Arena993

The Rivi cab I am working on had a aftermarket stereo in it. I pulled that old aftermarket unit out and found that the installers DID NOT cut any wires, the factory harness is present. So far so good. I grab my CR-210 and go to plug it up an guess what. One of the plugs doesn't fit. I thought I read somewhere this is a direct swap. As you can see in the first pic there are 3 plug receptacles on the back of the radio. I only have 2 plugs in the factory harness. Of the 3 receptacles on the radio two are identical and one is longer. I have 1 plug that fits in the bottom receptacle and the other that is supposed to fit in the top reseptacle doesn't fit at all. The harness for the top plug has 2 rows of connectors and the top receptacle on the back of the radio has 3 so it won't fit. My car does have the HI-FI Sound System. What am I doing wrong here? Can I get this radio to work? My production date on the car is June 05. Is there an adaptor from Becker I can get? Do I need a new head unit? I would like to make this work if at all possible. Here are the pics

Pic 1 Back of the radio
Pic 2 Factory Harness

2Many Cars

The bottom pins on the head unit are for power. The pins just above are for the speakers. Your two plugs ahould fit in there - looks like power is on the right and speakers on the left in your photo. The uppermost group of pins are for the digital sound and CD changer. These are smaller plugs and if you don't have those options they won't be present. Note that many of the potential plug/pin slots aren't used since these plugs are designed to cover a bunch of options you don't have (like nav, telephone, etc.)

Since the plugs are supposed to be universal you should be able to use the wiring diagram from the CDR-220 to figure out your wires on the female plug ends. Here's a link the the plug descriptions (available on the Becker website in the CDR-220 manual):

http://www.beckerautosound.com/pdf_guides/om43-4462.pdf

Look on page 28 at the back of the manual and you should be able to figure it out. It's possible the last installer swapped a few pins around on the plugs so check each one. Keep in mind that when you look at the end of the plug you're looking at it backwards vs. the diagram (you turn the plug 180 degrees away from you before you plug it in) so be careful you don't get confused when you look at the diagram and then translate that position to the plug. One way to test a speaker wire is to use a low voltage source (like a AAA battery) and short it across the two speaker wires. You will hear a "click" from the speaker everytime you connect the battery. I've used that trick a number of times when I've gotten the speaker wires confused about which wire goes to which speaker. hang in there. It takes some patience but you'll get it done.


Edit: I also noted if you're putting the 210 back in you'll probably need the mounting cage which doesn't look like it's there. Try it without it but if you need it I'm sure someone here has one kicking around or else maybe Becker can sell you one cheaply.

Arena993

The bottom pins on the head unit are for power.

The plug fits in there perfectly

The pins just above are for the speakers. Your two plugs ahould fit in there

I only have 1 plug that size and it only fits in the lower plug (power) There is no plug for the speaker.
-
looks like power is on the right and speakers on the left in your photo. The uppermost group of pins are for the digital sound and CD changer. These are smaller plugs and if you don't have those options they won't be present. Note that many of the potential plug/pin slots aren't used since these plugs are designed to cover a bunch of options you don't have (like nav, telephone, etc.)

I do have a plug that is the same size as the top recepticle. It is the same length just only 2 rows of connectors,

Since the plugs are supposed to be universal you should be able to use the wiring diagram from the CDR-220 to figure out your wires on the female plug ends. Here's a link the the plug descriptions (available on the Becker website in the CDR-220 manual):

http://www.beckerautosound.com/pdf_guides/om43-4462.pdf

Look on page 28 at the back of the manual and you should be able to figure it out. It's possible the last installer swapped a few pins around on the plugs so check each one. Keep in mind that when you look at the end of the plug you're looking at it backwards vs. the diagram (you turn the plug 180 degrees away from you before you plug it in) so be careful you don't get confused when you look at the diagram and then translate that position to the plug. One way to test a speaker wire is to use a low voltage source (like a AAA battery) and short it across the two speaker wires. You will hear a "click" from the speaker everytime you connect the battery. I've used that trick a number of times when I've gotten the speaker wires confused about which wire goes to which speaker. hang in there. It takes some patience but you'll get it done.


