JKU Aftermarket Headunit Issues

mckeder

mckeder

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Columbus, OH
I have a 2014 JKU that the radio started going out on a few months ago. I decided to go ahead and replaced it. I went with the following:

Kenwood DMX4707S
iDatalink Maestro ADS-MMR
Red Wolf T-Harness hrn rr-ch1

The Red Wolf harness states its compatible with the MMR. I hooked everything up according to the diagram and I get power to the head unit. The controls seem to work and everything seems to be working fine, except I have no sound at all. No static, no crackling, nothing that indicates it's working.

I should note, I haven't changed out a stereo system since the early 2000s so I watched a few videos online to make sure I was doing it right. At least I think I did it correctly. Any tips on what to check? I know it has an amp below the steering wheel but no idea how to check if it's getting power.
 
mckeder said:
I have a 2014 JKU that the radio started going out on a few months ago. I decided to go ahead and replaced it. I went with the following:

Kenwood DMX4707S
iDatalink Maestro ADS-MMR
Red Wolf T-Harness hrn rr-ch1

The Red Wolf harness states its compatible with the MMR. I hooked everything up according to the diagram and I get power to the head unit. The controls seem to work and everything seems to be working fine, except I have no sound at all. No static, no crackling, nothing that indicates it's working.

I should note, I haven't changed out a stereo system since the early 2000s so I watched a few videos online to make sure I was doing it right. At least I think I did it correctly. Any tips on what to check? I know it has an amp below the steering wheel but no idea how to check if it's getting power.
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Double check that your blue/white wires are connected. The blue/white wire is your amp power.
 
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JeepJeezy said:
Double check that your blue/white wires are connected. The blue/white wire is your amp power.
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Thanks. I'll double check that soon as I'm home. I'm pretty sure I did hook it up to the red wire originally for power as that's what a lot of people suggested. The Kenwood manual said to hook it up to the blue so I believe I moved it over to that one currently. Checked fuses as well to ensure none were blown.
 
mckeder said:
Thanks. I'll double check that soon as I'm home. I'm pretty sure I did hook it up to the red wire originally for power as that's what a lot of people suggested. The Kenwood manual said to hook it up to the blue so I believe I moved it over to that one currently. Checked fuses as well to ensure none were blown.
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There are 2 blue wires. 1 solid blue wire which is for power antenna and 2nd blue/white which is amp power. Solid blue only provides power for 1-2 seconds then powers off.
 
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Okay so I'm back at home and took a look. I'm not seeing a blue and white from the deck.

IMG_1311.jpeg


It's currently connected to the blue wire which I'll disconnect now

IMG_1312.jpeg
 
Weird that it doesn't have a blue/white wire from the deck. Definitely don't use the solid blue antenna wire. I would use your ignition solid red wire to turn on the amp.
 
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JeepJeezy said:
Weird that it doesn't have a blue/white wire from the deck. Definitely don't use the solid blue antenna wire. I would use your ignition solid red wire to turn on the amp.
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Got it. Tried that and still no sound. I'll see if I can locate any other fuses I may have missed.
 
Can you use a volt meter to make sure the wire to the amp has power? Look in the back of the radio and composure ports with the wires. Sometimes the wires in the plug are in the wrong slot.
 
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Danarch said:
Can you use a volt meter to make sure the wire to the amp has power? Look in the back of the radio and composure ports with the wires. Sometimes the wires in the plug are in the wrong slot.
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Okay so checked with it and getting 12v out of red yellow and blue.
 
The one thing I'm noticing between this harness and the iDatalink one is that this one is missing the white and green amp connectors. I'm assuming this will make a difference?
 
Nope. I'm starting to think it's an amp issue. Maybe the amp is bad? I took it to an install shop and the guy said I had everything hooked up correctly, except that the harness in the jeep has no access to the amp via the harness. That I needed to hook into the ODBII port for digital? I tried that still failed. I'm reflashing the Maestro now and unplugged the battery for the time being to see if that makes any difference.
 
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The old radio wouldn't work 90% of the time. The AM/FM never worked. Satellite cut in and out every few seconds and same with bluetooth. Looking it up, other people had issues too and it was a circuit problem. I decided at that point to just replace the unit.
 
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Okay, so I went through Crutchfield and ordered the HRR-CH1 harness. This time it worked perfectly after hooking everything up. Going to chalk this one up to a bad harness(?). Thanks everyone for the help though! I really appreciate it!
 
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mckeder said:
Okay, so I went through Crutchfield and ordered the HRR-CH1 harness. This time it worked perfectly after hooking everything up. Going to chalk this one up to a bad harness(?). Thanks everyone for the help though! I really appreciate it!
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Glad you got it working!
 
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