I got a $90 Walmart special Sony HU. Its got a good ground (I tried the factory ground, wouldnt work, so I grounded it to the bolt in the little area in front of the cupholders in the front console area)

Itll take a CD and eject it... but it WILL NOT come on. Tried wiring it 2 different ways... no different results. Is the HU screwed up or am I incapable of this simple task?

 

I would try and figure out why the factory ground isn't working.

Also, I've taken the center console out plenty of times but I can't remember for sure but I'm not even sure that little bolt is grounded. I thought it was mainly to hold the plastic together.

 

Did you buy a harness or did you splice it all together? And how was your old HU grounded?

 

if your factory ground isnt working you need to trouble shoot and figure out why. and x2 on Good_Chevy's question, did you buy a wiring harness for your truck?

 

first off i would check fuses since those r the cheapest and easiest things to fix... did ur factory deck or ur prior deck work before u tried to install the new headunit??? if so then u need to go back threw all ur wiringing and make sure it is connected good... and if u did buy a wire harness make sure ur red goes to red, ur yellow to yellow, and ur black to black..

 

Factory head unit was working like a charm when I pulled it not 5 minutes prior to the swap. Changed the fuses, no alteration. Verified my connections. The new ground arced when I tested it with the ground wire from the radio... the factory ground did not.

I didnt buy a harness, I'm going to wire it up myself.

Like I said, the factory radio worked fine... but it didnt like to play cds that werent like brand new. That's why I was changing it out... and the fact that the factory HU had NO bass output at all and sounded like dog rump.

 

It's more of a nut than a bolt, and the stud is grounded via metal+metal contact to the floor pan. My amp is grounded there and works fantastic.

 

did you make sure the faceplate is secure? if it dont work then take that garbage back and get something else

 

It's actually kind of loose, no matter which way I put it on... but if I push it in, the piece of junk still won't work.

 

I'd take it back and get Alpine or Pioneer Premier if it's in your price range.