Edit: I also noted if you're putting the 210 back in you'll probably need the mounting cage which doesn't look like it's there. Try it without it but if you need it I'm sure someone here has one kicking around or else maybe Becker can sell you one cheaply

I have the mounting cage just not pictured and have tried plugging the unit in every which way. look at the picture of the factory harness you can see that one plug is more rectangular than the other it is the one on the left

2Many Cars

Sorry, when I referred to "two plugs" I meant the bottom power and top speakers plug. If you have an amp under the passenger seat then you may not use the middle set of pins. Take a close look at your two plugs. The locking tab on one should be offset slightly while the other may be in the center of the side of the plug. these need to line up with slots in the side of the head unit in order to fit. If you look closely at the Becker connection diagram it should make sense.

As I mentioned the previous installer may have messed with these connectors so if that's the case you may need to tinker with it a bit to get it back to stock. The Becker diagram should give you what you need to do that.


Edit: I see your point about the different size plugs. If the speaker plug absolutely won't fit then you'll either need to find a correct one or pull each pin out of the plug and attach them directly to the head unit one by one. If you're not planning to change the headunit anytime soon there's nothing wrong with just connecting them directly. If you do I'd recommend a little heat shrink tubing abound each just to prevet any possible shorts.

Arena993

Look at the picture below I stole from eBay. This is a clear picture of the back of the CR-210 like I have. I labeled the problem area as #1. You can see from the picture that there are 3 rows of connectors. The harness plug I have has 2 rows of connectors and will not fit. I see what you re saying about the installer messing with the connector. This was a straight forward install using one of those aftermarket harnesses that plug in to the factory harness so I find it hard to believe that they were messed with. Look at the pic below. I may have a wrong radio?????????????????????????????? #2 is the plug that fits perfectly

2Many Cars

Looks like you have a good power connection but no speaker connections with your plugs. Your radio looks just like the other photos so I suspect the issue is with the plug. Might your car originally have had the older, pre 210 headunit? That might explain the plug difference.

Arena993

That is what I am thinking. Can I put this radio in? I bet I can't. Anyone know? I have the HI FI Sound system. Would the old CR-1 been connected to the HI FI System?

Mark Harris

I'm guessing here, but pretty confident that 1995's came with CR-1's (hifi or not) and therefore had a different factory harness than the 96' and up models. The 96' and up are plug and play. Not so lucky when trying to hook up a CR210 (or newer headunit) from a 96' or up into a 95' 993.

I am basing this on the fact that I sold my CDR210 to a 95' owner and he told me that he had to order a new harness from Becker. Give Becker a call they can help straighten it out.

Stealth 993

on 95's you had to repin the speaker plug. Just order the new plug ($2) & pull out the old pins, then put'em in the new connector.

Arena993

I guess I would just repin the plug according to the diagram on the back of the radio, is that right? If I have 6 connections on the origianal plug and the radio has 9 pins is there going to be an issue? How do I know where to repin the new plug? Sorry for the stupid questions, but I am somewhat electronically challenged. Any help you guys could give me is appreciated.

Mike

Stealth 993

You only uses a couple of the pins, most are blank. What you need is the "pin out" when you get the plugs, you ask them for it.

I also think there is a pin out on top of the radio, it should not be to hard to see what pin goes where.

Arena993

Thanks I am going to call Beker in the morning. I am assuming that is who I call right?

Mike

Stealth 993

I think they are the best bet. They should be able to give you everything you need.

2Many Cars

Becker should be able to help you out. The speaker wires for your car may have a common ground on each side which would account for your plug only having 6 contacts for 4 speakers. I think you'll be OK with that as is but ask Becker about it when you call them. Worst case you can put jumper wires in to tie the ground pins on each side together. Just in case ask Becker if they can sell you some of the female pins that go in the plugs. If they can't help you a local stereo installer (or even the dealer if you're despirate) should be able to.

kiesan

This guy could 'prolly make you some kind of harness or whatever to make this a plug and play situation:

http://www.swstereo.com/



"SW Stereo Specialists has been specializing in Audio products for European Cars since 1977. We have a vast selection of Receivers, CD Changers, Speakers, and Audio Accessories for BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, and Mercedes-Benz. We are an Authorized Becker dealer and an Authorized Blaupunkt dealer, we sell their products, as well as custom wiring harnesses for easy installation. We have also expanded to include Home Audio and GPS Units. We will beat any legitimate price."