Ramp

I've been reviewing numerous posts on stereo installs and wiring and find many conflicting diagrams and information and can use some assistance. I'm in the process of removing the OEM Monterey and installing a Kenwood unit I have laying around (As an FYI, I'm only a few days into sorting this original 40k mile driver; ground and electrical sorting is underway and I just removed the 1980's after market cell phone. The original Monterey is dead. Some questions and pics below.

1. It appears that I should do away with the driver side fader control and the original Blaupundkt 80 watt Amp. Correct ?

2. My immediate objective is not to have to run all new speaker wires. So, somewhere in this maze (diagram and pics attached) I should be able to patch certain wires together and then run some back to the head unit from either or both of the fader and amp locations. Correct ? But I can't figure out how the speaker wires are run from all 8 speakers - it appears that they are split up in multiple ways. Can anyone figure this out and shed some light ?

3. The noise filter (next to the amp) has 2 brown wires that run to a harness with 3 red wires. Not sure what to do with this ?

I know the stereo shouldn't be on the top of the list but I would like to drive it as I do the sorting and it was an opportunity to clean grounds and remove the cell phone wiring and antique components.


Thanks in advance for any help.

Rob Edwards

If you're ever going to sell the car, send the Monterey out to have it fixed, and have them add an aux input so you can port tunes to it from your phone. All that unmolested original wiring should stay unmolested.

davek9

I'd even leave that old Cell Phone in there, if the car is a good original 40k survivor car.

That "choke" / noise filter coil is to take our engine electronic noise out of the 12v dc feed to the radio (in the console) and the Amp (in the side compartment), it can be and should be by passed for newer units.
Also I do not recall that old Amp being anywhere near 80 WATTS, I thought it was like 20watts and 20W is what most newer head units now have as standard output.

Best sound would be to run new wires and disco what you have leaving it all in-place, power directly to a good proper Amperage source w/ a correct fuse.
Do a search on this forum for radio and or replacement radios, many have been there and done it.

The above by Rob E. is a great suggestion

Dave K

Ramp

The problem with that is that I understand that the Monterey is not fixable bc you can't get parts - I already checked with SWStereo- who, btw, did great job repairing my SQR46 for another car.

The cell phone is gone,most loose wires and under dash speaker and other black box target -it was aftermarket and so was the install- wires pushed into fuse holders !

I don't have an issue leaving the wiring but I'm trying to avoid new speaker wires - the rest would not be an issue

davek9

OK understood, however I think they still can be repaired, maybe another shop?

Disco all the wires from the AMP (they all go to over to the Fade switch) and "ping" the pairs using a 9v batt or similar low voltage source, they will crackle

Work Shop manual Wiring, Radio page 5 is what you need,

davek9

Correction the Radio feeds the Fade switch, then that output feeds the AMP, so the Fade can be discoed and all the speakers feed from your new radio at the old AMPs output wiring.
Disco the AMP and connect your new radio directly to the old speaker wires in the side compartment.
Shop Manual, Electric, Radio wiring Page 5, is what you need.

Sorry its been a while for this mod I had to re-visit the book

Dave K

dr bob

The original wiring between the head unit and amp should stay intact. Just unplug the head unit. Plan on getting a connection adapter from SW to allow you to get power to the head unit. If you aren't going to use another amp, you'll be running speaker wiring from the head unit to the amplifier area. On mine I added the low-level cabling (5x) at the same time to that bundle. At the existing amplifier location, power passes through amp to the head unit, so you'll make a jumper for that duty if you plan to use that feeder for the head unit. Better is to include a capable power feed wire to the new bundle. On my later car, the speakers plug into the amp with little two-conductor plugs in a T pattern. I bought the head unit from Crutchfield, and had them add a handful of the mating connectors so I could plug the existing wires there into the new stuff in the bundle.

The existing wiring is marginal as the factory speakers are two ohms and demand good current flow capability. If you are installing new drivers, the wiring will be less marginal. If you add an amp, plan on an appropriate wiring upgrade with it.

