Alpine HU won't turn on! 1999 c230 sport kompressor. (New member intro, my first MB)

[michalik.piotr6837]

Hello, I didn't see a section for intros so just wanted to do a quick intro before asking my first question. I've owned a few VW's and BMW's in the past as far as German cars go (and quite a few 50s, 60s American cars and a few Japanese) but, this is my first MB. Well, actually to be honest its my gf's, i got it for her in lie of her old Civic to have something nicer and quieter. So far I am quite impressed with the car for its age. Still getting use to the power delivery (strange how different it is vs. a 325i e36 even though they are almost identical spec wise on paper....yes, i know...the motor). Disappointed with all the traction control, but I digress.... Nice to be here and I hope to get my question answered.

I've installed quite a few aftermarket sound systems in most of my cars and never had any issues (I am far from a pro installer though, just do it myself b/c I don't trust and can't afford the "pros"). I am stumped now though! I got the Metra adapter plug (searched the web and read quite a few posts on different forums about the possibility of the red and yellow wires being switched for constant on/memory and power), connected it to the Alpine head unit (really seems to be only one way to match up the wires), plugged it in and nothing! Switched the yellow and red wires and still nothing.

What am i missing? Fuse on the deck is good. I am getting power to the red wire on the plug yet the deck does not power up. Deck is good, just pulled it out of the Civic and it worked great, one year old Alpine, hardly used.

Any suggestions? Double checked all the connections, seem fine.

Thank you in advance.......

Other then the 8 speaker wires all there is, is red power, yellow battery, orange illumination, black ground and power antena (not using it) and remote turn on for amp. Those all matched perfectly on the plug to the Alpine. There are also two more plugs I left alone that came out of the old radio (non Bose HU w/ cd changer in trunk) but I assumed one was for the cd changer and the other just looked like two LED lights, I assumed for illumination or something non relevant.

[wichipong]

welcome! FYI intros are in the boba lounge section...

first off, if im not mistaken, a c230 kompressor is a 4 cyl supercharged vs a 325i e36 is a 6 cyl car... i should know coz my bro has a 325i e36. I believe the benzo's are more of a passenger car unless you have the AMG models.. each has its own pros and cons and i'll leave that for you to figure out.

im not sure about the wiring of the head unit.. could it possibly be a bad adapter plug?

[michalik.piotr6837]

Lol, yes...thats what i was talking about the difference in the motor...I get they're completely different, hence the power delivery, etc.
Thanks for the suggestion on the plug...i need to take an even better look at it i guess.... can't imagine what else it would be?
Thanks for the heads up on the intro section too....i'll post up some pics, i don't know how (maybe cuz i didn't have it very long) but i owned a G wag in the past! Miss that truck!

[jc1kz]

Just a suggestion, I read on here or another MB fourm that the newer updated w202s ('97 and newer) have the stereo system sync'd, I mean that if one component is unpluged the rest doesn't work...EI: if the trunk cd player is removed the radio stops working....on my older '94 model when I installed an after market stereo using the adaptor plugs the amp stopped working so I had to bypass the trunk amp. Just my two cents.....

[michalik.piotr6837]

Thanks for that suggestion. If that is the case, how would I go about remedying that??? I've been thinking about it all day at work (yes, obsessive) and came up with this... since i know there is power on the red hot wire going into the deck (tested with a test light) and its still not turning on then its either a bad deck (very unlikely) or bad ground. So, I will test the deck off the battery and if it works (as I suspect it will) then I will take a closer look at the plug and make sure that the correct ground wires are connected. If that does not work then I'm back at square one, so crossing my fingers!

Can any one point me to a wire diagram or picture labling the wires in the two radio plugs? Not so concered with the one that has the gray/white/purple/green speaker wires but the one with the ground/power/memory/illumination. Thanks.

[MikeD]

Does your HU have a fuse in the back? Maybe the fuse is blown.

[michalik.piotr6837]

I wish it was that easy.... one of the first things i checked. Fuse is good. I got some wiring diagrams printed and am about to go at it in a few, dinner first. Fingers crossed.

[michalik.piotr6837]

Well, I tested the deck right off the battery and it did not power up. The deck is less then 2yrs old and was only in a car for about a year, hardly used since the car was not driven much. Worked fine when i took it out, put it on a shelf for a cpl weeks and now it won't power up. Fuse is good, but for good measure I replaced it. What am i missing?

[mbsickness]

When you ran it off the battery, did you give both the power and memory backup wires 12 volts? I have come across some radios that needed 12 volts from both leads to work.

[michalik.piotr6837]

Ironic, I came back to report some progress to find your post. You are correct. I did re test the deck but this time connecting both the wires together and....it works. Progress. Back to the inside of the car. The only wire on the oem plug that has power is the switched power (when the key is on), so i connected both the red (switched) on the deck and yellow (constant) to the switched power in the car and yes, it works. Great. Well, kind of. As you might imagine all my presets are gone once i turn the key off. So, I think I am one step away from being done. I need to find constant 12v power and its not the yellow (#4 on the plug) like it should be. My question now....where do I pull constant power from??

[michalik.piotr6837]

Well, its done. Ended up getting constant 12v from the fuse box in the trunk....had to drag the remote turn on and rca's back there anyways. Still puzzles me where the OEM deck got its constant power from since it was plugged into the same plug? oh well, not gonna lose too much sleep over it. Thanks for the help.

[hvmercy]

Did you use a voltmeter to check the connector?


Well, its done. Ended up getting constant 12v from the fuse box in the trunk....had to drag the remote turn on and rca's back there anyways. Still puzzles me where the OEM deck got its constant power from since it was plugged into the same plug? oh well, not gonna lose too much sleep over it. Thanks for the help.

[Logic]

im a installer of 20 plus years doing it, i went threw this pretty quick but if you used a metra harness to plug into the harness of the car should be straight forward . if so the yellow wire needs 12 volds without the key being in the ignition, the red is switched and black being ground. blue /white is amp turn on and blue is usually antenna. at the radio you need 12 volts on red and yellow for radio to turn on. using a meter check both red and yellow to see if there is power, using a test light is not suggested as a light will turn on at 6 volts .if there isnt power on those wirings on the car side there is more likely a blown fuse, make sure the ground wire is solid as its also important . if all this is good the radio should turn on. if the radio is turning and no sound its more likely amp'd so hook up amp turn on lead..... hope this helps

[hk20000]

Typical Metra harness for these cars are originally made for a VW and Range Rovers and the +12 is flipped with the switched 12.

So swap the pins around and you are good to go.