Help me figure out this car stereo installation please...

First thing first: I know less than nothing about car audio.

I have a fairly simple Blaupunkt stereo that I bought from Crutchfield. It was installed, and then later removed, from one of my Miatas. It's been sitting on the shelf and I decided that I'd like to install it into the Volvo. I contacted Crutchfield, told them what I had (Blaupunkt Madrid) and what I wanted to put it into (1998 Volvo V70R) and they told me what harness adapter I needed to buy to make it work. Sounds simple, right?

Before starting to solder wires together, I decided to pull out the factory radio from the Volvo to make sure that the plugs on the new harness new harness fits into the factory plugs.

They do.

But, the wiring situation doesn't make any sense to me.

The plug on the right has 9 wires coming out the back.

The plug on the left side of the Crutchfield harness has 4 wires going into it on the back side from the other plug, and 8 wires coming out of it.

On the Volvo side of things, the plug that mates with the left side plug only has one yellow wire going into it, and that lines up with an empty space in the center of the Crutchfield harness. The other plug from the Volvo harness has 7 wires going into it.

I suspect that this has something to do with the fact that what I am removing was probably Volvo's Top o'the Line audio system for that year. Lots of plugs on the back. I didn't expect to keep the CD changer, amp and Dolby system intact, but I don't want to start dissecting the factory harness either.

My audio needs are very modest. I just want a nice little single DIN am/fm unit with a USB port. But please help me understand what I have going on here.

This can't possibly be the correct adapter for this car, right?

Looks like you got a harness for a low trim option and your car is the high trim option.  Good on you for knowing something was nackered.  The way this is currently set up your aftermarket stereo should power on but nothing will come out of the speakers.  

Without the details of year/make/model on the Volvo its very tough to answer any more but you can start by googling "xyz model factory amp bypass" or "xyz model aftermarket stereo" and see what comes up.  

I'm being lazy and not actually looking but if you find a pin out you'll be on your way. 
When I installed the radio in my car the harness was physically correct but the pins were in the wrong slots. Several of them weren't used at all. 

Looks like your factory wiring doesn't have any speakers hooked up to the factory head unit.  You must have a separate amp somewhere that connects to the speakers, or another plug in the factory harness there somewhere. Looks like maybe there tucked in off to the right of the opening?  

You will need to find that amp; the harness connecting it to the head unit would probably give you some clues.

In reply to oldopelguy (Forum Supporter) :

Yes, there are three round plugs for CD, Amp and Dolby. 

There may also be a plug coming back from the amp plugged into the harness plug that looks just like the one with one wire.  Essentially the sub harness for the amp going in between the factory harness that has wires going all over the car and the head unit. That one being not hooked up to the head unit would be tucked away back in there somewhere. 

Strictly a guess. The 1 yellow wire will now go to the amp, and the amp will hook to your new harness. 

Okay...I just tracked down the receipt for the harness, and it gives me a little more insight.

This car was Volvo's limited production performance hotrod, and there were probably fewer than 1000 imported that year. They came with almost every option standard, including the premium sound system. Sometimes, it's tricky to find parts specifically for this car, especially aftermarket stuff. The harness that Crutchfield sold me is listed for the S60 and S70 for the same year. They probably didn't have a listing specifically for this car because of its limited production.

So, now it makes sense.

I guess that I will have to live with the tired, original sound system.

And I suppose that I should probably start looking for another Miata, since I already have a cheap aftermarket stereo ready to drop in...

I dont speak Volvo to well and without specific year make model info its a crap shoot... 

But you need this harness or a reasonable facsimile

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Volvo-V70-2000-2004-Dolby-Car-Stereo-Amplifier-Bypass-Wiring-Harness-Lead-/181255407369

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

Woody said: (1998 Volvo V70R)

 

 

Woody said:

And I suppose that I should probably start looking for another Miata, since I already have a cheap aftermarket stereo ready to drop in...

I've used worse reasoning than that to buy another Miata. 

Have you tried getting back to Crutchfield about this?

I thought they were supposed to be very good at helping with oddball stuff, and that the entire idea of one of their harnesses was that you didn't have to do any cutting, splicing, or soldering.

bradyzq said:

Have you tried getting back to Crutchfield about this?

 

I thought they were supposed to be very good at helping with oddball stuff, and that the entire idea of one of their harnesses was that you didn't have to do any cutting, splicing, or soldering.

I bought it about six months ago, but I reached out to them tonight. I haven't heard back yet.

I dealt with this same issue with our Diamante VR-X (top trim nobody bought), which apparently only in some years had a factory amp, which i have. Took a couple tries!

Crutchfield responded first thing this morning (great service!) and said that if I trace the single yellow and black wire back to the amp, I should find a similar connector to hook into with the existing harness, so I will give it another shot when I can.

In reply to Woody :

good luck, please update when you have time.