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Delco radio swapping problem

I have a problem and maybe someone here can help me. My 1995 Corsica has finally passed away a few days ago (transmission fried and I don't have $1,400 for a new one) so since the stock Delco radio in my Corsica

(model # 16195181) has superb sound quality, I want to move it to my

1993 S10 Blazer which I now drive. I removed the crappy sound quality stock Delco radio from my S10 Blazer (model # 16161615) and installed the radio from my Corsica. I can tell you that the sound quality and range vastly improved in the S10 Blazer without having to change any of

the speakers.

When nighttime came, I noticed a problem when I turned on my headlamps.

None of the panel illumation lights inside the radio would turn on. The

clock/display works fine and dims like it should when I turn on my headlamps as the rest of my dashboard lights up just fine. It's only the panel illumination lights inside the radio that don't work. The radio still works great; however, without any lights on the radio at night, I find myself turning the cigarette lighter instead of the volume knob.

At first, I thought maybe the little lightbulbs inside somehow burned out all at once so I put the Corsica's Delco radio back into my Corsica

and tried it out. The lights in the radio worked just fine when I turned on the headlamps on the Corsica so that couldn't be the problem.

I put the old Delco radio back into the S10 Blazer and its panel illumination lights work just fine when I turn on the headlamps. The panel illumination lights in both radios work just fine.

This one just baffles me. Both radios are the same size, shape, and have the same connections in the back. I only had to move the mounting hardware from one radio to the other to use the radio in the S10 Blazer. Maybe someone here can help me on this one and tell me how to fix it. Thanks.

Reply to
lazynetjunkie
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I would suspect that the Corsica has a higher rated fuse to run the radio plus the obviously more powerful amp built in than the Blazer. I wouldnt rule out that the wiring might be slightly different for the radio in both vehicles though. Chevy has a nasty habit of doing that unfortunately. So your best bet would be to grab the Haynes or Chiltons manual with a multimiter and check the wiring for both vehicles, making sure that the same voltage is getting to the same place. Or you could just leave it alone and put glow in the dark tape on the volume knob. :-)

Reply to
big.drizzt

Thanks. I looked closer at the radio wire harness of the Corsica and noticed the gray wire (headlight dimmer wire) was in a different spot than in the Blazer radio wire harness. I'll have to go to the junkyard sometime later this week to get myself a 95 Corsica radio wire harness to use in the Blazer.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
lazynetjunkie

Hi!

An easier way to do this might be to move the wire in the Blazer connector. You might be able to do this by using a needle-nose pliers to pull the wire back out of the connector. When it comes out, push it into the place where it needs to go.

If you can do that it will be cleaner, cheaper and easily reversed should you ever wish to do so. I don't recommend cutting up the wiring or modifying it too much if you can avoid it.

William

Reply to
William R. Walsh

I would do that if I could, however; the location of the gray wire in the Corsica's harness is in that extra strip that the S10 Blazer's harness doesn't have.

Since I live a couple blocks from a junkyard, I'll be able cut a harness/connector from one of the 95/96 Corsicas they have there for a dollar or 2 and then use the needle-nose pliers to pull the wires out of the Blazer's connector and put them into a Corsica connector in the order they should be for a Corsica radio.

William R. Walsh wrote:

Reply to
lazynetjunkie

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