Hello, davidlaska!
You wrote on 31 Aug 2006 21:25:51 -0700:

d My Toyota cressida 86 is dead but the AM/FM stereo with build in
d equalizer and tape player and 4 speakers is better than nothing in my
d other car. I could not figure out a lot of the wires so tried looking
d through my factory service manual and a separate electrical manual for
d the cressida. The wiring diagram was very busy. Before I dive into
d it, I need to know if these units are tied into the specific car so
d much that it would be nearly impossible to move the unit and have it
d just play tapes and radio? If possible, that would give me the extra
d push needed to trace all those wire throughout the harness ( I have the
d whole dash out presently for other things I am doing).

The built in Radio sets are not really specific to any one car, but the
plugs and sockets are, sometimes differing between similar car models. If
you have the radio unit out of the car and it has wire tails then you can
just cut off the plugs and connect up using universal screw type connector
blocks. Although it may look confusing, it's not really so hard to figure
out. First of course you need power (12V+) usually red. Then the negative
(chassis ground, usually black 12V-) . on modern sets there is often a
power connector for an electric antenna (often yellow but not always) then
there are eight wires for the four speakers (a live and a ground for each
speaker) god only knows what colour these will be, but the grounds are often
the same colour, also, if you have a multi meter - the four speaker grounds
will likely be connected electrically to the chassis ground. The antenna
connector will be obvious as it will have a co-axial socket on the end. Try
it rigged up before you mount it into another vehicle. Don't forget to use
an inline fuse around 20 - 30 amp. Be aware that a lot of units need a code
to be entered after power loss. Just a thought, but these things are so
cheap now, you could probably pick a decent one up from a breakers yard for
a tenner or so, then it wouldn't matter too much if you set it on fire.
Before you start, wait to see if another poster thinks of something I may
have forgotten.


With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: