Holden Barina TK 2006 Sub & Amp Install

[morphix]

Hi guys,

I know this is, JC, but you guys are quite helpful and atleast its a Holden.

Due to a cheapy second hand car i got about 3 months ago the transmission blew up, my girlfriend went and financed and got a low km Holden Barina TK 2006 3DR Hatchback to replace it.

I had the pain of installing the head unit (after re-wiring all of the speaker, power, etc wiring in the dash) and sub/amp and now she has changed cars... she wants it installed in the new car.

I've had a look in the engine bay for the wiring harness grommet that goes through the firewall but can only locate a very small grommet with small bundle of wiring, but its too hard to get to (as the engine bay is TINY).

I've noticed there is a thicker bundle of wiring going out and in the inside of the passenger front guard, i am assuming this is the main wiring harness?

If anyone out there knows, for this car, does the main wiring harness go through the passenger front guard and then up through the firewall behind the glovebox that way?

In the previous car, Hyundai Lantra had this too and it took me hours having to pull of the skirt, guard and glove box and trying to worm the power cable through the grommet, i want to make sure i am certain of its location before i start.

[Torquative]

I'm curious too, about to attack a 2005 Viva for the same thing and although I havent checked it in depth yet, from memory its much the same setup and I'm almost inclined to find a suitably sized grommet and just try to somehow get a drill down there to drill a hole out!

[morphix]

I'm curious too, about to attack a 2005 Viva for the same thing and although I havent checked it in depth yet, from memory its much the same setup and I'm almost inclined to find a suitably sized grommet and just try to somehow get a drill down there to drill a hole out!

Yeh, but as i cannot be certain of what wiring or else is behind it, i am reluctant to start drilling, also as the car is under 3 years warranty, drilling a hole would void it.

I also had major issues trying to find a wiring harness for this car, Autobarn, Newcastle Pro Sound & JB HiFi all stated none exist, i had to go on ebay after pulling the original head unit out to get the pins and found one on ebay.

Newcastle Pro Sound wanted to CUT the plug off the original and wire in the new head units plug, which i promptly said Hell no, as yet another case of voiding the cars warranty.

I spoke with Holden who advise, popping a hole in the grommet to put the cable through will not void warranty unless it causes damaged to other systems.

[STEEV888]

Car Audio

WOOP-A-CHAN

[RiCeY]

I would have thought Barinas and Vivas struggled enough without the extra weight of a decent sound system!

[morphix]

I would have thought Barinas and Vivas struggled enough without the extra weight of a decent sound system!

Compared to the car she had before, Hyundai Lantra 1997, which would nearly stop trying to get up a hill, this Barina has a lot more balls then it ever had.

Its only a low range (250W) single 10" that i bought her as a 'pack' with the amp for her birthday, which fits nice and snug in the boot/hatch with also some room for the essential stuff. (eg. Jack, Top up Coolant, etc)

[RiCeY]

Compared to the car she had before, Hyundai Lantra 1997, which would nearly stop trying to get up a hill, this Barina has a lot more balls then it ever had.

Its only a low range (250W) single 10" that i bought her as a 'pack' with the amp for her birthday, which fits nice and snug in the boot/hatch with also some room for the essential stuff. (eg. Jack, Top up Coolant, tow rope etc)

Fixed. Just kidding.

[STEEV888]

Fixed. Just kidding.

so it can tow your commodore when it breaks down ?

[morphix]

Haha.

Funny thing is, MY commodore currently has transmission issues... so she's been dropping me off and picking me up from work in the meantime.

My car is able to be driven, but as the transmission clunks, slips and generally is unreliably unsafe and from the recommendation from the transmission specialist, until i get more money together, best to drive it as little as possible.

[morphix]

Last night i received the harness i got off ebay which went from the Barina plug to ISO ends, i snipped the ISO ends off and wired up the Sony head unit plug to it i got from the old car.. soldered it up and then it doesn't work for the right side sound!.

Since i have a similar model in the commodore, the plugs are identical i plugged it into my car and tested which the right sound was working.. so i guess the old Sony plug from the old car is stuffed.

Will have to hit up JB or so for the Sony plug end so i can rewire this onto the Holden barina harness.

Bloody cars.

Once the weekend hits and i have a go at the amp wiring, i'll comment on my findings, whether or not the main wiring does go via the passenger guard or not.

The annoying thing is.. to get to it, i have to pull of the passenger side skirt and guard and pull out the glovebox.

[TinSnips]

Having bought the ex a TK barina (not sorry - oh the irony) I would have to agree with Ricey. The weight would kill the... ummm.. performance? .. no.. not the right word. Might lower the centre of gravity a touch though, so if you do get it to move, it might feel slightly less likely to tip over.

[morphix]

I must admit, when driving it.. and going around corners.. it does feel like it may tip, where as in the commodore, i could fly around the same corner and feel fully grounded.

My girlfriend doesn't have any problems with the car and as she's the one paying for it, i'm not fussed, i just want my car back.

[RiCeY]

so it can tow your commodore when it breaks down ?

