just switched my head unit and now my amp is only turning on when i have it on the am/fm radio, but it shuts off when i put it to cd player.. the wire harness that im using was used on an ls1.. not sure if that mattters..
i attached the blue rem wire to the blue wire that was there before.. im pretty sure i hooked up the right wire?

 

You wired the power antenna lead on the head unit to the remote power lead on the amp.

This is often acceptible, but some decks turn off the power antenna lead when they're not using the antenna. Usually they will have another lead (also blue, sometimes blue w/ white stripe) labeled "remote power" or something like that.

 

im seeing a blue wire witha white stripe but it is already attached to another wire in the wiring harness.. the only other wire that istn connected to anything is the att wire.

 

ok the wire that runs to your amp needs to be connected to the remote wire from the headunit not the power antenna regardless of whatever else is connected to it

 

i know, but i do not see where the remote wire is?

 

Try the blue/white wire. Whatever is hooked to it now should stay hooked to it -- you're just adding yours.

 

someone said i should tap into the red wire? should i tap into the red wire or the blue/white wire?

 

Blue white; the red is a constant power wire typically and your amp will be on all the time.

 

im sorry for my lack of knowledge here. but how would i tap it on to the blue wire.. it is hooked up to another wire already.. will i need wire cutters? aah gotta go by some if i do.

 

What is the wire currently connected to?

 

its connected like this to the other wire.. the blue wire with the white stripe is coming from the harness that connects to the headunit.. and it connects to a all blue wire that connects to the other harness.. i didnt do this. the harness came like this.

 

Do you have a Bose system? It may be connected to turn on the Bose amps. If that is the case, you need to connect the 3 together if you want to maintain your Bose speakers. But, as I'm sure enough people will tell you, you need to consider replacing the Bose speakers with an aftermarket HU being used. You should give more info on what year car, and the system that it has, stock as well as upgrades so we can give you better answers

 

its a 96 z28, i dont think it has bose anything. i've had a z28 that had bose speakers and these seem even worse.. im trying to hook a sony xplod(cheap i know) cd player to a rockford fosgate amp.
hope that is the info that you were asking for
thanks for the help

 

First of all, go to a hardware store and buy yourself a wiring tool. For about $10 you can get a tool that cuts, strips, and crimps wire. Buy the one with the most comfortable handle. Don't buy the automatic one -- they damage the wire strands.

This is what you're looking for:


You need to remove the connector joining the two wires. It looks like a wire nut, which you can just twist off (wire nuts are threaded).

If it doesn't twist off, you'll have to cut the wires as close to the connector as possible. You can do this with scissors if you don't have wire cutters. Then you'll need to strip both wires that you just cut. Take about 1/3" of the insulation off of each. Do the same to your amp power lead.

If the old connector was a wire nut, then this will be easy: put all three wire ends together, twist them together a bit, and screw the wire nut down over them.

If you had to cut off the old connector, you'll need a new one. I recommend butt connectors. You'll need a blue one (they're color coded by size -- just trust me on this). Strip 1/3" of insulation off the ends of all three wires. Insert the end of the wire coming from the head unit into one end of the connector and crimp it down. Twist the other two wire ends together, insert them into the other end of the connector, and crimp that too.

Butt connectors look like this:

 

thanks alot for the help man , im going to do this when i get home from class.. thanks for making the step by step for me , i'll let you know how it goes