stereo wire help

[solow720]

whats up when i bought the truck the person i bought it from ran a after market cd player and speakers and did not know what they were doing cuz they used bigger gauge wire with smaller wire and some of it was fried.when i bought it they pulled out there system and cut all the wires so i pulled it all out dumb asses. i think i have found the stock stereo wires but i not sure if some one could help that would be sweet or if you could just tell me how to run a new power wire for the stereo that will turn off when i turn the truck off a have a small gauhe amp kit that im not useing and i was thinkn i could use the power wire from that any info would be great..PEACE..

[elmerfudpucker]

Did you take a breath in there somewhere?... First get a test light and head to the fuse box under the dash by you left knee. Your radio harness may work for you but I always run fresh wire. 10 Gauge is plenty for a radio to get power and 12 gauge will work for the speakers. If you are using a new radio be sure you follow the install instructions provided. As far as power, your yellow wire on the radio will need 12v at all times, that means the test light will light up no matter if the key is on or not. The red wire is power with the key in the ACC position. Most important is your ground. It has to be the same size or larger that the power wire and will be the black wire. If you plan on using the harness, DO NOT HOOK THE GROUND TO IT!! find bare metal and connect it there. Too many times I see people hook the ground to the harness and they hook it to the illumination wire (dash lights) by mistake. That wire reads ground while the lights are off and then turns 12 volts when the parking lights gets turn on! and keep all ground wires 12" or less. The longer the ground, the more of a chance you take to getting engine noise in the radio. PM me if you need any more help, and good luck.