Consider replacing the primary power feed to the amp and head unit with a dedicated fused feeder from the battery. Leave all the existing wiring intact, taped off and labeled. The Blau head unit I installed has a 4x40W RMS rating, and will dim the headlights on music peaks if I wind it up some. Moving the source to the battery will eliminate a lot of that plus improve the sound quality a lot. I don't play it loud anyway (trying to preserve the hearing I have left...) so it's not a big deal for me, but might be for an enthusiast.

I also noted during installation that the WSM wiring diagram didn't exactly match what was installed in the car. I ended up tracing and testing to get everything to work, which I usually expect to do anyway. Besides the speaker connections, I only needed the primary and X-bus power connections from existing connectors. Everything else connected at the head unit is new. Factory wiring sits there unmolested and ready for return-to-original in an hour or two if needed. I was working on my still-new 20k example and wanted to keep it as original as possible. But I wanted a CD player, CD changer/aux in and some more modern functions. All without any of the space-age looks of "modern" head units. 20 Years later I'm ready for another head-unit modernization. I'd like to add BT and USB capability, but want to retain the classic understated look the car deserves.

Rob Edwards

Massoud at Creative Car Audio (714) 744-4438 has a pretty good track record with all of the 928-specific Blaupunkts and Alpines, though Stefan is excellent too. Did he actually try to repair it and find an NLA part that needed replacement, or did the symptoms just sound like something he didn't think he could fix?

If you go with the Kenwood, Crutchfield sells (or has sold in the recent past ) 2 pin female DIN pigtails that you could use to connect new speaker wire from the Kenwood to where the power amp was,, without destroying the factory wiring there. They're Metra 70-1693 adapters.
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120701...s.html?tp=2977

And there's an Ebay vendor that has the power connection adapter. Happens to have an auction open right now:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blaupunkt-P...FY5peq&vxp=mtr

hwyrnr

I installed a Kenwood head unit in my 1984 928 last year. I do not have the amp. This is what I figured out with my install.
The power connection on the back of the stock radio.
1. Large Red is the constant 12v
Little Red in accessory 12v
Large brown is the Ground/Earth
White goes to the power antenna

2. My aftermarket Kenwood would not work the factory power antenna. I tried the Kenwood's blue ant. feed wire and the amp remote wire. they would not power the power ant. and would cycle the radio on and off.
I then tried to use a relay and the Kenwoods Ant power wire to activate the relay and got the same on and off cycling.
I finally ran a wire from the factory Acc. wire to a hidden on/off toggle switch under the dash, then to the White Ant. wire. antenna works fine now. **** with the toggle switch turned on, when you turn the key to the Acc. position the antenna goes up. When you turn the car off it goes down. The reason for the toggle switch is to be able to lower it if you go to a car wash or you are just listening with blue tooth and don't want it up. ****

3. Your 12v Constant, and 12v Acc. from the aftermarket radio check the directions that come with the radio. "I think at first I hooked it up backwards and the radio would forget my settings."

2. The speaker wires on the bottom of the factory head unit goes to the sound **** next to the driver seat. I tried to run the two rear speaker wires of the Kenwood head unit to the factor speaker wires and I could not get it to work. I have 8 factory speakers in my car. I kinda felt the after market radio didn't want to try to push that many speakers just using the two rear speaker wires. Can the **** be used? I don't know, But I felt the sound would be better if I ran all four of the Kenwood's speaker wires to power the speakers in its intended zone.

The 2 driver door speakers are ran parallel, the 2 passenger door are ran parallel, the driver rear 2 speakers are ran parallel, and the passenger rear 2 speakers and ran parallel. I ran new speaker wire from the Kenwood head unit to the door and rear speakers.
- Getting the wire through the door wasn't to terribly bad. I did remove the door panel to make it easier, and ran a straitened cloths hanger through the wire sleeve in the door. don't jam it to hard, just work the hanger through there so you don't nick a wire. I just disconnected the factory wire from the mid range speaker and attached the new speaker wire to the speaker.
- Getting the wire to the rear speakers I ran the wire under the door seal trim edge and was able to get it hidden and out of site. I removed the forward rear speakers from the trim panel behind the front seats. and unplugged the factory wires and just let them hang. I used my cloth hanger and ran it behind the trim panel staring from the bottom working it upwards. There was plenty of foam that I had to work through. But I just eased it up there and went slow enough that I could readjust if I felt I met an obstruction like wires. This is also not to bad just be patient. Tape securely a wire to the hanger when it come through the hole in the trim panel. I repeat secure it really good, you don't want the wire to come loose and have to feed the hanger again. Connect the wires to the speaker + to +, - to -. *** make sure you unplug the speaker wire that goes to the speaker from the chassis and not the wires that go to the furthest to the rear speaker ***

