wiring in a stereo in 1987 Honda Accord

You are at the right place for car stereo inquieries,but sounds like the amateur that did the install really has no clue what he was doing,i'd worry about a (i don't mean to scare you...) about posible fire,short circuit,was this work done in a shop ?,did you pay this person to do this,if you did get your money back and get the install profesionally done,sorry to hear about your troubles.

P.S. If you are electrically inclined you may be able to sort it out,this exellent site has all the wirring diagrams (check under General Info),good luck and let us know what you did about it

Wow...I love some people...LOL!

alright PJ gotta question for you...did he cut off the factory Wiring Harness??  If he didn't just pull out the deck and match the wires up color to color...red to red, yellow to yellow...etc...(atleast they should match up)...if he cut the factory harness....ummmmm......Take it to the local shop or have him fix it if he's familiar with testing wires...

Here's a few things you can check....this is what I see happened.

First, he used the factory Illumination wire as a 12+ V for turn on...WRONG!  That should be hooked up to the Accessory or ignition wire.  The decks 12+V  power wire should be red (if you are using an aftermarket deck which I'm assuming).

Second, he didn't hook up the Decks Constant wire to a 12+V constant..that is the yellow wire on the deck (once again if it's aftermarket). 

Here's what you need to do....Get a DMM (digital multimeter), pull out the deck and do some testing.  The yellow wire from the deck should be seeing 12V all the time.  If it's not, he hooked up the wrong wire.  Than what you need to do, is make sure the Key is off and outta the ignition, and test the wires in the factory wiring harness behind the radio.  When you see when that gives you 12V turn the key on, and make sure it stays around 12V...a slight drop is common, but only a slight drop!!  If no wires give you 12V at all, check the fuse, the fuse might be blown...replace it if it is, and do the process again till you find the 12V constant...this will allow the deck to hold memory (keep time, keep programmed stations, etc.).  Connect the yellow wire from the deck to this wire.

Now, no other wires should be showing 12 volts.  Turn the key to the accessory position and test teh wires again...when you find one with power, switch to the run position, it should still have power.  That is the 12V turn on for the deck...connect the red wire from the deck to this wire...

Now before putting the deck back in, test it!! if it works, but doesn't hold the time or a station...the wires need to be switched ( menaing put the yellow where the red is and vice versa.  jsut switch them and retest...)  When all is kosher, put the deck bakc in and you're good to go....BUT BEFORE YOU PUT THE DECK BACK IN CAP OFF ALL THE WIRES THAT WERE NOT USED!!!! you can use electrical tape, not recommended, but it will work...

hope this helps!