What is this wire and what do I do with it? New head unit install (1 Viewer)

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@graveling has a point, before you get too deep, just recheck your wires and grounds. Over the last few years on here I've seen people with buzzing noise on the 98-99 and I've seen people have zero noise.

Also, the infamous buzz that everyone gets is actually pretty quiet. So if you have a very loud buzz, sounds like there is a ground issue.
 
@graveling has a point, before you get too deep, just recheck your wires and grounds. Over the last few years on here I've seen people with buzzing noise on the 98-99 and I've seen people have zero noise.

Also, the infamous buzz that everyone gets is actually pretty quiet. So if you have a very loud buzz, sounds like there is a ground issue.
I'm guessing you are right because it is very loud, I double check the instructions maybe I was suppose to splice/tap a ground wire up ground and thought the harness connection took care of that.
 
If changing your ground to a true chassis ground (not through the wire harness) doesn't solve your buzzing, you can also try to run a separate +12V fused wire directly to your battery to both both power wires (+12V constant and ACC) for your HU just for testing.
 
you used the same harness? Isn't it all plug and play...aside from the parking brake and reverse signals...was I supposed to ground something?

Also mine is crazy loud, even with the volume set super low, it sound like this is something to do with the amp as well?
Same year, same harness. Only thing I did out of the ordinary is to cut the orange wire from the orig harness and wire directly to the pioneer harness. I didn't change the ground either. I did install a parking brake override, but that was a few days after the original install.

Your original stereo... It didn't have any markings on the fact that indicated it was JBL did it? I had a JBL and AMP in my 2000 tundra and until I realized what was going on (factory AMP), I was getting crazy buzzes, sounds out of wrong speakers, etc....

You might also try unplugging the front and or back speakers from the back of the stereo. If you only have the front on, does the same thing happen? Are you getting sound out of the correct speakers?

Do you have an pics of the wires going from the metra harness to the pioneer wires?
 
Same year, same harness. Only thing I did out of the ordinary is to cut the orange wire from the orig harness and wire directly to the pioneer harness. I didn't change the ground either. I did install a parking brake override, but that was a few days after the original install.

Your original stereo... It didn't have any markings on the fact that indicated it was JBL did it? I had a JBL and AMP in my 2000 tundra and until I realized what was going on (factory AMP), I was getting crazy buzzes, sounds out of wrong speakers, etc....

You might also try unplugging the front and or back speakers from the back of the stereo. If you only have the front on, does the same thing happen? Are you getting sound out of the correct speakers?

Do you have an pics of the wires going from the metra harness to the pioneer wires?
No pics but I take some later. I think it’s the back speakers but not sure. My radio assembly had no markings so I don’t think it’s jbl.
 
To start, I'd double check your wiring. I used the same harness two weeks ago on my 99 and have no issues Running new wires is not the solution.
So I checked everything this weekend, again all I did was connect the Metra 70-8112 and Crutchfield's ReadyHarness they provided and plug it into the Pioneer head unit. Only wires I tapped/spliced were for the reverse camera and parking brake. So anyways, the first time I checked the sound and the hum/hiss was bad I had the HU and bracket assembly pulled out, as soon as I actually installed and screwed everything most of that popping and hissing went away. So with the key to ACC or ON theres some minimal humming, but when I turn the car there's a horrible zzzzz hum that gets louder and quieter with the RPMs, is this the amp issue or a ground issue? It seems different than what I've seen with the amp issue, and some say a ground isolator is needed if you are getting RF buzz from the alternator.

Also the harness and connections came with this note from Crutchfield "In order to retain the factory amp, the wiring harness in this package connects to your new receiver's front and rear preamp outputs. If you've chosen a receiver without those outputs, our installation package will include the line converter you'll need to retain use of the amp." Doesn't that solve the bulk of the issues with the factory amp?

Anyways, thing looks great, rlly brings the truck into the 21st century. The sound (other than the hum) is actually really nice. Camera has surprisingly good clarity for $25, as always huge thanks to Mud for all the threads how to run the wiring and camera rec's.

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What camera did you buy and where did you mount it? I did the parking brake override and still want to install a camera. Agree on the comment about bring the truck up to date. My wife is pissed about the Android Auto functionality in my 99. Her Mercedes Nav and general functionality of the head unit suck.
 
Amazon product ASIN B07MWDLT6J this is the camera, its adjustable and has some led lights on it. it goes in place your license plate light cover, its a tight fit but it goes in. IDK about android but the appleplay on this pioneer is awesome and works really well.
 
On the subject of rear cameras, I'm torn between two extremes.

I currently mount my camera with a bracket that sits behind the rear license plate bolts, from the top, and the camera is oriented such that it kind of peers "downward"

I have the camera forced quite a ways downwards so I can see the edges of my rear bumper, and also because I need to see my tow hitch during the coupling process. The bendable metal tab isn't that robust, so I fear after too many adjustments it will simply break (or else I'd happily adjust it as needed).

The issue I face is that when pointing downward so much, I barely see the horizon and the distance to actual objects about chest height is severely compromised by image distortion (think fish-eye lens effect). The lens objective is designed for 140degrees FOV (field of view).

