Help wiring car Radio

[Adam32]

I have a VR500CS-BT car radio that I purchased about 10 years ago. Unfortunately I have lost the wiring harness that came with it, and it does not seem to be a standard connector type such as ISO. From my research on the internet someone suggests this could possibly be a 90's model GM connector, but I know nothing about GM cars - so if anyone could shed any light on this I would be grateful. Here is a picture of the connector on the radio:




I am trying to fit it in a 1997 Honda Civic, which has this plug:



Anyone know if I can get a wring harness adaptor which will enable me to plug this radio into the Honda connector? I would much rather do this than start cutting wires etc. Plus I don't even have a pinout diagram for the Radio, and electrics are not my strong point.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Adam32]

Penelope Stoppedit said:

Click on the orange bar at the top right hand of page to download the PDF

http://manualzz.com/doc/2093356/roadmaster-vr500cs...

At least this is a start and you can see that the speaker connections go to the right hand terminals

I have that, but it does not show a pin out of the connector. It just shows you it with the loom that it comes with.

[Adam32]

tapkaJohnD said:

This looks about right:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-16-PIN-ISO-CAR-STER...

John

That will convert the stereo to standard ISO. I would then need to convert the Honda connector to ISO. Would something like this work in conjunction with the first adapter:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-CIVIC-87-99-ISO-Ra...
,,

[Adam32]

tapkaJohnD said:

This looks about right:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-16-PIN-ISO-CAR-STER...

John

Bad news, I purchased this adaptor and it arrived today but it does not fit. seems I am back in square 1 again.

[Adam32]

E-bmw said:

You might have to get hold of a set of these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DuPont-2-54mm-pitch-Cri...

And make up your own patch lead.

problem is I don't have a pinout diagram, so have no idea about what does what. If I go randomly connecting things, I am worried I will damage something.

[Adam32]

DuraAce said:

Is this it?

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=vr500cs-bt+pinou...

+ half hour with a soldering iron and make your own? That's if you can't Google and find a plug.

Saying that, i would just fit something newer.

Edited by DuraAce on Saturday 13th January 15:25

That is it, but it just shows the wiring which comes with it from the original harness. And it is the original harness which I have lost. So I am still no further forward knowing which pins do what.

[Adam32]

E-bmw said:

Did you not think at the time that you ordered the previous plug "what if it doesn't have the same pin-out"?

It did think that at the time, but saw the 16 pin plugs sold everywhere, so hoped there may be some standardization with that. Nerveless if the plug fitted it would have been a gamble to connect it, but if I can't get the radio working it is more or less junk anyway.

[Adam32]

DuraAce said:

So you've got the pinout for the radio you want to fit.

What am I missing here?!

I don't have the pin out. There is nothing with the pins labelled of the radio which tells you what is what.The best I can do is a good guess from the diagram shown. The diagram is very poor. That may be a pinout in your book, but for me it's a poor diagram.

[Adam32]

DuraAce said:

Tried contacting the manufacturer directly?
Why are you so keen to fit something so old though?.

It seems the manufacturer is not trading anymore.

As for the unit being old, I don't really care and besides it's a 21 year old car! I already have the radio, so rather than throw it away I will use it. I'm really not trying to impress anybody!

[Adam32]

defblade said:

You didn't give any pics of the font of the unit, but I think it's the same as this one (there's a couple of models with the same code)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Virtual-Reality-Sound-L...

The middle picture on that one shows you clearly which pins the red/yellow/black power wires go to, and which block are the speaker outputs. I can't see the white at all or which pin the orange is on, so you may lose dimmer and remote on facilities.

Or maybe ask the ebay seller nicely and he might have a look/ take another pic for you?!

Thanks that's a good find. It's interesting that it appears connected differently (with power on different side of plug) to how the original poor diagram would insinuate.

[Adam32]

imck said:

Someone fitting one and soldering the loom.
http://www.angelar.com/~jeremy/vr3cd/

Looking at the Back of your Radio as per your Pic
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16


1 & 2 No Connection
3+ & 4- Left Front Speaker
5+ & 6- Right Front Speaker
7+ & 8- Left Rear Speaker
9+ & 10- Right Rear Speaker
11 No Connection
12 Illumination
13 Ignition
14 Electric Aerial/Amp Remote
15 Battery
16 Ground

Thanks that's absolutely awesome

[Adam32]

imck said:

Looking at the Back of your Radio as per your Pic
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16


1 & 2 No Connection
3+ & 4- Left Front Speaker
5+ & 6- Right Front Speaker
7+ & 8- Left Rear Speaker
9+ & 10- Right Rear Speaker
11 No Connection
12 Illumination
13 Ignition
14 Electric Aerial/Amp Remote
15 Battery
16 Ground

Just to let you know that was the correct pin information and the stereo works perfect. Thanks a lot

I could not find crimp pins the right size for the back of the radio. So I simply got an ISO harness and removed the pins from the housing with a safety pin. The pins from the ISO connector were a little too big for the radio, but I wired the radio up and used a little blue tack to hold the pins in the back of the radio for testing. Once I was convinced everything worked as should, I removed the blue tack and used a glue gun to secure everything in place.