Jeep Wrangler YJ Radio Wiring Diagrams

Chris

Administrator
Staff Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2015
Messages
29,888
Location
Florence, AZ
Figured this would be helpful for any YJ owners installing a new head unit for their stereo.

Radio Wiring Diagram.PNG
 
  • Like
Reactions: Most Wanted 21
I have been looking all over for a correct radio wiring diagram.
All of the other radio wiring diagrams that I have come across have had incorrect colors...

Thanks!
 
Can anyone tell me if power to dash lights go through the radio harness? I have a 93 YJ and the Dash lights don't work. The PO cut the radio harness and only used a handful of the wires needed to install the crappy aftermarket stereo. There are a lot of extra wires behind the dash.

(edited for punctuation)
 
Can anyone tell me if power to dash lights go through the radio harness? I have a 93 YJ and the Dash lights don't work. The PO cut the radio harness and only used a handful of the wires needed to install the crappy aftermarket stereo. There are a lot of extra wires behind the dash.

(edited for punctuation)
Yes, they do, in a semi confusing manner. The factory radio has a small powered display on it and has to be illuminated. There is a radio illumination relay for this purpose. The relay works in such a way that when you flip the key, battery power runs through the relay to the radio to power the radio screen at full brightness for daytime viewing. When you turn the parking lamps on, the relay switches the radio to where it gets voltage from the orange dash light wire, which is dimmable, so the radio screen can be dimmed at night with the rest of the dash.

You can ditch the orange dimmer wire, or you can hook it up to your stereo if the stereo is auto dimmable or if you're switching to a different radio that has that function. So like in my jeep, I use a sony, and the sony is dimmable. So I hooked the orange factory dimmer wire (same as dash wire) up to my radio. When the parking lights are on, that wire has voltage, and the radio sees it and dims itself. That radio will dim itself when it sees anywhere from 0.1V to 12V on the dimmer wire. So actually when I roll the roller down all the way, the dash circuit has 0V, the radio then sees no more voltage, and goes back to full brightness even though the headlights are on. This is great for rainy days when you want your headlights on, but still want the radio to be at full brightness and don't want your gauge backlights on.

But back to your question, yes the dash light wire goes to the radio itself and to the radio illumination relay.

The radio actually has two power inputs from the dash, one from the relay, and one directly from the dash lights. The one direct to the dash lights (orange) is for the radio buttons to power them (dimmable). the relay output is for the screen specifically, so that it can be full brightness when lights are off and dimmable brightness when lights are on. the buttons don't need that functionality because they are labeled white and have full visibility during the day when they're off.

Sorry, not trying to write you a novel here, but I figure the more info I can provide you, the easier it will be for you to make sense of what you find in your dash, what it's original purpose was, and what you can either delete or repurpose for a new radio if you want to buy one.
 
Last edited:
So let me add, really you have two orange dash leads going to the relay. One to power the radio buttons when lights are on, and also one to power the radio screen in dimmed mode at night (via the illum relay), also when lights are on only.

Make sense?
 
Yes, they do, in a confusing manner. The factory radio has a small powered display on it and has to be illuminated. There is a radio illumination relay for this purpose. The relay works in such a way that when you flip the key, battery power runs through the relay to the radio to power the radio screen at full brightness for daytime viewing. When you turn the parking lamps on, the relay switches the radio to where it gets voltage from the orange dash light wire, which is dimmable, so the radio screen can be dimmed at night with the rest of the dash.

You can ditch the orange dimmer wire, or you can hook it up to your stereo if the stereo is auto dimmable or if you're switching to a different radio that has that function. So like in my jeep, I use a sony, and the sony is dimmable. So I hooked the orange factory dimmer wire (same as dash wire) up to my radio. When the parking lights are on, that wire has voltage, and the radio sees it and dims itself. That radio will dim anywhere from 0.1V to 12V. So actually when I roll the roller down to nothing, the dash circuit has 0V, the radio sees no more voltage, and goes back to full brightness. This is great for rainy days when you want your headlights on, but still want the radio to be at full brightness and don't want your gauge backlights on.

But back to your question, yes the dash light wire goes to the radio itself and to the radio illumination relay.

The radio actually has two power inputs from the dash, one from the relay, and one directly from the dash lights. The one direct to the dash lights (orange) is for the radio buttons to power them (dimmable). the relay output is for the screen specifically, so that it can be full brightness when lights are off and dimmable brightness when lights are on. the buttons don't need that functionality because they are labeled white and have full visibility during the day when they're off.

Sorry, not trying to write you a novel here, but I figure the more info I can provide you, the easier it will be for you to make sense of what you find in your dash, what it's original purpose was, and what you can either delete or repurpose for a new radio if you want to buy one.
The novel was great! Thank you for all the information, and for helping me make sense of the wiring. I tried to follow a wiring diagram, but I just could not sort it out.
 
The novel was great! Thank you for all the information, and for helping me make sense of the wiring. I tried to follow a wiring diagram, but I just could not sort it out.
You're welcome. So really just find the orange wire at the radio illumination relay, and find the orange wire from the radio plug or the clump of old radio wires. Trace it back to wherever the problem lies.

I would not delete the orange wire to the radio completely unless you do not ever plan to install a dimmable radio, or you do but don't care about that function. I really like that function so I'd try to fix the wiring if I could.