4runner20

I have a '90 4runner, I'm having a little trouble with the radio. When the key is turned the unit comes on but there is no sound. The guy I bought it from said he took it out to put in an aftermarket stereo but then realized he needed a wiring harness. Not wanting to deal with getting one put the stock stereo back in. Like I said, unit comes on but no sound. And I can't seem to get the dash apart...a little advice?

hoghead420

Did the stock work when he put it back in? Has it ever worked 100 % since you have had it? I don't have a 90 but I'm sure you can find out how the dash comes apart on you tube, or maybe another member on here. Usually just screws hold it in, mine are under the ashtray and behind the ac / heater cover piece mines a 98 . Yours might be similar. If it was me id go get a harness and cheaper after market deck. There easy too hook up.

4runner20

Well today I was driving to work, I hit a bump and my radio came on. I think I will just get a cheaper deck and harness. Thanks.

hoghead420

Dude u just have a loose wire, take the deck out, re hook it up, hopefully it works. I bet your buddy didn't get the harness tight enough, or its loose from bumps and stuff. If that doesn't work hit me up, ill help you trouble shoot it .. I could hook up a stereo while driving down the street, done it before.

4runner20

Nice! Will do man. Thanks again

drpdmazda

if i had a dollar for every customer that told me they were certain it was a loose wire, i would be a rich man. Its probably not making sound because the previous owner didnt run wires from the aftermarket radio to the rear speakers amplifiers, and there may be no front speakers in the truck, or they may be blown. almost every aftermarket stereo has one plug for the back that controls power, as well as speakers. if the plug were loose, most likely the radio wouldnt work, not just the speakers.

to the OP:
remove the radio, and hook a speaker directly to each one of the 4 speakers outputs on the radio. If the speaker works on the outputs when the radio is not in the truck, there is a problem in the truck. Are you certain there are even speakers in the truck? you can test that by putting the speaker wires (one pair at a time) to a 9volt battery. if you hear a popping sound when the battery is applied, your speakers are good, and the problem lies within your wiring somewhere. if you touch the wires to the battery and get no sound, you have no speakers or they are all blown.

hope that helps a little bit

Jason

4runner20

It was a loose connection, thanks for your input.

hoghead420

hahahaha good to hear you got it workin

98 4runner sr5, sony xav60 double din , rear window antenna modification, blacked out badges, removed woodgrain dash kit. mods upcoming, deckplate, isr, blacked out factory rims, remove running boards.

drpdmazda

where was the loose connection at?

4runner20

The wire harness wasn't completely connected.

Uniboobtom

I am having similar problems with my deck. The guy I bought it from said it didn't work when cab temp was too high so I thought it was the stereo. I replaced it with a similar model Alpine deck that I know for sure works. I checked the cables multiple times and they are all great connections. It only seems to work when I go over bumps in the road or when the cab temp is low enough. Anyone have any suggestions?

hoghead420

Im assuming that your using a stereo wiring harness , I would start by checking the ground wire , might not be where it connects to the stereo harness , maybe run a new ground to solid metal behind the stereo , I'd try that first . If that's all good , then check the constant power and 12 v mem power wires . If it was really making me go crazy , id run a new constant power from the battery positive thru the firewall, and a new memory wire off the fuse box , and a new ground to metal behind the stereo , it has to work if you do all that , the speaker wires don't do anything power related . Just the 2 hot wires , and a ground make it power on , you have a bad wire probably a ground . If it was a power wire that was bad , you usually blow fuses . And make sure the antenna is plugged in , some decks need it as a ground . This is all just speculation, I'd have to see it first hand to really figure it out , just giving you areas to check and hopefully a new ground wire gets ya fixed up . If you have questions feel free to ask ,

Lol I wonder if you have a busted power antenna " like every other Toyota owner" and didn't plug it in ? If so plug it in and see if it helps .

Let me know what happens , I'm kinda interested to know why its doing what its doing .

hoghead420

Just read your other post , you may have more than a bad ground going on , I'd get the power working correctly, then chase down the short on your side that doesn't work . Sounds like 2 problems to me , hope it helps .

drpdmazda

i forgot about this thread until it was recently revived. care to elaborate more on the "loose connection"? reason i ask is you said you had power but no sound, the rear speaker wires are in their own harness, so that would make sense. but the fronts share the same harness that the power wires are in. a loose connection on the main harness would have not allowed power or sound so im curious how you got it to work.

unless you are saying you had a loose connection on the ground, which would allow power but possibly affect the sound.
just curious