[Andrew Revering]

I have a 2007 Caliber.

I'm about ready to give up... I bought a JVC stereo, used a harness to connect and I get power to briefly show the display and to eject, but will not turn the stereo on.

I then read about needing a CAN BUS interface, so I purchased
Metra XSVI-6502-NAV CAN bus Interface. Same results.

I contacted JVC and they said:
"This is caused when the red (ignition) wire on the JVC harness is not receiving power. If possible please check the wiring harness connections. Specifically, check the red and yellow wires in the wiring harness to make sure that both are getting power. Please note that the yellow wire is for constant power directly from the car’s battery to keep the memory going and to enable the ejection of CDs even when the car is turned off. The red wire is for the power needed to play CDs, listen to the radio, etc. Power is needed from both these connections for your radio to work correctly."

So this should be taken care of by the CAN BUS harness When I put the old radio back in, it works fine so the power must be getting through.

I have checked and double checked all my connections, as I've put 3 different harnesses on with the same results.

The only things I can think of that *might* have something to do with it, but doubt, are that 1) I never disconnected the power from the battery... does the computer need it completely disconnected when setting up so on power up the computer can recognize a new radio???

or 2)... I always test without having the other connections for the console connected, such as heat/fan, heated seats, etc. Do they need to be connected for the radio to work?

I know they are stupid questions, but I can't imagine what else would be the problem. I also checked the fuse on the new radio and it looks fine.

Thoughts?

 

[DKazoroski]

Have you used a meter to make sure that the required voltages are present at the wires that JVC said? If not, then you need to do some further checking and reading.
Also, there is a slim chance that the new stereo itself may be defective.

 

[Aleks]

My thoughts are to always disconnect the battery when connecting any electrical item on the vehicle.

With your various attempts a computer reset is advised.

The electrical control wires in the Caliber are a data circuit, probably best to reassemble it completely before testing.

When doing DIY following an installation guide with the correct parts is the way to go.
If you have 'attempted' variations it is hard to diagnose over the web.
Sometimes it's cheaper to pay for a trained installation.

 

[pspencer75]

it sounds to me that you have to disconect the power from the battery for a few minutes and connect it to see if it works. If not then check the red wire to the voltage meter. It sounds like the yellow one has power. Then if none of that works it has to be defective.

 

[.20 Caliber]

The wire harness in todays cars don't just run from power to load. When I unplugged my gauge cluster my interior lights went out. I'd bet that if you hooked everything back up it would work.