know where I can find these? they don't seem to be very standard shaped pins.

Otherwise, I'm thinking I might have to head to pickapart and try and find a similar era Toyota whose stereo uses the same connector and chop it such that there is enough length on the wires to splice them?

Any other ideas/suggestions?

[GDII]

If you can find part numbers for the repair terminals you might be able to get some with wire attached but they aren't cheap.

So your 14pin connector was cut off bit you still have it and you want to join it back to the car wiring?

How long are the wires on the connector? Is that the issue of them being too short to splice to? Of you are able to find another car with the same pins, you can splice the longer wires and repin it like you say.

[ansys]

hmm, looks like it's pickapart for me I guess, unless someone has an extra terminal lying around.

Yeah, the original owner cut 12 of the 14 wires (leaving pins 2 and 8 for the radio illumination) and spliced them into the new connector while leaving the old connector dangling. They've left me about 3-8mm of wire at each pin to work with... At least I have an easy color guide for which wires go to which pins.

[GDII]

Ah that's unhelpful. I always cut back from the terminal just in case I want to use it again.

[ansys]

yeah, sadly it's not the first thing I've found on the car that has made me wonder about the previous owner's workmanship quality...

[ansys]

So I managed to splice the wires together and plug in the old OEM stereo but now of course I have a different problem...

The sound volume is very quiet, and only the left front and right rear speakers work. I'm guessing it has something to do with the amplifier wiring??

If it's of any relevance, this OEM stereo only had 13 pins, instead of the usual 14 (and the 14 wires that are present in my car). The one missing was the ILL-, yet the dimming function works fine when the lights on the car are turned on/off.

[GDII]

Interesting. The dimming function for dash lights is not a JDM thing. There is no allowance for control of it but maybe for the headlights switch there is for a bright or dim setting.

You might need to check the amp wiring behind the inside panel of behind the left door to see why it's not working. The rear speakers aren't very loud because they are tiny. Or the front speakers are no longer connected to the OEM system.

Many have said it before, trying to make the OEM system work to today's standards is a losing battle. Even I have tried it and the sound is shocking.

[ansys]

hmm, strange. But as you say, it is just a simple setting where the radio screen brightness goes down when the lights are on.

Yeah, next plan is to grab a multi-meter and check the continuity of the wires from the radio plug to the amp by the passenger seat belt. I imagine some of the butt splices of mine aren't working well. Another possibility is the previous owner spliced/cut something else down the line. I don't know what their setup was exactly before, but they were definitely running non-standard speakers at some point in the car's life before grabbing their speakers and reverting to a stock'ish speaker layout

My goal isn't to make the stock system sound to today's standards or anything. I'd just like it to function somewhat normally. For me, it's more about keeping the look and feel of the car in that 90's time warp sort of way. I barely use the stereo in the MR2 anyway.


On a side note, do you know of anyone that has created a stereo system with the look/feel of the old one, but that has a hidden aux or usb cable or something? I'm thinking along the lines of hiding them in the tape deck area.

[GDII]

Yeah I figured you might be going for that time warp thing.

People use the early 2000s double DIN landcruiser units that I think have some sort of input in the back.

I'm planning to have my tape deck installed and have a mechless bluetooth unit hidden somewhere so I can have modern stuff but still have the old look. Not sure if I'll try make both work. That's rather complicated as having to systems feed the speakers/amp may be a bad idea.

[ansys]

So I have finally gotten time to work on this darn radio...

I checked the wires to the Power Amplifier, and though on first glance it looked connected, when I felt around over there, it turns out the connectors had been cut off, and all the wires from amplifier connector A had been spliced onto the corresponding ones from connector B.

I found the connectors, re-spliced everything back to how it was stock. I checked the continuity of the wires from the radio harness connector to the amplifier connector 'B', and all was good. I plugged everything back in, and now... the radio won't even power on.

I've checked the DOME fuse and the 'CIG & RAD' fuse and both look OK.

After all that hassle, I don't really know what to do now. Any thoughts or ideas?

[ansys]

When I was testing the radio, the emergency light button, the cigarette lighter, and the door handle switches were all unplugged if that matters.

[ansys]

I solved it. Turned out to be a bit of dodgy wiring. An intermiitent connection to the antenna motor control relay.

[GDII]

Good to see you've got it sorted. I think the headunit is powered from the amp so running power from the rear left of the car instead of from in the dashboard area. Sort of an odd way to do it but make sense if you dig into the wiring setup.

[ansys]

So, I've still got some gremlins with this stereo...

I managed to fix the issue of it not powering on (bad butt splice), and an intermittent antenna motor (the female pin itself wasn't applying pressure to the male pin), but now I have a few more problems.

- left rear speaker doesn't play any sound
- right rear speaker plays sound at a much lower volume than the fronts. It's as though the right rear isn't connected to the amplifier?

These don't bother me so much as the third (and hopefully last) problem...

- when I turn the key to 'off' with the radio on, the radio/car makes a sound that reminds me of the noise those old CRT TV's used to make when you shut them off. Then the radio still plays even with the key out of the ignition, though at a reduced volume (as though the amplifier isn't getting power anymore), and the radio illumination is off. I can power off the radio manually with the button on the head unit. I am unable to turn the radio back on while the car is off.

If it matters, the car isn't fully reassembled (emergency light button, cigarette lighter, and door switches are all unplugged).

What am I missing?

[GDII]

So, I've still got some gremlins with this stereo...

I managed to fix the issue of it not powering on (bad butt splice), and an intermittent antenna motor (the female pin itself wasn't applying pressure to the male pin), but now I have a few more problems.

- left rear speaker doesn't play any sound
- right rear speaker plays sound at a much lower volume than the fronts. It's as though the right rear isn't connected to the amplifier?

These don't bother me so much as the third (and hopefully last) problem...

- when I turn the key to 'off' with the radio on, the radio/car makes a sound that reminds me of the noise those old CRT TV's used to make when you shut them off. Then the radio still plays even with the key out of the ignition, though at a reduced volume (as though the amplifier isn't getting power anymore), and the radio illumination is off. I can power off the radio manually with the button on the head unit. I am unable to turn the radio back on while the car is off.

If it matters, the car isn't fully reassembled (emergency light button, cigarette lighter, and door switches are all unplugged).

What am I missing?

You mention the power to the head unit was a problem with the antenna motor control relay. I'm not sure how this would affect power to the head unit as it's a separate system. I guess internet diagnosis is going to be very hard on this one.

Left rear speaker might have failed or you don't have a proper connection to the speaker from its source.
Rear speakers are tiny vs the front. Have you adjusted balance and fade on the unit?

That's very odd that it runs after turning off power. Capacitors hold some power but not sure there should be any capacitors inline with the power supply. The sound is a high frequency noise?

Emergency button is separate circuit, cigarette lighter doesn't need to be plugged in, won't affect anything. Door switches are separate too.