This project is not to bad to do. You will need to get the narrow female spade connectors.

As for the factory amp I would bypass the factory amp and just make sure no power is going to it. That way if you ever get the factory radio working again you can simply plug the wires back in and pull the speakers from their respective panel and plug the factory speaker wires back in.

Good luck, and have fun, its not to bad

James

merchauser

+1

Ramp

Gents: Great stuff and thanks. I'll need to digest over the next day or so - luckily it's almost Friday. I took a break from the radio tonight and managed to clean/grind the ground connections over the fuse box and all the fuses.

The fuses had significant gray build up but the dremel shined them up.

I found the following:
Fuse 2 Cig lighter has a 25a rather than a 20a - Should I use a 20a ?
Fuse 24 Current Pulse-Tailgate, Interior Lights had a blown 15a rather 5a - should I use the 5a ?
Fuse 26 Tailgate Release had a blown 1a - I have to get one.
Fuse 28 Radio Amplifier had a blown 15a - Curious because the radio went on but none of the buttons work and there is no sound

Mrmerlin

it would also be wise to get a used pull switch the one pictured is damaged they are half price for Christmas

Ramp

Thanks - I got the Ligeti Manual Download - are these the same factory manuals that come in the binders ? I hadn't made my way through them yet and now see Page 5 would have save me time ! Thanks !!

Your'e correct, the Blau 80 is 20W per channel. I would have left the cell if it was factory but it was aftermarket and a poor install. I found the 2lb old box speaker hanging under steering wheel tied to a single ground wire as support.

Can I buy a female harness that will plug into the male main radio harness ? I can then wire that to the Kenwood harness - rather than cutting the factory harness. See pic one above

davek9

All the fuses should be replaced with the correct AMP rating as they protect the cars wiring (and remove any that are not used/needed).
It's a GREAT idea to remove and clean all the fuses now at this time, put a little WD40 on the blades and insert and remove them a few times each to clean the contacts.
Look, note and replace any that look melted (signs of bad contact in the holder) if any really bad get some contact cleaner like Deoxit.

Great radio connections suggestions, main thing is not to cut any factory wires as its hard to go back w/o replacing entire harnesses

Ramp

Follow up, some questions, and let me know if I'm missing something - thanks:

I'm a novice at reading the wiring sketches, but after looking over Page 5 for a while I realized it's easier to trace the lines from the speakers back. They feed to the booster, which feeds back to both the fader and the head unit. The head unit appears to only be sending a signal to the fader and booster, not to any speakers.

I should be good to go by simply running these 4 speaker wires back to the head unit - which is an easy run. (see pic)

Q: Are the far rear speakers simply the tweeters from the B-Pillar rear speakers ? That is, if I simply install as a 4 speaker system the far rear speakers run off the main rears - just like the door tweeters run off the door mains ? The far rear speakers are not shown on Page 5 of the wiring diagram.

OEM radio harness (see pic), I would like to plug into this and then connect to my Kenwood harness but haven't been able to find the right connector - suggestions without cutting ? Should I just get taps for each line and connect to the Kenwood Harness ?

Booster: I'm going to remove it and secure the wiring in place (other than the speaker wires which will run back to the head unit.) However, there is a red line that runs from the booster to the noise suppressor - I believe there is also a line from the head unit to the suppressor - the suppressor has three lines running to it. Should I leave the suppressor in place and hooked up ? If I leave it, is there a way to test it as functional ?

Fader: I'm going to leave it in place but secure the wires.