Replacement radio installation

Just a little of my background - I learned electronics forty years ago in the US Navy, and I have installed many car radios, re-built TVs, wired systems, built computers, and on-and-on! However, I have hit a brick wall with this problem. Maybe it is because of the newer radios or it is something so simple I am missing the solution or the mind is finally losing it! Anyway, I am seeking help to install a replacement radio in an RV.

The radio in the RV is in excellent condition, but it has two "problems." First, it has a cassette tape player instead of a CD player. We have an adapter that allows us to plugin CD player, but that gets cumbersome. Secondly, our RV is a 1992 model, and it has the radio placed to the left of the driver, which means my Wife cannot operate it (Wait a minute, why is that bad?! Just kidding!). So, along with a radio with a CD player, we want one that has a remote control. Now the problem.

As I mentioned, the radio (a Magnadyne ???) in the RV works perfectly. I disconnected the radio, and installed the new one (Pioneer DEH-P25), connecting up the power wires, and the front speaker wires (rear speakers are problematic at this time). The Pioneer doesn’t work at all. I do not think it is a malfunctioning radio, because I had the same problem with a Jensen radio, which I returned thinking there was something wrong with the radio. It would sure be a coincidence if two new radios were bad. I reinstalled the Magnadyne three separate times after the other installs, and it worked every time.

Aside from keeping the Magnadyne, any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong or what may be wrong with the installs? Switching the ignition on doesn’t make any difference.

Thanks to "Powerslave0" and "The pencil" for replying. My response to each of you.

There is no indication of any power at all to the head unit, i.e., ABSOLUTELY nothing. The RV is a 1992 Tiffin Allegro, and it has negative ground. I have checked the 12 volt + lead and it shows the expected 12 v + reading. The "old" radio does have common leads to the Left Front Neg and Left Right Pos, and the Right Front Neg and Right Rear Pos. The Pioneer I purchased specifically stated the speakers need to have separate wires. My intent was to re-wire the rear speakers when I got the radio operating.

From your input, I am beginning to suspect that I may have been extremely unlucky, and have two radios that are damaged. I will wait for further input, but I am inclined to try one more time with another radio.

Please give me any further ideas you two or anyone else may have to figure this out.

To Powerslave0-I just re-read your reply, specifically the paragraph of the speakers. Maybe a problem lies there. Here are the wire connections for the OE radio: Red: + 12v IGN Switched Input; Black;: Chassis Gnd: Pink: +12v  Battery ofr Memory;: Yellow: +12v Output for Pwr Ant; Brown: LF+; Gray: RF+; Orange: LF- & LR+; White: RF- & RR+; Green: LR-; Blue: RR-. The Pioneer: Yellow: Battery/Memory; Red: 12v IGN Switch; Black: Gnd; White LF+; WHITE/ Black: LF-; Green: LR+; GREEN/ Black: LR-; Gray: RF+; Gray/Black: RF-; Violet: RR+; Violet/Black: RR-. As I noted, I only connected the front speakers, the Yellow, Red, and Black wires, and NOTHING happened.

Thanks,

Steve

You said you tested the 12 volt lead and found it showed the correct reading...were you talking about the constant wire or the switched wire?

What I would recommend doing is hooking both the pioneer's red and yellow wires to the yellow (constant) wire of the old wiring, and hooking up the pioneer's black ground wire to the pink ground wire of the vehicle.  If you know your +12 volts constant wire is good, and the radio does not now turn on (and remember you have to press SOURCE after making the connections, to make the radio turn on), then there's something wrong with either your ground connection or the pioneer itself.

Thanks "esmith69." I'll try that as soon as I get the RV back. It is in the garage being inspected right now. PA has annual inspections, and it is due now. I mention this to indicate it will be several days before I can attempt this suggestion. I will post another reply, either way.

Thanks again,

Steve

To esmith69 (and anyone else with input),

I have my RV back. The 12v reading I was getting was from the switched wire. Suspicously, there was no voltage on the constant (memory) wire. I thought that might be a/the problem, but I ignored it at the time. Anyway, I didn't re-read your e-mail prior to connecting up the radio a short time ago, and I THOUGHT I remembered you saying to connect the two power wires up to the switched wire. The radio worked WITHOUT the ignition being on (the "old" radio would turn on without the igition being on, which surprized me)! I decided to re-read your e-mail, and discovered you suggested doing it the other way!

So, I am now going to check out the wiring more carefully, to see how/why the RV side of the wiring was done. Evidently the constant voltage wire is not wire to the battery or (as I will check when I finish this) the two wires are reversered for some reason - the supposedly switched (which is NOT) wire does have the fuse in-line.

Another question - as I noted above, the wiring for the ORIGINAL rear speakers is dual-wired (although split at the speakers). Should I re-wire the rear speakers to the front so that I use the radio separate pos and neg wires from the radio to the speakers?

Thanks for any input.

Steve

I'm not sure if I understand your last question exactly (the one about the speaker wiring).

What do you mean the "wiring is dual wired"?

Other "things" have occupied me since early last week, and I am finally catching up with the more important things in life!

What I meant about the speaker wiring is:

Going back to the electrical wiring – I finally got the Pioneer wired and operating. Although the ignition wire is not wired into the ignition, but wired "live" all the time. That was the original wiring, which I am going to change, eventually, so it is ignition connected.

Steve