No Sound Unless Disconnect/Reconnect Wiring Harness Adapter

I have a 98 ram 1500 that I'm installing a boss 616uab head unit in (I really only listen to podcasts off my phone). Once installed have power, but no sound. Oddly, if disconnect the speaker wiring harness connector, and plug it back in (while the unit has power) everything works fine. But, if I power cycle (ether on the head unit or by turning the ignition on and off, the head unit has power but no sound. I have verified all the harness adapter connections are good, checked the wiring schematic to make sure the right wires go to the right spot, even swapped it out for another identical head unit.

What have I done wrong?

Do you have the Infinity system?

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

Nope.

How did you verify your connections? Are you back probing the aftermarket radio harness while it's plugged in?

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

Well, no. But since all works after the disconnect/reconnect, I assume all the connections are good.

How did you ground the radio?

There's not a ground wire in the factory harness. Either run your own, or use this tip from Install Doctor:

https://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/DCP-Wiring.asp

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

The ground wire was a separate wire that had a clip on the end that was attached to the back of the stock stereo. I snipped the clip off, stripped about a 1/4 - 1/2 of the insulation off that wire, and wire capped that to the ground on the after market harness.

Edit: Holy cow, where was that wiring diagram when I was looking to troubleshoot this the first time. I had to wade through dozens of less clear versions before I found one that was the same as this one, but still way more difficult to read. Thank for the link!

Are you saying you had previously already done that? Do you still have the same issue with your sound?

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

Yes, I did that with the initial install. Over the weekend I reinstalled the stock unit, to see if I had mucked up the harness in some way. It worked just fine. The issue seems to be somewhere prior to the vehicles wiring. Is it possible the wiring harness adapter - the third party piece that goes between my new unit and my vehicles wiring - could be causing this issue? Adapters are such a simple things and the unit works fine as long as there is no power cycle so I am having trouble seeing how this could be the case.

It's possible one or more of the pins in the harness isn't making good contact. They could be dirty, corroded, or just not provide enough contact pressure (mechanically damaged). I'd probably test DC voltage on the yellow wire at the back of the aftermarket radio to the corresponding wire at the factory harness. Then do the same for the red wire.

If you see any significant voltage drop, you can put a temporary jumper around that connection in the harness to see if the problem goes away.

You can always try cleaning the pins while still in the harness using some contact cleaner and a toothbrush. If this doesn't work, or you want to try something more aggressive, de-pin the harness (one wire at a time, and make a note where it goes- digital pictures help). You can use alcohol and a cotton ball, or even a brass bristle brush.

If you found a pin that's damaged, check the harnesses to see if there's an unused wire you could put in it's place. Since you don't have an amplified system, the amp turn on wire could be used.

If your battery is low (bad cell, etc.), it's possible the factory radio would work while an aftermarket may not.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

Interesting about the battery. I do think my battery is in need of replacing. I'll try to test the lines as you said, and since harness adapters are cheap I'll try a new one of those as well. Battery could be a bit as they are not as cheap. I'll post an update as I progress. Thank you for the help!!

I am really curious about this one. Please let us know what you figure out.

There is a chance the head unit looks at resistance when booted up, if one of your speakers has a voice coil going out it would cause an off resistance and could cause the head unit to go into a protect mode.


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15yrs. in the industry. everything from simple deck installs, to remote starters, and full custom audio systems. I've Installed it all.