I'm trying to avoid a similar mounting system that mounts on top of the rear license plate, since this is an invitation for theft (a fact of life in the ABQ area). I'm also trying to avoid a mounting system which attaches to the upper hatch, since my current wiring was carefully routed and weatherproofed to exit the lower hatch and into the rig.
 
On the subject of rear cameras, I'm torn between two extremes.

I currently mount my camera with a bracket that sits behind the rear license plate bolts, from the top, and the camera is oriented such that it kind of peers "downward"

I have the camera forced quite a ways downwards so I can see the edges of my rear bumper, and also because I need to see my tow hitch during the coupling process. The bendable metal tab isn't that robust, so I fear after too many adjustments it will simply break (or else I'd happily adjust it as needed).

The issue I face is that when pointing downward so much, I barely see the horizon and the distance to actual objects about chest height is severely compromised by image distortion (think fish-eye lens effect). The lens objective is designed for 140degrees FOV (field of view).

I'm trying to avoid a similar mounting system that mounts on top of the rear license plate, since this is an invitation for theft (a fact of life in the ABQ area). I'm also trying to avoid a mounting system which attaches to the upper hatch, since my current wiring was carefully routed and weatherproofed to exit the lower hatch and into the rig.
I believe there are adjustable ones for that with a swivel mount. Is the issue that you change the angle regularly? You cant find a happy medium between everyday use and trailering?
 
I believe there are adjustable ones for that with a swivel mount. Is the issue that you change the angle regularly? You cant find a happy medium between everyday use and trailering?
Honestly, I'm just whining and expecting the perfect solution to magically appear installed and working on my rig.
 
Honestly, I'm just whining and expecting the perfect solution to magically appear installed and working on my rig.
Believe me, I am so sick of this I am almost considering just living with the hum.
 
I know this will sound like a broken record, but bypass the amp. Either use a harness or run 8 wires from the head unit to under the passenger seat where you will tie into the OE wires for the speakers.
This may very well be where I end up but...several people 98-99s seem to have done this just fine without bypass the amp and no one seems to know the rhyme or reason why some people can do it and some people cant. And if theres something super simple I'm missing I might as well try for that. I watched the video and saw the TLCFAQ post on the wiring for bypass the amp and still have no clue what I'm supposed to do or get. Doesn't look like there is a harness for 98-99, so I guess I need 8 different colored wires? and these are for splicing the head unit wires for F and R speakers plus power, ground, antenna and stuff...?
 
I am one with a '99 that spent most of a year trying various ways to eliminate the hum/buzz with an aftermarket radio. My success only changed the sound of the hum/buzz, but never eliminated it. Interestingly enough, over that year there were some folks who rode in my cruiser and could not hear the hum/buzz while it was driving me crazy.

When I bypassed my amp, no aftermarket bypass harness was available. Truly running 8 wires from the head unit to under the passenger seat was easy work, especially if you are lazy and buy bundled wire like I did. Used a 9 conductor wire product similar to this, but only used 8 of the wires for the speakers. You can use the existing radio harness to maintain power and antenna signal, just remove any wire you don't need. I used the Metra adapter for the power and antenna triggers. I chose to solder the speaker wires under the passenger seat and used an 8 pin plug behind the radio.
I was with you and then got confused at the end. So buy that, and solder appropriate wires coming out the plug/harness in the HU and snake cables to passenger seat, solder to matching wires before the amp, and theres maybe some wires before the amp that get joined together it seems like?
 
I’ve never been in a early 100 that successfully used the amp.. those that claim seem to just accept the buzz/not notice it...

You don’t need to run all new wire, just jump over the amp. Easy peasy. Your new headunit will deliver more, cleaner, power than your factory amp anyways
 
I have no idea what means....
Unplug the input and output harnesses for the speakers from the amp, splice in wire segments from the input to output harness of the amp for the speaker wires.
 
Unplug the input and output harnesses for the speakers from the amp, splice in wire segments from the input to output harness of the amp for the speaker wires.
Okay maybe this is why I've been confused, people have throwing out two methods of bypassing the amp. This sounds really easy actually....you do the same for ground and power and everything? In this method you need what? 8 wires still but maybe only a foot or two of each?
 
Okay maybe this is why I've been confused, people have throwing out two methods of bypassing the amp. This sounds really easy actually....you do the same for ground and power and everything? In this method you need what? 8 wires still but maybe only a foot or two of each?
If you choose to bypass the amp for speakers, it may be wise to elect to bypass the amp for ground, +12V, and ACC signals as well. You can then cut the amp completely out of the entire circuit.

The only thing I would be unclear about is the power antenna, if you have one. My guess would be that you'd want to activate the power antenna when the head unit gets turned on. I'm not positive of how the power antenna lead of your HU operates. An alternative to this is to get behind your glovebox and modify the power antenna relay module such that you simply move the antenna up and down via the switch on the dash as you see fit. It involves cutting one of the hard leads and soldering two jumper wires internally on the relay board. The picture is below, and it can also be found in a thread on here for further directions. This is on my to-do list since it is annoying to me when my power antenna automatically raises to the stubby position when the HU gets power, which is useless since I never use the radio.



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