Fitting a Stereo in a Volvo 340

Hi,

I recently bought a 1989 Volvo 340 DL, which came without a radio fitted. I have an old Pioneer R/C I'd like to fit but the wiring in the Volvo is causing me some confusion.

I have:
2x grey wires & black wires paired together with tape (I assume these are the +ve & -ve for the two speakers)
2x brown wires
2x black/red wires
1x green
1x arial cable

...meaning I have 8 wires (including the arial cable) to play with. The car only has two speakers fitted & does not appear to have had any more fitted at any point.

Does anyone know what these cables are most likely to be?

Thank you! :)

[Peter Milnes]

Why not get hold of a Haynes manual for the car. They include a wiring diagram which should be able to sort out what goes where.

All the best, Peter

Hi,
I have been looking in my haynes manual but it doesn't actually say anything about the colour of the wires, only about removal is the same as refitting, But the grey wires and black wires are definatly the speaker wires as you said above, because thats what colour they are on my 340DL , I can't seem to get my radio out to check the wires for you, maybe I'm wrong but I think there is a wire that goes with the arial for the 'ground (earth)' maybe its the green but i'm not sure, maybe someone can shine some light on this subject.

sorry this wasn't much use to you, but you can put the grey and black wires aside now.

if I find out some more I'll post on the board.

p.s ... try the ' search topics ' and maybe theres something about wiring there.

Thanks.

I have a Haynes manual and the wiring diagram in there is pretty useless for finding the radio wiring. :+

I was hoping to encounter some brave soul who had managed to conquer the Volvo wiring before me.

Anyone out there able to help? :)

[GorgeousGeorge]

mornin

have a look at

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/shop...Volvo_247.html

they have the adaptors over there

cheers

scott

Thanks. I've ordered the part from them. Hopefully it will fit the stereo :)

Are stereo fittings not all some universal fitting?...or would that be too easy?

[pettaw]

The grey wires are indeed the speaker cables
The brown wires are the earth cable
The red wires are the positive cables
The green wire is I think the ignition on power cable, but I would check that out using a voltmeter.
Connect the - of the voltmeter to the brown and the + to the red, should read 12V with ignition on or off. Then try with the green connected to +. I think it should be 12V with ignition on.

Hope that helps a bit.

Andy

[foggyjames]

More modern cars have universal fittings (called ISO connectors), but you're talking about a car originiating from the mid 70's! I yet have to see an 8-track with an ISO connector :)

Andy's bang on with that configuration (as far as I remember anyway!), but if in doubt....always use the voltmeter (measuring with respect to ground, ie: with the black multimeter wire connected to a brown cable (I think all grounds are brown on a 300), or to something like the metal surround to the cigar lighter.)

300s are surprising suitable for audio upgrades. I have a 300wrms dual 10" sub system, plus a pioneer flip front cd player in mine, and unlike many cars of its age nothing rattles or creaks when you're trying to annoy the neighbours :) The amp (which isn't at all small!) just fits pefectly under a front seat, so you can't see it.

One useful tip...head back to car audio direct, and look for the sony tweeters at around £20. Wire those in parallel with the existing speakers, tap it off somewhere behind the radio - dont take the wires into the doors like I did....nightmare job! If you want more help with how to wire that, just report back.

They sound fantastic, and perform two functions - firstly, they pick up where the door speakers give up, and give you much better high frequency response (makes a surprising difference, particularly to certain styles of music (maybe not indie so much, sadly!), and more importantly (and why its worth doing!), if you stick them on the top of the dash (above those side window vents), the sound bounces off the screen, and because your brain interprets where sound is coming from by higher frequencies (try finding a bass bin in a club....its harder than you'd think!), your mind thinks the sound is coming from right in front of you, not somewhere down in the doors! it really does work...take a look at most modern (and fancier) cars - they'll have small speakers up on the dash - all volvos have for years.

I have just taken pics of my whole set-up, so I hope to post those sometime soon.

Essay over :)

cheers

James