Need alternate power source for car stereo...?

A

axattackk

New member
I recently replaced the steering column in my '93 olds 88. They had to bypass the security for the key since it has a chip. Since I got my car back, the radio doesn't work (the car was sitting about 5 months, fyi). I was going over the car stereo manual and it shows one yellow wire going to the "dashboard illumination" and one red wire going to the key for power. Now since they bypassed they key, could this be the reason the radio doesn't work. Whenever I turn on the headlights, the stereo background lights up, but that's it. It doesn't turn on to play music or anything. I have tried resetting it yet nothing happens. There is the possibility that the radio itself is broke. Before I go buy another radio, my original questions is, what other source of power can I connect the radio to (to test it and then leave it if it works)? I don't want to make it direct to the battery. Nothing rigged, I want something that will be the next best thing to having it wired to it's proper source. Thanks for your help.
Steal cars, uhmmm, what kind of answers are there. This is my car, I wasn't going to spend 160 bucks to buy a key and ignition switch from the dealership. Honestly, why do people answer if they don't have anything valuable to contribute!
 
take the red (hot) and run it into the fuse panel. hook it up into something that works when the car is either on or in acc mode, like the heater/ac or radio. you say the key had a chip in it. some vehicles have an anti theft on the radio as well so if the car is somehow hotwired the radio gets "locked" and won't operate. this may have occurred when they bypassed the security.
 
Unless you bring a running generator in your trunk there is no practical alternate power source for a car stereo. You can rig it up to batteries but it would be a pain to keep it charged up. You can run an extension cord to your car but it would limit the distance you can drive, and the only other way I know to power a car stereo would involve solar panels, or putting one of those wind turbines on the roof of your car to generate power from the wind. Hydro power is not an option... so the only remaining options are nuclear power, or harnessing the energy from lightning. I also heard it is theoretically possible to draw power from the earths core, or from the oceans tides, and of course you could always perfect free energy or perpetual motion.

The problem you are having sounds like a remote wire problem. You do not necessarily have to connect it to the ignition, any source that gains power only while the ignition is in the on position will work. If I recall you don't actually have to have the yellow wire connected, but it is imperative that the blue wire be connected properly. I have also experienced unexplainable problems while installing car stereos that on multiple occasions turned out to be faulty decks.
 
Back
Top