1990 ZR-1 Aftermarket Radio not working

[andrew_avg]

Hello guys! I am deeply honored to finally be able to own a Corvette. I am from Athens, Greece and I just got my 1990 ZR-1.

I am in desperate need of your precious help.

The car already has an aftermarket stereo with an amp and subwoofer etc so previous owners probably bypassed the BOSE?
I tried replacing the old aftermarket head unit with a Pioneer bluetooth one.
I joined the wires and it fired right up. Sadly however, before I taped my connections I started looking on how to connect the RCA from the amp and the wires probably moved and touched one another and suddenly the radio stopped working. I checked the fuse on the Pioneer headunit and replaced that and nothing. I checked the fuses on the passenger door and all seemed fine.
The antenna does not go up.
I did not check the small fusebox under the passenger side dash.
The radio itself is fine because I took it to the shop I got it from and they tested it.

Another ZR-1 owner told me that it is not the CDM since I have climate and dash gauges etc, everything else works.
Could you point me to the right direction?

[dredgeguy]

Yasu Andrew, good to hear a ZR-1 is in Athens. I went to ACS in Halandri for high school in the 70's when my Dad was based there with STP oil treatment. If you decide to go back to the stock Bose, contact Dr. Don http://www.doctordons.com/ He can set you up and answer all technical questions. I sent him my Bose head unit from my 92 ZR-1 and he installed an AUX input hard wired to the cassette line so now I can plug in satellite radio. I have it hidden in the center console so everything looks stock but sounds outstanding. Also Mark from Mirrock Corvette will be able to provide anything you need. http://www.mirrockcorvette.com/
Good luck, welcome and keep us posted.

[andrew_avg]

Originally Posted by dredgeguy

Yasu Andrew, good to hear a ZR-1 is in Athens. I went to ACS in Halandri for high school in the 70's when my Dad was based there with STP oil treatment. If you decide to go back to the stock Bose, contact Dr. Don http://www.doctordons.com/ He can set you up and answer all technical questions. I sent him my Bose head unit from my 92 ZR-1 and he installed an AUX input hard wired to the cassette line so now I can plug in satellite radio. I have it hidden in the center console so everything looks stock but sounds outstanding. Also Mark from Mirrock Corvette will be able to provide anything you need. http://www.mirrockcorvette.com/
Good luck, welcome and keep us posted.

Wow! There's actually many Greek American ZR-1 owners from what I could tell from the facebook group! I think mine is the only ZR-1 in Greece actually!

At least for now it does not make sense for me to go back to Bose because I actually don't have it at all and me being in Greece does not help at all with parts availability etc. But of course thank you for your reply and I will keep you posted!

[G8nightman]

Check to see if you are still getting power from the car side trace the wire back towards the CDM that's where the plug for the car side power will plug into change the fuse on the passenger side anyway.

[tiegsd]

Originally Posted by andrew_avg

Hello guys! I am deeply honored to finally be able to own a Corvette. I am from Athens, Greece and I just got my 1990 ZR-1.

I am in desperate need of your precious help.

The car already has an aftermarket stereo with an amp and subwoofer etc so previous owners probably bypassed the BOSE?
I tried replacing the old aftermarket head unit with a Pioneer bluetooth one.
I joined the wires and it fired right up. Sadly however, before I taped my connections I started looking on how to connect the RCA from the amp and the wires probably moved and touched one another and suddenly the radio stopped working. I checked the fuse on the Pioneer headunit and replaced that and nothing. I checked the fuses on the passenger door and all seemed fine.
The antenna does not go up.
I did not check the small fusebox under the passenger side dash.
The radio itself is fine because I took it to the shop I got it from and they tested it.

Another ZR-1 owner told me that it is not the CDM since I have climate and dash gauges etc, everything else works.
Could you point me to the right direction?

Congrats on your ZR-1!


You may want to ensure you know exactly where the power is coming from and going to so you're checking the right things (fuses, grounds, etc) in case the previous owner did some sketchy things with the aftermarket setup.

[lisounds]

Since you stated that you have a full aftermarket sound system then this is what you must check:

pioneer:
Red---- 12 volt switched on/off with key
Yellow--12 volt constant power / battery keeps memory and clock
Black.... ground

at amp:

power... from battery 12 volt usually a thick wire 8 or 4 gauge with aftermarket fuse by battery
ground .. to solid unpainted metal same size thickness wire as power
REM.... remote or turn on ( this wire comes from back of head unit ( blue with white trace) will be 12 volt power on/ off with radio power.

if for some reason the blue /white wire from the radio does not respond to power on/off with radio..than you can connect it to the red behind radio ...just make sure it cuts off with key out of ignition

** make sure rca cables are plugged in correct position on amp and radio.

** also use a meter to test wire. i have see glass fuses that light up a test light but do not deliver 12-14 volts with car running.