Argh! When I bought the car, the radio wasn't working. The guy said previous owner had an aftermarket system and removed it before selling it to him. He or she put back the stock radio, which is a pretty nice system to begin with. I thought maybe it could be some unplugged wires. So today I decided to look behind the radio. Argh! Too many wires. First off, there is a bundle of wires attached to the radio. I guess that is a good sign, as they should be attached to the radio anyway. But there are 4 silverish paired wires that are severed. I believe they may be the wires for the four speakers. I've no clue where they attach to. Behind the radio there is this black circular plug-like thing with little holes. Looks like it may be a socket dor something. There are two other wires that are severed. A black and red wire. Are they for the auxillary clock or accesories for the two blank squares? Or are they for the radio? Based on what I've seen, is this radio repair a DIY for a car-radio neophyte or is this a job for a pro? I was actually nervous about accidently yanking a wire loose when I was trying to pull the radio out, more so when I was trying to pull it out more so I could see the back. And again, I was nervous about putting it back in, as it took a little push to get it slotted back to its location. All the wires got me worrying that I may accidently cause them to push against something, like a vacuum hose. Can I trust a pro to be careful with my car and all the wiring in the back? What if he yanks on the wrong hose?! What to do? I need music!

Also:

There seems to be other wires that are not part of the radio. Where do they go? One is a yellow wire with one end heading down toward the driver-side foot panel where a bunch of wires are located. Could this yellow wire be the one that is attached to the temperature compensator board and the other end attached to the temperature sensor in the engine manifold? I've read about this yellow wire in my TC search.

Just one thing to add, if your car has 4 speakers, you have a separate amp, if you have 2 the radio is wired straight to the speakers. I believe 200 speakers are in the doors. I figured out the wiring for my 700 radio in about a half hour, it's not too bad. I wouldn't take it to a "radio pro", I went to several and their labor is very expensive, and I'm skeptical how pro they are. A Volvo shop might be good though, or could at least tell you how it should be wired.
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'90 744 tic

It probably looks like a mess, but it's not all that bad. When they put in the aftermarket radio, they cut and cobbled up the OEM wiring, but in all likelihood did not remove any wires. With a test meter and a couple of hours, you should be able to sort things out. I'm not sure if your car has the Volvo 'amp' mounted separately from the radio, behind the lower storage bin in the console. If it does, there is a DIN connector & cable running from the radio to the amp to feed it power and signal. A rectangular connector on the amp sends signal outputs to the 2 or 4 speakers. The radio itself gets the power, lighting and ground connections.

Frankly, the Volvo radios are not that good; ALL OEM radios on my Volvos have failed (that's 3 240's and 2 850's). At least the 240's can accept aftermarket stuff, and that's what I recommend. For under $150 you can get a current-technology CD player/FM unit with a clock in the display which tells time better than the one in your instrument cluster which will die soon if it hasn't already!

Just about any radio you install, including the Volvo unit, requires:
- 12 volts switched on/off with the ignition
- 12 volts UNswitched, for memory
- a connection to dash/panel wiring, or headlamp (or parking light) wiring
- a good ground
- the antenna wire

Beyond that, it's just a matter of identifying which speaker wires go where, and making sure you know which wire in each pair is the ground side.

I hope this helps a bit.

Does this radio have an Amplifier? I know my '89 200 did not.
This is the wiring for my radio.From the radio:

The connector in the radio is a AMP #480673

Pin 1 Const. Voltage +12 (Fuse 8) For clock and memory
Pin 2 +12 v switched (Fuse 1) works off the ignition switch
Pin 3 Power antenna My 200 does not have a power antenna
Pin 4 Left Speaker +
Pin 5 Right Speaker +
Pin 6 Right Speaker –
Pin 7 Left Speaker –
Pin 8
Pin 9 Ground


Wires under the dashboard:

Green wire……………Constant on (+12V)
Yellow/blue………….. +12 v switched
Red…………………... Antenna
White (Gray)………… Left Speaker +
Yellow/Gray…………. Right Speaker +
White………………….Left Speaker –
Gray…………………...Right Speaker –
Black…………………..Ground


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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwr and two motorcycles: it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me