[Chikur]

I've got a 1999 Dodge 1500 high-top conversion van in which I'm updating the wiring to remove old tech and add new tech. I'm leaving the mid-90s Mitsubishi made Chrysler head unit with the combo CD, tape player and radio featuring a 3-band EQ and non-switchable bass boost even though I will probably never use the tape player feature. Can anyone supply me with a wiring diagram with the color codes for each wire at the back of the Mitsubishi/Chrysler head unit that makes it clear what each wire's function is? I also believe that there are at least two versions of this unit, one with steering wheel control and one without. I have seen units that look exactly like mine that have the model numbers: PO4704383AG(not steering wheel controllable) and PO4704383AD(steering wheel controllable). My unit may have a different number than either of these... It seems to handle CDRs that I have burned on my computer just fine and my van is a 1999 so it is probably a newer version head unit. I don't know how to tell the difference from the front panel and I have not removed the unit to see the model number and would like to not need to remove it if possible, but if I must, I will. I don't know what steering wheel control means exactly in this regard and if the different models will have different wiring on the back of the head unit. Does steer wheel control simply mean that there can be remote controls on the steering wheel that control the head unit so hands can remain on the wheel? If I remove the head unit I will see the colors and can trace the wires using continuity testing but I want to understand what each wire connects to in the head unit itself, whether it is ground, 12VDC ignition switched, channel outputs, etc... What has complicated the tracing aside from hard to reach wiring is the addition of an Audiovox RB3600 Theater Surround System that has its own wiring harnesses that were added into and in place of the factory wiring to shunt outboard amplified TV output to the factory speakers. My van previously featured a 12-volt TV, a VCR, an outboard multi-cd changer, a game center connection and the output also branched out to some small headphone jack input panels for passengers in the rear of the van to listen to the TV and game output via headphones. I believe that some of the original factory wiring was cut out and replaced with differently color coded wiring harnesses for the RB 3600 that were designed to redirect signal from the front head unit through the RB3600 via a pass-through circuit to make it possible to toggle between the front head unit and the TV output using a rocker switch on the control unit for the RB3600 allowing the matching of the TV volume to the front head unit volume using a bias control, necessary because two distinct amplifier/pre-amp sources are being utilized. Now I want to eliminate the RB3600 (which I've already done) and restore the original wiring path of the head unit output that uses its own built-in power amp and pre-amp circuits to drive the factory speakers. (The control unit for the RB3600 has a rocker switch that offered only two options: amplified TV output(ON position) and a pass-through for the front head unit output(OFF position). While I've traced and labeled much of the wiring from the point behind the front seats to the rear of the van and located the many variations of 12VDC power sources and ground wires and speaker wiring and have identified the circuits that are switched on and off by 4 rocker switches in a front headliner ceiling panel labeled with icons for reading lights, overhead lighting, TV and VCR, there are still some wires that I have yet to identify that go into areas I can't track visually that may connect with the front head unit or no longer have a function with the old tech removed and I think the wiring changes colors in hidden places before reaching the head unit! Because of this, I'm not sure of what wiring I can remove as no longer useful, or if I will need it to regain the full output of the front head unit to all of the speakers which include tweeters, mids and woofers in the back that are disconnected at the moment. It would be difficult to connect the unmounted speakers at this point in the build out as a way of testing what wires work with the head unit so I would prefer to thoroughly understand the wiring first through a process of elimination. Only the door speakers in the front are presently connected and functioning and before I can re-install the back speakers, I need to build a custom headliner with side areas that will hold the speakers as the old headliner will not fit over the added roof insulation. I want to know what all the wiring does before I attempt to build the headliner/shelving so I can plan for access to the wiring for new lighting and outboard gear that will connect from the visually hidden wiring harnesses. So there you have it... Hope I'm being clear and not overly detailed in my description...