Had it since new and it hasnt yet

[Torquative]

4 cylinder viva, 6 cylinder adventra, 8 cylinder statesman. Not really interested in race car performance from my cars.

[morphix]

Well just a small update, after getting both a replacement Sony to ISO harness and putting it together with the Barina harness (again) there is no sound for the right hand side of the car, both front and rear speakers.

I have tested the harness with a circuit tester to make sure all the pins and wires are working correctly for the now Sony-to-Barina (which i soldered together) harness and that is fine.

Again, when plugging it back in the car, it doesn't work.

I tested taking the head unit out and putting it in my Commodore and again it works fine both left and right audio, this is driving me insane!

For a process (head unit install) that usually would take about 30 minutes tops, this has taken way too much time and still has no solution

[morphix]

This is really annoying me now.

Does anyone have any idea on what this could be, i'm begining to think my only option is to get jb or autobarn to take a look at it for me and install it, but for $90 its something that could be spent elsewhere.

[morphix]

This is really annoying me now.

Does anyone have any idea on what this could be, i'm begining to think my only option is to get jb or autobarn to take a look at it for me and install it, but for $90 its something that could be spent elsewhere.

[B-roca]

Hey Mate,

You might want to check that all your wiring is correct and all your colours are in the correct place, noting that colour codes differentciate between manufacturers. Just check over all your connections and try again you have come this far and it would be a shame to go spend $90 on installation.

(oh and before you do that you might want to check the balance on the headunit just incase )

[Torquative]

I found the solution to my question, there is a perfect ally sized grommet at the firewall

[morphix]

You might want to check that all your wiring is correct and all your colours are in the correct place, noting that colour codes differentciate between manufacturers. Just check over all your connections and try again you have come this far and it would be a shame to go spend $90 on installation.

(oh and before you do that you might want to check the balance on the headunit just incase )

Yeh, i've checked the wiring over atleast 4 times, using a combination of the text stamped on the harness wires themselves and also from the pin out diagram sticker on the top from the factory unit and the wiring diagram from the Sony install manual.

I cannot see any reason why this is not working and at that, why is the ONLY thing not working the right hand side audio

As soon as the power is killed to the new head unit (eg. unplug and plug back in) the settings are lost, but even so i've checked settings and even set the balance to fully right side only, no difference.

Here is link of the photo i took from the factory head unit.

The only pins on that are not connected are pins 3, 6, 11, 12, 15, 16.
12 & 15 have no wire going into it anyway from the factory harness end.

The wiring for the harness that goes between the factory harness plug and the sony head unit i've confirmed are working properly and all pins complete the circuit (used circuit test and multimeter).

If i can find a spare 3.5MM headphone plug, i'll even test plugging in a phone or so directly to the pins of the right hand speakers in the harness and see if sound comes out.

I got the shits with it last night and left the new unit in with only 1 side audio playing while we drove to the coast and then i got drunk and didn't have another go at it today, so my girlfriend went to work.. annoyed with only 1 side sound lol.

[B-roca]

Bloody annoying problem you have there,

Only things I can think of are either you have faulty pins somewhere either in the back of the headunit or at one of your connectors.(I.e. Snapped, bent or missing pins)

Or

You may have a short somewhere in one of the speaker connections, whether it be at the headunit end or the speaker end or even if the speaker cable has become pinched on it's way. I had one of my speakers sorting as it got pinched when the door shut so when the door was open the sound was fine from all the speakers, as soon as I shut the door the rears would create static and the speaker which was shorting shut of, for obvious reasons. Now i guess that this could be the cause in your situation, maybe one of the right side speakers is shorting and the headunit is cutting power to the right side, or maybe they are both shorting.

Thats all I can think of, unless your headunit is faulty. Hope you get it sorted mate.
Cheers, B-roca

[wamboin23]

can you plug in the original headunit again to confirm that is the car's wiring etc?

a simple AA battery can test the speakers, just connect it across the speaker and it will 'pop' if the speaker is ok.

[morphix]

can you plug in the original headunit again to confirm that is the car's wiring etc?

a simple AA battery can test the speakers, just connect it across the speaker and it will 'pop' if the speaker is ok.

Yeah i've done the following:

Plugged factory head unit back in car and confirmed both left and right audio work fine, including changing balance to right only, can hear it fine.
Plugged the 'new' head unit into my commodore, which has a similar model, but uses the same plug and can confirm there is nothing wrong with that unit for the right side.

Tomorrow i might just do the AA battery check.

[morphix]

The only other thing i can think of if the harness i got to connect to the factory harness.. the pins are either short.. or not contacting.. but they are all the same length...

[morphix]

Just a further update guys.

This afternoon i again had another look, got angry and started pulling on the harness and noticed the right side audio would flick on and then back off.

Decided to bend some pins down in the harness for the FR & RR speakers.. shoved it back in and viola! sound on both left and right.. yay!

Was going to do the amp/sub install but by the time i got the wiring out of the old car, it started pouring down rain, so i'll do it another day.