I was given a Panasonic DEH150MP car stereo for Christmas and have just got around to trying to install it. I got the old OE unit removed. While I was removing it, I either broke the frame that holds everything together, or it was already broken and fell apart when I removed the screws. No matter, I will need a new one or try to glue the old. But the main problem is the wiring. I cut all the wires on the old one and I am trying to match up the new to those old ones. I am lost and I don't know how to read the wiring diagrams well enough to have any confidence that I can put them back together. I have downloaded the diagram from here for the XJ's stereo, and I have the new Panasonic instructions/diagram, but which wire goes with which wire, I cannot figure our. Any advice/help someone could give me would be appreciated. Can I post diagrams and get help that way? Thanks.

I have a 1989 XJ40 base; all stock.

 

If you have the diagrams for both units you should be able to match up circuits despite color differences. I remember doing this, it wasn't too hard except for the power antenna which I didn't worry about since my antenna unit was broken anyway. Just pick one speaker and don't worry about the rest. The couple of times Ive dealt with new aftermarket radios, the wires on them were pretty clearly labeled. Good luck.

 

Do you have the four speaker system or the six speaker system which has two additional speakers below the rear seats? The wiring can be a bit tricky on this system. I just did my stereo a couple of months back,had a slight issue but figured it out and the sound is great. Let us know what speaker setup you have ( 4 or 6 speakers)?

 

I have a six speaker system. This is what I have for a diagram of the XJ's system. I installed new speakers in all six locations.




I can't seem to figure out to just copy a couple of pages from the manual PDF file, but here is the whole manual and the diagram is on pages 10-11. I don't know how else to do this. Sorry, I am not more competent. I have never been taught how to read these things. I really appreciate any help you can give.
https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/S...nual072616.pdf

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/270375359974?_mwBanner=1I personally try to avoid cutting the factory's harness off and use an aftermarket plug and play harness. Any way you can reattach the original back, and use something like this?

 

I was told that there was no harness that could be a plug and play to adapt the new stereo to the Jags sound system. Maybe I got the wrong information. I will do some more investigation to find out for sure. It would not be hard to reconnect the wires that I cut. I would love it. Your link is for newer XJ6's and I do not think it would work for my car. I will see if there is something out there... that would be great!!

 

Ah yeah... I see its for later cars. But I was looking at the wiring schematic and its not very hard to read at all. Start by wiring the front left and then front right. Match the factory wires to the stereo wires and you should get things going. There are two wires per speaker. You will slowly find yourself with less and less wires to connect.

 

The six speaker system does pose a slight problem. I just wired mine about two months ago. Because new aftermarket stereos don't have a connection for six speaker,it has to be wired differently. You'll need to purchase a mini amplifier (like pictured,found on Ebay for less than $20). The wiring goes like this:

Front Left: Car stereo white + to Harness Red w/White
Car stereo white - to Harness Red w/Green

Front Right: Car stereo grey + to Harness Red w/Brown
Car stereo grey - to Harness Pink w/Light Green

 

Rear Left: Car stereo green + to Harness Red w/Brown
Car stereo green - to Harness Red w/Green (connected together with same Red w/Green from left front)
Rear Right: Car stereo purple + to Harness Pink w/Yellow
Car stereo purple - to Harness Pink w/Light Green (connected together with same Pink w/Light Green from right front)
Brown w/White and the Light Green w/Orange are your two power wires
Light Green w/Black goes to your power antenna.
You will not have any control to fade from front to back but you will still have the right to left balance.

 

To wire the additional two rear underseat sub speakers you'll need a mini amplifier like this one pictured. I found it off of Ebay for about $15. It's about the size of two packs of cigarettes stacked on top of each other. To mount it,you'll need to remove the panel below the glovebox. Once removed you'll see the power stud on the inside of the firewall off to the upper right about a foot behind the relays. You may need to lower these out of your way to reach it. You need to attach the positive wire from the amp to this stud.You may need to extend your wire.Temporarily disconnect your battery,when removing the nut on the inner firewall stud,then attach the amp wire with a wire loop fitting on the end.You'll need to get about a 2-3 foot RCA speaker cable to go from the back of your aftermarket stereo sub output to the amp. The amp black wire goes to ground. The amp blue wire ties into the blue power antenna wire. Then to wire the two rear speakers it goes like this:
Amp Left + to Harness Red w/Purple
Amp Left - to Harness Red w/Light Green

Amp Right + to Harness Pink w/Red
Amp Right - to Harness Pink w/Orange

Just tuck the amp over to the left side near the transmission tunnel and button things up. Your stereo sub control will control your rear underseat sub speakers. You can adjust the volume setting on the amp up to the full volume setting since your stereo will control it. It sounds like alot but it's not too bad. Just take things one step at a time. Here's a picture of the amp:
500W Mini Hi-Fi 2 CH Channel Stereo Audio Amplifier Amp Subwoofer Car Motorcycle | eBay

 

One other thing.....I wired the constant 12Volt power in with the 12 Volt power to the amp using a slightly larger gauge wire( I think it was 10 or 12 gauge wire purchased at an auto parts store) just so the stereo got a good consistant power supply. You also may need to eliminate the small glass inline fuse located below the ash tray and just wire the ends together. Most stereos have a fuse located in the back of the unit along with one in the fusebox so you'll be safe there. Once your all wired up you can test it and decide for yourself,but if I recall,whenever I turned up my volume past a certain level,that little 3 amp inline fuse kept blowing.

 

And don't forget to screw that oversized ground strap to the back of your new stereo.Mine sounds great with no distortion at all. I'm using a Sony GT66 that I bought at Walmart for about $100 with six new Memphis Audio speakers. I can turn the sound up to just about full volume and it sounds great! Hope yours sounds well too. Good luck with your install. Let us know how it all works out and sounds.

 

Good deal! I tend to keep the original stereos in since I'm not into car audio, but dont get me wrong... I'm an Audiophile who loves great sound. This is a great write up 👍

 

The original stereo doesn't sound too bad but I was running short on cassette tapes and most of the external cd device hookups didn't sound clear enough. I'm probably even a bit dated using cd's since most people now hook up their Ipod's directly to their stereos or use flash devices. Just one more option to go with a newer stereo!

 

Gotcha! I use Bluetooth via an FM transmitter I bought from Amazon. It works really good on 87.9fm. I thought I was going to get lots of static but I get none. FM transmitters have come a long way from the stuff that was made 10-15 yrs ago. Another option is a minijack FM transmitter from target that goes for $20. I used that in my Volvo for 2 years before getting back in an xj40

 

Thanks for the great info! Like I said, I know next to nothing, but I'm willing to give it a try. People have told me I was nuts getting this car, but I love Jags and I will do what I can. I will let you know how it goes....