 

[valiant67]

All these radios used the same pinouts, regardless of model number, always a black and a gray plug. These pinouts ran from the star of the integrated clock in 1984 and were used for the rest of the run of the radio with the squared off corners which lasted until 1999-2001 or so depending on car line.Sometimes the colors differed but the pinouts stayed the same so any radio from 1984 up until the radio changed could work in any vehicle in that range.
http://www.installdr.com/harnesses/dcp-wiring.pdf
Plus there's a ground strap.
If a vehicle has steering wheel controls, there will be a separate plug for them and the radio works fine without the controls. There's simply buttons on the back of the steering wheel for volume on one side and the switch radio stations/CD tracks on the other side. The connector is probably not there on your radio, it's just a blank area. I'm not sure this was ever offered on the Ram van so I'm going to skip it. It goes through the computer and is a small white connector with maybe two wires. The radio doesn't care if this connected so a radio with the feature works fine in a vehicle without the controls.
These radios are common, even more info on this can be found with a Google search.

 

[Chikur]

Thank you so much Mark. I Googled and used other browsers as well and did not find this information. I am very grateful to you for supplying it to me. I cannot thank you enough!

 

[Chikur]

Well, I realized that I was going to have to take the 1999 Mitsubishi/Chrysler Head Unit out to trace and verify wiring in the rear of my van so I popped the dash. The entire faux wood-grained area of the dash comes off in one tightly fitted, unwieldy piece on my '99 Dodge Ram 1500. It completely surrounds the steering wheel and has an LED alarm light fastened to it and the headlight switch sticking out of it as well to the left of the wheel. Bending it a bit and shifting into reverse to give some room behind the shift lever I wrestled it free. While the connectors are the same as the 'Majority of Vehicles' diagram that Mark sent me, the wiring is almost entirely different in color and possibly different in some functions as well. I photographed the connectors and the label on the head unit and then created overlays and a colored wire reference so someone who understands this stuff can check to see if I am understanding how the diagram pertains to the actual connectors. I find the label diagram on the head unit confusing since it doesn't look like the connectors, so I may have gotten the wire order backwards/upside down. I'm pretty sure I've got the light gray connector correctly marked because I physically meter tested the pink with white stripe (BAT) and red with white stripe (ACC) and found 'always on' 12VDC and Ignition switched 12VDC power connections using the separate black ground wire that is connected via its own plastic connector to the back of the head unit to complete the circuit. Since I don't know how to post an image right within this post, I created a free Google website with a single page containing my image. Here is the link: https://sites.google.com/site/99dodgeram1500headunitwiring/home What does ILL and PARK mean? Mark's diagram had two wires labeled Radio Dimmer and Headlight Dimmer. Are these the same as ILL and PARK? Why are these connections on the back of a head unit that features radio, cd, tape player and 3-band EQ? Also, I understand the importance and basic theory of correct speaker polarity, but how do I know which speaker terminal to attach the positive and negative leeds to? Is it done strictly through listening to the output or is there a better way? Since I already have the speaker wires in place, though a bit of a mess due to removing the old TV, VCR, CD Changer, Theater Surround Amp/preamp and game center headphone connections, finding the positive and negative connections with a meter at the head unit (once I'm sure about them) by making continuity with the rear wiring should be fairly simple. Thanks in advance for your time, effort and expertise!

 

[valiant67]

These radios are all 100% interchangable, the only differences is some are wired to have a mute wire (most don't) amd some will have a power antenna feed and others don't. The other wires are allways 100% identical in form and function between the stereos, doesn't matter if it's AM/FM stereo or the AM/FM/cassette/CD. Only the non-stereo units use different wiring.

Park and Ill are simply different names for the two illumination circuits going to the radio compared to the other diagram.

 

[Chikur]

Thank you once again Mark. I thought that might be the case with ILL and PARK but wanted to be sure. I will have to trace the speaker wiring to make sure I've got it in the right order on the black connector as I could easily have reversed the order, I can't tell from the diagram on the label, but I feel confident that I've got enough understanding of the wiring to proceed. Basically, one end wire on the black connector is going to be the right rear speaker negative polarity and the other end is going to be the antenna connection and once I trace the RR-, I will know which is which along with the correct order for the rest of the speaker wires so I get the polarity right. I appreciate your help with this.